A 240 × 180 130 dB 3 µs Latency Global Shutter Spatiotemporal Vision Sensor

TLDR

Event‑based dynamic vision sensors asynchronously report log‑intensity changes, offering high dynamic range, sub‑millisecond latency, and sparse output for robotics and real‑time tracking, yet they discard absolute intensity information needed for object recognition and classification. This work introduces the DAVIS, a sensor that simultaneously delivers asynchronous DVS events and synchronous global‑shutter frames to retain absolute intensity information. The DAVIS achieves this by integrating APS and DVS circuits that share a single photodiode per pixel. The 240×180 DAVIS array delivers a 130‑dB dynamic range, 3‑µs latency, 11% contrast detection threshold, and 3.5% contrast matching in the DVS mode, while the APS readout achieves a 51‑dB dynamic range and 0.5% FPN.

Abstract

Event-based dynamic vision sensors (DVSs) asynchronously report log intensity changes. Their high dynamic range, sub-ms latency and sparse output make them useful in applications such as robotics and real-time tracking. However they discard absolute intensity information which is useful for object recognition and classification. This paper presents a dynamic and active pixel vision sensor (DAVIS) which addresses this deficiency by outputting asynchronous DVS events and synchronous global shutter frames concurrently. The active pixel sensor (APS) circuits and the DVS circuits within a pixel share a single photodiode. Measurements from a 240×180 sensor array of 18.5 μm 2 pixels fabricated in a 0.18 μm 6M1P CMOS image sensor (CIS) technology show a dynamic range of 130 dB with 11% contrast detection threshold, minimum 3 μs latency, and 3.5% contrast matching for the DVS pathway; and a 51 dB dynamic range with 0.5% FPN for the APS readout.