US 11,818,489 B1
Time-resolved quanta image sensor
Dexue Zhang, Arcadia, CA (US); Saleh Masoodian, Monrovia, CA (US); and Jiaju Ma, Monrovia, CA (US)
Assigned to Gigajot Technology, Inc., Pasadena, CA (US)
Filed by Gigajot Technology, Inc., Pasadena, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 27, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/586,039.
Application 17/586,039 is a continuation of application No. 17/074,475, filed on Oct. 19, 2020, granted, now 11,272,133.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/916,886, filed on Oct. 18, 2019.
Int. Cl. H04N 25/75 (2023.01); H04N 25/77 (2023.01); H04N 25/772 (2023.01); H03F 3/45 (2006.01); H04N 25/71 (2023.01); H04N 25/713 (2023.01)
CPC H04N 25/772 (2023.01) [H03F 3/45264 (2013.01); H03F 3/45273 (2013.01); H04N 25/71 (2023.01); H04N 25/713 (2023.01); H04N 25/75 (2023.01); H04N 25/77 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An integrated-circuit image sensor, comprising:
a first photodetector circuit having a first photodiode and a second photodiode that is shielded from exposure to incident light; and
control circuitry to:
reset the first photodiode to commence an exposure interval over which an output voltage of the first photodetector circuit changes monotonically in response to photon strikes;
reset the second photodiode concurrently with resetting the first photodiode; and
iteratively sample the output voltage of the first photodetector circuit during the exposure interval to generate a sequence of single-bit data values corresponding to respective event-detection intervals that transpire sequentially within the exposure interval.