Event Driven Pixel Digital Time Stamping Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional image sensors face challenges in providing ultra-high frame rates and ultra-high speed capture capabilities, resulting in poor quality image/video captures due to redundancy in data output, which is not efficiently addressed by existing technologies.
Innovation Solution
The event driven pixel with a digital time stamping design detects events asynchronously on a pixel level, recording only event locations, polarity changes, and timestamps, allowing for ultra-high frame rates and speed without capturing redundant data, and reconstructing events in the correct order using digital time stamps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional image sensors capture full frames at high speeds, then frame rate is improved, but data redundancy increases and quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The event-driven pixel extracts only the essential information from each frame - specifically detecting only changing regions and their characteristics (location, polarity, timestamp) rather than capturing complete frame data. This extraction approach eliminates redundant static background information while preserving meaningful event data, resolving the contradiction between high frame rate and data redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from static full-frame capture to dynamic event-driven capture, where the sensing approach adapts based on scene changes. The pixel continuously monitors for events and only triggers data capture when changes occur, enabling high temporal resolution without the redundancy of capturing unchanged regions, thus improving frame rate while reducing unnecessary data.
2Speed
If traditional image sensors increase capture speed, then speed is improved, but image/video quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical/optical scanning and full-frame readout system with an event-driven digital detection system. Each pixel independently detects events and generates digital timestamps, eliminating the need for sequential frame scanning. This substitution enables ultra-high capture speeds while maintaining quality by directly recording event occurrences without the limitations of traditional frame-based capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The event-driven pixel performs preliminary detection and filtering at the sensor level before data leaves the pixel array. By pre-identifying events and their characteristics (location, polarity, timestamp) within each pixel, the system ensures that only meaningful data is captured and transmitted, maintaining quality even at ultra-high speeds where traditional post-processing would be insufficient.
3Productivity
If event driven pixel uses digital time stamping, then frame rate is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions into the event-driven pixel circuit: photodetection, event detection, polarity determination, and digital timestamp generation are all integrated within each pixel. By combining these functions that would traditionally require separate components and processing stages, the system achieves ultra-high frame rates with event-specific data while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity through functional integration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables high-quality image/video capture with reduced data rates, achieving ultra-high frame rates and speed while minimizing redundant information, improving image/video capture performance compared to traditional sensors.
Implementation Method 1
a photodiode configured to photogenerate charge or photocurrent in response to incident light received from an external scene
Data Source
AI summary
An event driven pixel includes a photodiode configured to photogenerate charge in response to incident light received from an external scene. A photocurrent to voltage converter is coupled to the photodiode to convert photocurrent generated by the photodiode to a voltage. A filter amplifier is coupled to the photocurrent to voltage converter to generate a filtered and amplified signal in response to the voltage received from the photocurrent to voltage converter. A threshold comparison stage is coupled to the filter amplifier to compare the filtered and amplified signal received from the filter amplifier with thresholds to asynchronously detect events in the external scene in response to the incident light. A digital time stamp generator is coupled to asynchronously generate a digital time stamp in response to the events asynchronously detected in the external scene by the threshold comparison stage.