1,422 research outputs found
A Triple-Mode Performance-Optimized Reconfigurable Incremental ADC for Smart Sensor Applications
This paper proposes a triple-mode discrete-time incremental analog-to-digital converter (IADC) employing successive approximation register (SAR)-based zooming and extended counting (EC) schemes to achieve programmable trade-off capability of resolution and power consumption in various smart sensor applications. It mainly consists of an incremental delta???sigma modulator and the proposed SAR-EC sub-ADC for alternate operation of the coarse SAR conversion and EC. They can be reconfigured to operate separately depending on the application requirements. The SAR-based zooming structure allows the IADC to have better linearity and resolution, and additional activation of the EC function gives the further resolution. During this reconfigurable conversion process, pipelined reusing operation of sub-blocks reduces the silicon area and the number of cycles for target resolutions. A prototype ADC is fabricated in a 180-nm CMOS process, and its triple-mode operation of high-resolution, medium-resolution, and low-power is experimentally verified to achieve 116.1-, 109.4-, and 73.3-dB dynamic ranges, consuming 1.60, 1.26, and 0.39 mW, respectively
Extended-Range Second-Order Incremental Sigma-Delta ADC
A single-stage two-steps Extended-Range Second-Order Incremental ADC in 0.13um CMOS technology is presented here which achieves a Signal-to-Noise and Distortion Ratio (SNDR) as large as 73 dB. The proposed architecture of Extended-Range ADC based on Second-order multi-bit CIFF Incremental ADC reuses the IADC structure for coarse (input signal) as well as fine (residue) quantization without need of employment of explicit second ADC thereby minimizing power consumption and area occupancy. With a clock frequency of 80 MHz, the complete ERADC achieves in extracted simulation a peak SNDR of 73 dB at a data rate of 3.2 MS/s (25 clock cycles per conversion).A single-stage two-steps Extended-Range Second-Order Incremental ADC in 0.13um CMOS technology is presented here which achieves a Signal-to-Noise and Distortion Ratio (SNDR) as large as 73 dB. The proposed architecture of Extended-Range ADC based on Second-order multi-bit CIFF Incremental ADC reuses the IADC structure for coarse (input signal) as well as fine (residue) quantization without need of employment of explicit second ADC thereby minimizing power consumption and area occupancy. With a clock frequency of 80 MHz, the complete ERADC achieves in extracted simulation a peak SNDR of 73 dB at a data rate of 3.2 MS/s (25 clock cycles per conversion)
Ultra-low noise, high-frame rate readout design for a 3D-stacked CMOS image sensor
Due to the switch from CCD to CMOS technology, CMOS based image sensors have become
smaller, cheaper, faster, and have recently outclassed CCDs in terms of image quality. Apart
from the extensive set of applications requiring image sensors, the next technological
breakthrough in imaging would be to consolidate and completely shift the conventional CMOS
image sensor technology to the 3D-stacked technology. Stacking is recent and an innovative
technology in the imaging field, allowing multiple silicon tiers with different functions to be
stacked on top of each other. The technology allows for an extreme parallelism of the pixel
readout circuitry. Furthermore, the readout is placed underneath the pixel array on a 3D-stacked
image sensor, and the parallelism of the readout can remain constant at any spatial resolution of
the sensors, allowing extreme low noise and a high-frame rate (design) at virtually any sensor
array resolution.
The objective of this work is the design of ultra-low noise readout circuits meant for 3D-stacked
image sensors, structured with parallel readout circuitries. The readout circuitâs key
requirements are low noise, speed, low-area (for higher parallelism), and low power.
A CMOS imaging review is presented through a short historical background, followed by the
description of the motivation, the research goals, and the work contributions. The fundamentals
of CMOS image sensors are addressed, as a part of highlighting the typical image sensor features,
the essential building blocks, types of operation, as well as their physical characteristics and their
evaluation metrics. Following up on this, the document pays attention to the readout circuitâs
noise theory and the column converters theory, to identify possible pitfalls to obtain sub-electron
noise imagers. Lastly, the fabricated test CIS device performances are reported along with
conjectures and conclusions, ending this thesis with the 3D-stacked subject issues and the future
work. A part of the developed research work is located in the Appendices.Devido à mudança da tecnologia CCD para CMOS, os sensores de imagem em CMOS tornam se mais pequenos, mais baratos, mais råpidos, e mais recentemente, ultrapassaram os sensores
CCD no que respeita à qualidade de imagem. Para além do vasto conjunto de aplicaçÔes que
requerem sensores de imagem, o prĂłximo salto tecnolĂłgico no ramo dos sensores de imagem Ă©
o de mudar completamente da tecnologia de sensores de imagem CMOS convencional para a
tecnologia â3D-stackedâ. O empilhamento de chips Ă© relativamente recente e Ă© uma tecnologia
inovadora no campo dos sensores de imagem, permitindo vĂĄrios planos de silĂcio com diferentes
funçÔes poderem ser empilhados uns sobre os outros. Esta tecnologia permite portanto, um
paralelismo extremo na leitura dos sinais vindos da matriz de pĂxeis. AlĂ©m disso, num sensor de
imagem de planos de silĂcio empilhados, os circuitos de leitura estĂŁo posicionados debaixo da
matriz de pĂxeis, sendo que dessa forma, o paralelismo pode manter-se constante para qualquer
resolução espacial, permitindo assim atingir um extremo baixo ruĂdo e um alto debito de
imagens, virtualmente para qualquer resolução desejada.
O objetivo deste trabalho Ă© o de desenhar circuitos de leitura de coluna de muito baixo ruĂdo,
planeados para serem empregues em sensores de imagem â3D-stackedâ com estruturas
altamente paralelizadas. Os requisitos chave para os circuitos de leitura sĂŁo de baixo ruĂdo,
rapidez e pouca ĂĄrea utilizada, de forma a obter-se o melhor rĂĄcio.
Uma breve revisĂŁo histĂłrica dos sensores de imagem CMOS Ă© apresentada, seguida da
motivação, dos objetivos e das contribuiçÔes feitas. Os fundamentos dos sensores de imagem
CMOS sĂŁo tambĂ©m abordados para expor as suas caracterĂsticas, os blocos essenciais, os tipos
de operação, assim como as suas caracterĂsticas fĂsicas e suas mĂ©tricas de avaliação. No
seguimento disto, especial atenção Ă© dada Ă teoria subjacente ao ruĂdo inerente dos circuitos de
leitura e dos conversores de coluna, servindo para identificar os possĂveis aspetos que dificultem
atingir a tĂŁo desejada performance de muito baixo ruĂdo. Por fim, os resultados experimentais
do sensor desenvolvido sĂŁo apresentados junto com possĂveis conjeturas e respetivas conclusĂ”es,
terminando o documento com o assunto de empilhamento vertical de camadas de silĂcio, junto
com o possĂvel trabalho futuro
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