US 12,273,642 B2
Dual-mode column amplifier
Hung Trong Do, San Jose, CA (US); Khai Nguyen, Stockton, CA (US); Stephen W. Mims, San Diego, CA (US); Alexander Lu, San Jose, CA (US); Kwang Bo Cho, San Jose, CA (US); and Angel Rogelio Lopez, Newark, CA (US)
Assigned to FAIRCHILD IMAGING, INC., Wilmington, DE (US)
Filed by Fairchild Imaging, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 9, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/063,885.
Prior Publication US 2024/0196115 A1, Jun. 13, 2024
Int. Cl. H04N 25/76 (2023.01); H03F 3/45 (2006.01); H04N 25/768 (2023.01); H04N 25/78 (2023.01)
CPC H04N 25/768 (2023.01) [H03F 3/45269 (2013.01); H04N 25/78 (2023.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An image sensor comprising:
a pixel array having at least one column of addressable pixel sensors; and
a column amplifier coupled to the at least one column of addressable pixel sensors, the column amplifier comprising a transistor bank including a plurality of transistors, and mode select circuitry coupled to the transistor bank and configured to establish one or more connections among the plurality of transistors to configure the column amplifier to operate in one of a differential mode of operation and a single-ended mode of operation;
wherein the mode select circuitry comprises a plurality of switches, the plurality of switches including a first subset of switches and a second subset of switches, the second subset of switches being logical complements of the first subset of switches; and
wherein when the first subset of switches are in a closed position and the second subset of switches are in an open position, the column amplifier is configured into the differential mode of operation, and when the first subset of switches are in the open position and the second subset of switches are in the closed position, the column amplifier is configured into the single-ended mode of operation.