Patent ID: 11863884
Assignee: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 29:
30. A method for imaging, the method comprising:
causing an image sensor to expose a plurality of photodetectors of the image sensor to light from a scene, wherein each of the plurality of photodetectors are configured to convert the light from the scene into a charge in response to exposure to the light from the scene, wherein the plurality of photodetectors includes at least a first group of image photodetectors and a second group of image photodetectors that are distinct from one another, wherein the plurality of photodetectors represent a pixel array of the image sensor;
causing the image sensor to store, in a storage array, a plurality of analog photodetector signals corresponding to the charge from each the plurality of photodetectors;
reading first digital pixel data from a first subset of the plurality of analog photodetector signals corresponding to the first group of image photodetectors from the storage array using at least one analog to digital converter (ADC) without reading second digital pixel data from a second subset of the plurality of analog photodetector signals corresponding to the second group of image photodetectors, wherein the first group of image photodetectors is arranged in a regular pattern across the pixel array, the regular pattern including at least one pixel corresponding to the second group of image photodetectors in between each pixel corresponding to the first group of image photodetectors; and
generating an image of the scene using at least the first digital pixel data.