A low-power low-noise ultrawide-dynamic-range CMOS imager with pixel-parallel A/D conversion

Author

McIlrath, Lisa G.

Author_Institution

3D-IC Inc., Somerville, MA, USA

Volume

36

Issue

5

fYear

2001

fDate

5/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

846

Lastpage

853

Abstract

A CMOS image sensor with pixel-parallel analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion fabricated with different array sizes and photodiode types in a three-metal 0.5-μm process is presented. Nominal power dissipation is 40 nW per pixel at V_DD=3.3 V. A/D conversion results from sampling a free-running photocurrent-controlled oscillator to give a first-order Σ-Δ sequence. The sensor displays dynamic range capability of greater than 150000:1 and exhibits fixed pattern noise correctable to within 0.1% of signal

Keywords

CMOS image sensors; analogue-digital conversion; integrated circuit noise; low-power electronics; sigma-delta modulation; smart pixels; 0.5 micron; 3.3 V; 40 nW; CMOS image sensor; dynamic range; first-order sigma-delta sequence; fixed pattern noise; free-running photocurrent-controlled oscillator; low-power circuit; photodiode array; pixel-parallel analog-to-digital conversion; power dissipation; smart pixels; three-metal process; CMOS image sensors; Displays; Image converters; Image sampling; Oscillators; Photodiodes; Pixel; Power dissipation; Sensor arrays; Signal sampling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9200

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/4.918924

Filename

918924