Method and apparatus providing pixel storage gate charge sensing for electronic stabilization in imagers

摘要

An imaging device that stores charge from a photosensor under at least one storage gate. A driver used to operate the at least one storage gate, senses how much charge was transferred to the storage gate. The sensed charge is used to obtain at least one signature of the image scene. The at least one signature may then be used for processing such as e.g., motion detection, auto-exposure, and auto-white balancing.

主权项

1. An imager comprising:
at least one pixel, each pixel comprising:
a photosensor;a storage node configured to store charge;a transfer transistor configured to transfer charge to the storage node;an output transistor configured to provide a first signal representing the charge transferred to the storage node; anda first storage gate between the photosensor and transfer gate configured to store charge originating from the photosensor; and a first driver and sense circuit having a storage capacitor switchably coupled to the first storage gate by at least one switch, wherein the first driver and sense circuit is configured to (1) provide a second signal that controls operation of the first storage gate to store charge originating from the photosensor, (2) sense an amount of charge driven out to the first storage gate while concurrently providing the second signal, and (3) store charge via the storage capacitor and the at least one switch corresponding to the amount of sensed charge, wherein the second signal is different than the first signal.