A scalable 20 ×20 fully asynchronous SPAD-based imaging sensor with AER readout

Author

Berkovich, Andrew ; Datta-Chaudhuri, Timir ; Abshire, Pamela

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

fYear

2015

fDate

24-27 May 2015

Firstpage

1110

Lastpage

1113

Abstract

In this paper we present a scalable 20×20 event-based imaging array. Each pixel consists of a large area (1200 μm²) single photon avalanche diode with dynamic quenching circuitry, compact 9-bit analog counter, comparator, and event generator. The array is designed for low-light imaging applications (<;0.1 lux) with a simulated worst case event readout speed of 33 MHz, pixel-level dynamic range of 134 dB, and array-level dynamic range of 132 dB. We implement this in a 0.50 μ m CMOS process with a 100 μm × 100 μm area pixel, a fill-factor of 20%, and a total chip size of 3 mm × 3 mm.

Keywords

CMOS image sensors; avalanche diodes; comparators (circuits); counting circuits; readout electronics; sensor arrays; AER readout; CMOS process; analog counter; comparator; dynamic quenching circuitry; event generator; event-based imaging array; frequency 33 MHz; fully asynchronous SPAD-based imaging sensor; gain 132 dB; gain 134 dB; low-light imaging application; single photon avalanche diode; size 0.50 mum; word length 9 bit; Arrays; CMOS integrated circuits; Dynamic range; Generators; Imaging; Photonics; Radiation detectors; CMOS image sensor; address-event representation (AER); asynchronous imaging; event-driven vision; high dynamic range (HDR); low-light vision; single photon avalanche diode (SPAD);

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2015 IEEE International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Lisbon

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISCAS.2015.7168832

Filename

7168832