Systems and methods for a digital image sensor

1. An image sensor, configured to:

set one or more exposure parameters for an image stack, including specifying exposure time for each of at least two corresponding analog storage planes;

receive a capture command;

initialize a pixel array comprising the at least two corresponding analog storage planes;

sample one or more ambient images within at least one corresponding analog storage plane of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes;

determine that a strobe unit is enabled; and

sample one or more strobe images within the at least one corresponding analog storage plane.

2. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein the image stack comprises one ambient image stored in a first analog storage plane of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes and one strobe image stored in a second analog storage plane of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes.

3. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein to set the one or more exposure parameters, the image sensor is configured to at least write one or more registers that specifies the exposure time for each of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes, or write one or more registers that specifies exposure sensitivity for each of the at least two corresponding analog storage plane, or write one or more registers that specifies the exposure time and the exposure sensitivity for at least one of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes.

4. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor is implemented within a camera module included in at least one of a digital camera, or a mobile device.

5. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein to initialize the pixel array, the image sensor is configured to drive voltages on internal nodes of photo-sensitive cells within the at least two corresponding analog storage planes to a reference voltage.

6. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein to determine whether the strobe unit is enabled, the image sensor is configured to directly enable the strobe unit.

7. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein to determine whether the strobe unit is enabled, the image sensor is configured to detect that the strobe unit has been enabled.

8. The image sensor of claim 1 , further configured to: store both the one or more ambient images and the one or more strobe images concurrently within the at least one corresponding analog storage plane.

9. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor is configured to offload at least one of the one or more ambient images prior to sampling the one or more strobe images within the at least one corresponding analog storage plane.

10. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor is further configured to enable simultaneous integration of a photographic scene for the at least two corresponding analog storage planes.

11. The image sensor of claim 10 , wherein two or more analog sampling circuits within the at least two corresponding analog storage planes each integrate a respective image during a sampling interval.

12. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor is further configured to:

enable integration to proceed during a first sampling interval for at least two different analog storage planes;

disable integration for at least one analog storage plane of the at least two different analog storage planes; and

enable integration to proceed during a second sampling interval for at least one analog storage plane of the at least two different analog storage planes.

13. The image sensor of claim 12 , further configured to: transmit image data corresponding to each of the at least two different analog storage planes to a processing unit.

14. The image sensor of claim 13 , wherein the processing unit is configured to generate exposure parameters.

15. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein to sample the one or more ambient images, the image sensor is configured to:

enable integration of a first signal from photodiode within a first analog sampling circuit of analog sampling circuits that form an image plane to generate an ambient sample within a first analog storage plane of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes; and

after generating the ambient sample, disable integration of the first signal within the first analog sampling circuit.

16. The image sensor of claim 15 , wherein the image sensor is further configured to reset the photodiode after disabling integration of the first signal on the first analog sampling circuit of the analog sampling circuits.

17. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein to sample the one or more ambient images and the one or more strobe images, the image sensor is configured to:

store an ambient sample within a first analog storage plane of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes,

enable integration of a first signal from photodiode within a first analog sampling circuit of analog sampling circuits that form an image plane to generate a first strobe sample within a second analog storage plane of the at least two corresponding analog storage planes;

after generating the first strobe sample, disable integration of the first signal on the first analog sampling circuit of the analog sampling circuits;

wherein the first analog storage plane comprises ambient samples forming a first ambient image and the second analog storage plane comprises strobe samples forming a first strobe image of the one or more strobe images.

18. The image sensor of claim 1 , wherein to sample the one or more ambient images and the one or more strobe images, the image sensor is configured to:

enable, during a first time interval and a second time interval, integration of a first signal from a photodiode within a first analog sampling circuit of the analog sampling circuits that form an image plane, to generate a first ambient sample of a first analog storage plane and a second analog sampling circuit of the analog sampling circuits to generate a second ambient sample of a second analog storage plane,

disable, after the first time interval, integration of the first signal from the photodiode within the first analog sampling circuit of the analog sampling circuits;

disable, after the second time interval, integration of the first signal within the second analog sampling circuit of the analog sampling circuits;

determine that a strobe circuit is enabled after the second time interval; and

enable integration of a second signal on a third analog sampling circuit of the analog sampling circuits, to generate a first strobe sample of a third analog storage plane,

wherein the first analog storage plane comprises ambient samples forming a first ambient image of the one or more ambient images, the second analog storage plane comprises ambient samples forming a second ambient image of the one or more ambient images, and the third analog storage plane comprises strobe samples forming a first strobe image of the one or more strobe images.

19. An image sensor, configured to:

initialize a pixel array configured to include a set of analog storage planes, in which each analog storage plane of the set of analog storage planes includes an image plane comprised of analog sampling circuits, wherein initializing the pixel array comprises driving voltages within the set of analog storage planes to a reference voltage;

enable simultaneous integration of a photographic scene for two or more analog storage planes within the set of analog storage planes;

enable integration to proceed during a first sampling interval;

disable integration for at least one analog storage plane within the set of analog storage planes; and

enable integration to proceed during a second sampling interval.

20. The image sensor of claim 19 , wherein the image sensor is configured to transmit image data corresponding to each analog storage plane of the set of analog storage planes to a processing unit.