Patent ID: 11871129
Assignee: OMNIVISION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 2:
3. A method for estimating a signal charge collected by a pixel of an image sensor, comprising: determining an average bias that depends on the pixel's floating-diffusion dark current and pixel-sampling period; determining a signal-charge estimate as the average bias subtracted from a difference between a weighted sum of a plurality of N multiple-sampling values each multiplied by a respective one of a plurality of N sample-weights that (i) collectively minimize an expected value of the signal-charge estimate squared and (ii) sum to unity wherein N is a positive integer greater than one, each of the plurality of multiple-sampling values being proportional to a difference between (i) a respective one of a plurality of N reset-samples output by the pixel and (ii) a respective one of a plurality of N signal-samples output by the pixel, each of the plurality of N reset-samples including a read-noise component, and further comprising: determining the read-noise component as a weighted sum of Lorentzian noise sources each having a respective time-constant.