Image pickup device
An image pickup device may include: an image capturing unit; a reference signal generation unit; a comparison unit that compares analog signals to the reference signal and ends the comparison process at a timing at which the reference signal satisfies a predetermined condition with respect to the analog signals; a clock generation unit; a latch unit that retains the low-order phase signal as a latch signal at a timing related to the end of the comparison process; a count unit that counts a signal related to one of the low-order phase signals and generates a high-order digital signal; a detection unit that generates a low-order digital signal by sequentially comparing logic states of a plurality of bits of the latch signal retained by the corresponding latch unit and encoding the latch signal; and an arithmetic unit that performs an arithmetic process.
1. An image pickup device comprising:
an image capturing unit that includes a plurality of pixels arrayed in a matrix form and each outputting a first pixel signal according to a reset level and a second pixel signal according to a signal level;
a reference signal generation unit that generates a reference signal increasing or decreasing over time;
a comparison unit that is disposed for each column or each plurality of columns, compares analog signals to the reference signal, and ends the comparison process at a timing at which the reference signal satisfies a predetermined condition with respect to the analog signals;
a clock generation unit that includes a delay circuit including a plurality of delay units connected to each other and outputs low-order phase signals configured with output signals of the plurality of delay units;
a latch unit that is disposed for each column or each plurality of columns and retains the low-order phase signal as a latch signal at a timing related to the end of the comparison process;
a count unit that is disposed for each column or each plurality of columns, counts a signal related to one of the low-order phase signals, and generates a high-order digital signal;
a detection unit that is disposed for each column or each plurality of columns, and generates a low-order digital signal by sequentially comparing logic states of a plurality of bits of the latch signal retained by the corresponding latch unit and encoding the latch signal based on a comparison result of the logic states; and
an arithmetic unit that is disposed for each column or each plurality of columns and performs an arithmetic process based on the high-order digital signal of the corresponding count unit and the low-order digital signal of the corresponding detection unit, and wherein
the analog signals are the first and second pixel signals,
the count unit generates a first high-order digital signal according to the first pixel signal and generates a second high-order digital signal according to the second pixel signal,
the detection unit generates a first low-order digital signal according to the first pixel signal and generates a second low-order digital signal according to the second pixel signal, and
the arithmetic unit performs subtraction between first digital data related to the first high-order digital signal and the first low-order digital signal and second digital data related to the second high-order digital signal and the second low-order digital signal.
2. The image pickup device according to claim 1 , wherein
the delay circuit includes n delay units where n is an odd number equal to or greater than 3, and
the delay circuit is an oscillation circuit including a first path along which a signal is transmitted through the n delay units and a second path along which a signal is detoured around some of the n delay units to be transmitted.
3. The image pickup device according to claim 2 , wherein
the detection unit includes a detection circuit and an encoding circuit,
the detection circuit sequentially selects and compares two latch signals output from two delay units and corresponding to the low-order phase signals among the latch signals retained by the corresponding latch unit, and the detection circuit outputs a state change detection signal when detecting that the two latch signals are in a predetermined state, and
when an encoding signal having a state according to a combination of the two latch signals compared by the detection circuit is input and the state change detection signal is input, the encoding circuit latches the encoding signal.
4. The image pickup device according to claim 2 , wherein
the arithmetic unit includes a counter circuit, and
the counter circuit performs the subtraction between the first digital data and the second digital data by setting an initial value based on a value of each of bits constituting the first digital data, and then sequentially counting a value of each of bits constituting the second digital data.
5. The image pickup device according to claim 1 , wherein
the detection unit includes a detection circuit and an encoding circuit,
the detection circuit sequentially selects and compares two latch signals output from two delay units and corresponding to the low-order phase signals among the latch signals retained by the corresponding latch unit, and the detection circuit outputs a state change detection signal when detecting that the two latch signals are in a predetermined state, and
when an encoding signal having a state according to a combination of the two latch signals compared by the detection circuit is input and the state change detection signal is input, the encoding circuit latches the encoding signal.
6. The image pickup device according to claim 1 , wherein
the arithmetic unit includes a counter circuit, and
the counter circuit performs the subtraction between the first digital data and the second digital data by setting an initial value based on a value of each of bits constituting the first digital data, and then sequentially counting a value of each of bits constituting the second digital data.