Solid-state imaging device, driving method thereof, and camera

1. A solid-state imaging device, comprising:

a plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in rows and columns;

a plurality of vertical transferors, each of which corresponds to one of the columns of said plurality of light-receiving elements and is operable to vertically transfer signal packets and dummy packets, the signal packets including charges read from said plurality of light-receiving elements, the dummy packets being packets other than the signal packets, N columns of said plurality of vertical transferors forming a column group;

a plurality of holders arranged as final stages of said plurality of vertical transferors in the N columns except an M column in the column group, each of which is operable to mix, hold, and vertically transfer the charges of the signal packets and charges of the dummy packets without depending on a vertical transfer from upstream of a corresponding vertical transferor;

a horizontal transferor operable to mix, hold, and horizontally transfer the charges transferred from one of said plurality of holders and a vertical transferor in the M column in the column group; and

a driver operable to drive said plurality of vertical transferors, said plurality of holders, and said horizontal transferor,

wherein said driver performs the driving so that a signal packet and a dummy packet in one of the columns are mixed together into a mixed packet in each of said plurality of holders, charges of the mixed packet are held in each of said plurality of holders, the held charges of the mixed packet are vertically transferred to said horizontal transferor so that the mixed packet of one of said plurality of holders is mixed with the mixed packet of another of said plurality of holders.

2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein said plurality of holders are final transfer stages of said vertical transferors in the N columns except the M column in the column group, and have independent transfer electrodes.

3. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein said plurality of holders, each of which is formed between said horizontal transferor and one of said plurality of vertical transferors in the N columns except the M column in the column group, are operable to hold and transfer the charges independently in every N other columns.

4. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a memory operable to store data representing each of the packets included in at least one of the rows, the packets being outputted from said horizontal transferor; and

a subtraction processor operable to reduce noise by performing subtraction processing using a first mixed packet and a second mixed packet, the first mixed packet being outputted from said horizontal transferor, and the second mixed packet being stored in said memory,

wherein the first mixed packet is a packet in which the signal packet and the dummy packet are mixed together, and

the second mixed packet is a dummy packet among the packets stored in said memory, the dummy packet being obtained from a same one of the columns as the first mixed packet.

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

wherein said memory is operable to store data of each of the packets included in at least one in-valid signal output row which is one of: an optical black output row of light-receiving elements outputting an optical black level; a dummy output row of dummy light-receiving elements; and an empty transfer output row outputting by vertical empty transfer.

6. A driving method of a solid-state imaging device, the solid-state imaging device including: a plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in rows and columns; a plurality of vertical transferors, each of which corresponds to one of the columns of the plurality of light-receiving elements and is operable to vertically transfer signal packets and dummy packets, the signal packets including charges read from the plurality of light-receiving elements, the dummy packets being packets other than the signal packets, N columns of the plurality of vertical transferors forming a column group; a plurality of holders arranged as final stages of the plurality of vertical transferors in the N columns except an M column in the column group, each of which is operable to mix, hold, and vertically transfer the charges of the signal packets and charges of the dummy packets without depending on vertical transfer from upstream of a corresponding vertical transferor; a horizontal transferor operable to mix, hold, and horizontally transfer the charges transferred from one of the plurality of holders and a vertical transferor in the M column in the column group; and a driver operable to drive the vertical transferors, the plurality of holders, and the horizontal transferor, said driving method comprising:

mixing a signal packet and a dummy packet in one of the columns into a mixed packet in each of the plurality of holders;

holding charges of the mixed packet in each of the plurality of holders; and

vertically transferring the charges of the mixed packet from each of the plurality of holders to the horizontal transferor so that the mixed packet of one of the plurality of holders is mixed with the mixed packet of another of the plurality of holders.

7. A camera comprising the solid-state imaging device according to claim 1 .