Sony patents camera sensor method to share counters between pixels
Sony describes circuitry for a photon counting sensor that checks if two nearby pixels detect light at almost the same time. If they do, the system counts the events together in a shared counter instead of using separate ones for each pixel.
In the filing’s own words
The present disclosure generally pertains to photon counting circuitry ( 11), configured to: determine, based on a degree of overlap in time of at least two pixel signals (CLK 1, CLK 2) of at least two pixels (SPAD 1, SPAD 2) of a photon counting time-of-flight sensor ( 10), whether a signal coincidence of the at least two pixel signals (CLK 1, CLK 2) is present, for setting a counting operation mode to a coincidence counting operation mode, if the signal coincidence is present, wherein counts of the at least two pixel signals are counted together in the coincidence counting operation mode; and generate a coincidence counting signal (YES) for setting the counting operation mode to the coincidence counting operation mode. Preferably, the coincidence counting signal corresponds to that pixel signal of the at least two pixel signals (CLK 1, CLK 2) which is later in time. For example, only one count would be recorded when there is no coincidence detection. However, a count number of a common counter may be multiplied by two to reproduce the real event number. Thereby, more counts may be accumulated which may optimize a signal to noise ratio. Moreover, silicon area may be saved by accounting for a correlation between/among adjacent/neighboring pixels in the sensor. It is made use of this correlation to save the total counter bit length of two or more pixels in a pixel group. Hence, this temporal correlation may be determined and coincident counts may be dynamically stored into a common (shared) counter.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. Photon counting circuitry, configured to: determine, based on a degree of overlap in time of at least two pixel signals of at least two pixels of a photon counting time-of-flight sensor, whether a signal coincidence of the at least two pixel signals is present, for setting a counting operation mode to a coincidence counting operation mode, if the signal coincidence is present, wherein counts of the at least two pixel signals are counted together in the coincidence counting operation mode; and generate a coincidence counting signal for setting the counting operation mode to the coincidence counting operation mode.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation)
- Official title
- PHOTON COUNTING CIRCUITRY AND PHOTON COUNTING METHOD
- Publication number
- US20260332909A1
- Application number
- 19110444
- Filed
- Sep 19, 2023
- Published
- Oct 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 1
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04N 25/773 Electricity & electronicsG01S 7/4865 Physics & computingMore from Sony in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.