The picture element (pixel) in conventional image sensors are placed in the form of a lattice for ease of implementation. Lattice placement of pixels intrinsically has directional singularity on the clarity of image representation, and the clarity is significantly dependent on the directions of the objects in the image. For example, horizontal lines are perfectly represented, while slanted line...

Low power consumption is a primary concern in many CMOS image-sensor applications. As the resolution of these sensors has increased while maintaining or increasing their frame rates, A/D conversion has become the dominant component of power consumption [1]. Conventional image compression can help reduce the readout rate [2] (and hence its power consumption), but cannot reduce the A/D conversion...

In this paper, we present results of the investigation of the design and operation of CMOS active pixel sensors for detection of ultra-low light levels. We present a detailed noise model of APS pixel and signal chain. Utilizing the noise model, we have developed APS pixel designs that can achieve ultra-low noise and high responsivity. We present results from two test chips, that indicate (1) th...

A 128 × 128 pixel functional image sensor was implemented. The sensor was able to capture images at 1,000 frame/s and extract the sizes and positions of 10 objects/frame when clocked at 8 MHz. The size of each pixel was 18 μm × 18 μm and the fill factor was 28%. The chip, 3.24 mm × 3.48 mm in size, was implemented with a 0.35 μm CMOS sensor process; the power consumption was 29.7 mW at 8 MHz. k...

This paper describes the implementation in silicon of a retina-like sensor characterized by a space-variant resolution similar to that of the human retina. Besides the actual implementation using CMOS technology, the design peculiarities of retina-like sensors are compared with the use of software or hardware electronic remappers. The paper also describes the realization of a retina-like digita...

The pixels in the conventional image sensors are placed at lattice positions, and this causes the jaggies at the edge of the slant line we perceive, which is hard to resolve by pixel size reduction. The author has been proposing the method of reducing the jaggies effect by arranging the photo diode at pseudorandom positions, with keeping the lattice arrangement of pixel boundaries that are comp...

This report provides an introduction of the working principle of both CCD and CMOS imager which are widely used in imagine acquisition. The performance and the cost of both devices and the according systems are compared.

On-chip neural interface devices based on CMOS image sensor technology are proposed and demonstrated. The devices were designed with target applications to optogenetics in bioscience. Multifunctional CMOS image sensors equipped with an addressable on-chip electrode array were integrated with a functional interface chip that contained embedded GaInN light emitting diodes (LEDs) and electrodes to...

We report a self-powered, lightweight and cost-effective active sensor system for vibration monitoring with multiplexed operation based on contact electrification between sensor and detected objects. The as-fabricated sensor matrix is capable of monitoring and mapping the vibration state of large amounts of units. The monitoring contents include: on-off state, vibration frequency and vibration ...

Inter-sensor data modeling and prediction have recently proven to be very promising techniques in drastically reducing the number of active sensors and thus the overall energy consumption in wireless sensor networks. Using existing and recently proposed inter-sensor data modeling techniques as the enablers, we propose an on-line distributed active prediction algorithm to use the available predi...