A fast global shutter image sensor based on the VOD mechanism

Tadmor, Erez; Bakish, I.; Felzenshtein, Shlomo; Larry, Eli; Yahav, Giora; Cohen, Doron

doi:10.1109/icsens.2014.6985074

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…2. The hardware system enabling concurrent different exposure profiles is described in [33] and [34,35]. As distance grows the response decays, as per equation (5).…”

Section: Modeling the Imaging Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bayesian Time-of-Flight for Realtime Shape, Illumination and Albedo

Adam

Dann

Yair

et al. 2017

IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell.

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Abstract-We propose a computational model for shape, illumination and albedo inference in a pulsed time-of-flight (TOF) camera. In contrast to TOF cameras based on phase modulation, our camera enables general exposure profiles. This results in added flexibility and requires novel computational approaches. To address this challenge we propose a generative probabilistic model that accurately relates latent imaging conditions to observed camera responses. While principled, realtime inference in the model turns out to be infeasible, and we propose to employ efficient non-parametric regression trees to approximate the model outputs. As a result we are able to provide, for each pixel, at video frame rate, estimates and uncertainty for depth, effective albedo, and ambient light intensity. These results we present are state-of-the-art in depth imaging. The flexibility of our approach allows us to easily enrich our generative model. We demonstrate that by extending the original single-path model to a two-path model, capable of describing some multipath effects. The new model is seamlessly integrated in the system at no additional computational cost. Our work also addresses the important question of optimal exposure design in pulsed TOF systems. Finally, for benchmark purposes and to obtain realistic empirical priors of multipath and insights into this phenomena, we propose a physically accurate simulation of multipath phenomena.

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“…2. The hardware system enabling concurrent different exposure profiles is described in [33] and [34,35]. As distance grows the response decays, as per equation (5).…”

Section: Modeling the Imaging Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bayesian Time-of-Flight for Realtime Shape, Illumination and Albedo

Adam

Dann

Yair

et al. 2017

IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell.

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“…The exposure period ends by transferring the photoelectrons from the photodiode to a storage area. In addition, we have recently shown that this mechanism can be used for fast global shuttering for Time-of-Flight and transient imaging applications [18]. As illustrated in Fig.…”

Section: The Vod Shutter Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Multispectral Imaging Using the Vertical Overflow Drain Structure

et al. 2015

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Multispectral imaging enables discrimination of spectra beyond the 3-D spectral space of human vision. Most multispectral systems are complex and bulky, and simpler monolithic designs usually require several pixels in order to generate one multispectral data point. Here, we use the vertical overflow drain (VOD) structure to enable monolithic multispectral imaging in a single pixel. We show that by controlling the substrate bias voltage it is possible to change the effective depth of the photodiode, thus enabling dynamic tuning of the pixel's spectral response. A small voltage change (<5 V) is shown experimentally to reduce the red light quantum efficiency by ∼40%, while the blue light quantum efficiency is reduced by <10%. Using this effect, we demonstrate an ability to discriminate between different monochromatic illumination sources with 20-nm spectral resolution in a single pixel. In addition, we present an RGB image taken using an off-theshelf charge coupled devices with no color filters by relying solely on the VOD mechanism. Finally, we present process and device simulations suggesting that this mechanism can be implemented in any pinned photodiode pixel with a VOD barrier, including in CMOS image sensors fabricated on n-type starting material.Index Terms-CMOS image sensors, CCD image sensors, multispectral imaging, digital photography.

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“…TOF imagers that use the PPD structure require either a specialized transfer gate (TG) [7] design or a special photodiode layout [8]. In [9], we have shown that the vertical overflow drain (VOD) mechanism, common in interlinetransfer charge-coupled device (IT-CCD) image sensors, can be used to produce a fast and uniform global shutter. The VOD shutter drains the diode to the chip substrate and thus reduces the pixel response.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Development of a ToF Pixel With VOD Shutter Mechanism, High IR QE, Four Storages, and CDS

Tadmor

Cohen

Yahav

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. Electron Devices

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In this paper we discuss the development of an indirect time-of-flight (ToF) pixel in the 0.11-µm CMOS image sensor technology. The pixel design is based on a pinnedphotodiode structure with a novel vertical overflow drain (VOD) shutter mechanism used for fast modulation. We present the second generation of the pixel, with a greatly improved VOD structure that enables a fast shutter efficiency better than 1:100 and a deeper photodiode collection depth for better quantum efficiency in the near-infrared wavelengths. We present a new 6.7-µm pixel design with four pinned storage diodes (SDs) that feature in-pixel complete charge transfer and enable correlateddouble-sampling readout as well as an almost simultaneous global shutter exposure of up to four interleaved frames to be used for the scene depth computation. The novel design features a low readout noise of 7.5e-and a full-well-capacity of 9500e-per SD (a total of 38 000e-per pixel).Index Terms-CMOS image sensor, time of flight (ToF) imaging, time resolved.

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A fast global shutter image sensor based on the VOD mechanism

Cited by 10 publications

References 10 publications

Bayesian Time-of-Flight for Realtime Shape, Illumination and Albedo

Bayesian Time-of-Flight for Realtime Shape, Illumination and Albedo

Dynamic Multispectral Imaging Using the Vertical Overflow Drain Structure

Development of a ToF Pixel With VOD Shutter Mechanism, High IR QE, Four Storages, and CDS

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