Solid-state imaging element, imaging device, and method for controlling solid-state imaging element

1 . A solid-state imaging element, comprising:

a pixel array unit comprising:

a plurality of effective pixels that is not shaded from light;

a decapixel block comprising ten effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels, wherein the ten effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels share a first floating diffusion layer; and

an octapixel block comprising eight effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels, wherein the eight effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels share a second floating diffusion layer:

a drive unit configured to:

drive each of the plurality of effective pixels to generate a first analog signal as an effective pixel signal, wherein the first analog signal is generated based on an exposure amount; and

drive a specific pixel among the plurality of effective pixels to generate a second analog signal as an additional shaded pixel signal, wherein the second analog signal is generated based on a dark current; and

a signal processing unit configured to correct the effective pixel signal based on using the additional shaded pixel signal.

2 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a first analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the effective pixel signal from an effective pixel in the decapixel block into a first digital signal; and

a second analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the effective pixel signal from an effective pixel in the octapixel block into a second digital signal.

3 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 2 , wherein

the drive unit is further configured to drive drives the effective pixel in the decapixel block as the specific pixel, and the second analog-to-digital converter is further configured to convert each of the effective pixel signal and the additional shaded pixel signal into a third digital signal.

4 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 1 , wherein

the drive unit is further configured to drive first effective pixels in the decapixel block as specific pixels.

5 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 4 , wherein

the drive unit is further configured to generate image data, based on the drive of the specific pixels of the plurality of effective pixels and the drive of remaining effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels.

6 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 4 , wherein

the drive unit is further configured to generate image data, based on the drive of all the effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels and the drive of the specific pixels.

7 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 1 , wherein

the pixel array unit is divided into a specific number of correction regions,

the signal processing unit includes an effective pixel signal correction unit, and

the effective pixel signal correction unit is configured to correct the effective pixel signal of an effective pixel in a correction region of the specific number of correction regions, based on the additional shaded pixel signal of the specific pixel in the correction region.

8 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 7 , wherein the signal processing unit further includes an effective pixel signal holding unit configured to hold the effective pixel signal.

9 . The solid-state imaging element according to claim 7 , wherein

the pixel array unit further includes a shaded pixel, and

the signal processing unit further includes:

an additional shaded pixel signal correction unit configured to correct the additional shaded pixel signal based on a shaded pixel signal from the shaded pixel; and

the effective pixel signal correction unit is further configured to correct the effective pixel signal based on the corrected additional shaded pixel signal and the shaded pixel signal.

10 . An imaging device, comprising:

a pixel array unit comprising:

a plurality of effective pixels that is not shaded from light;

a decapixel block comprising ten effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels, wherein the ten effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels share a first floating diffusion layer; and

an octapixel block comprising eight effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels, wherein the eight effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels share a second floating diffusion layer; and

a drive unit configured to:

drive each of the plurality of effective pixels to generate a first analog signal as an effective pixel signal, wherein the first analog signal is generated based on an exposure amount; and

drive a specific pixel among the plurality of effective pixels to generate a second analog signal as an additional shaded pixel signal, wherein the second analog signal is generated based on a dark current;

a signal processing unit configured to correct the effective pixel signal based on the additional shaded pixel signal; and

a recording unit configured to record image data comprising the corrected effective pixel signals.

11 . A method for controlling a solid-state imaging element, the method comprising:

driving each of a plurality of effective pixels in a pixel array unit to generate a first analog signal as an effective pixel signal, wherein

the plurality of effective pixels is not shaded from light,

the first analog signal is generated based on an exposure amount, and

the pixel array unit includes:

a decapixel block comprising ten effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels, wherein the ten effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels share a first floating diffusion layer, and

an octapixel block comprising eight effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels, wherein the eight effective pixels of the plurality of effective pixels share a second floating diffusion layer;

driving a specific pixel among the plurality of effective pixels to generate a second analog signal as an additional shaded pixel signal, wherein the second analog signal is generated based on a dark current; and

correcting the effective pixel signal based on the additional shaded pixel signal.