An HDR CMOS image sensor with spiking pixels, pixel-level ADC, and linear characteristics

Abstract

A high dynamic range (HDR) CMOS image sensor architecture based on spiking pixel cells and its first implementation, a linear 128-pixel sensor, is presented. The pulse rate of the pixel cell is proportional to the local light intensity. The pixel cell features a pixel-level analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion by pulse counting. It allows one to tradeoff conversion precision versus frame rate. Sample sensor chips have been manufactured using a 0.8-/spl mu/m double metal CMOS technology, and the test results confirming the feasibility of the chosen approach are reported.