A Global-Shutter CMOS Image Sensor With Readout Speed of 1-Tpixel/s Burst and 780-Mpixel/s Continuous

Abstract

A 400 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">H</sup> ×256 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</sup> pixels global-shutter high-speed CMOS image sensor including 128 on-chip memories/pixel has been fabricated in a 0.18-μm 2P4M CMOS with pinned photodiode process. The key technologies of this image sensor are as follows: multiple on-chip memories for each pixel, spatial separation of pixel and on-chip memory regions, multiple pixel output wires for each column, in-pixel noise reduction circuits, in-pixel source-follower current-sources and flexibly selectable on-chip memories. This CMOS image sensor achieves 1 Tpixel/s burst video operation, a full resolution of 10 Mfps with 128 frames and a half resolution of 20 Mfps with 256 frames, and 780 Mpixel/s continuous video operation on the same chip. The power consumption at 1 Tpixel/s was 24 W, while the image sensor operates without active cooling.