Patent ID: 11937004
Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  Y | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A photoelectric conversion apparatus comprising:
a photodiode configured to perform avalanche multiplication;
a first circuit configured to be controlled by a control signal generated by a generation circuit to be in a standby state where the avalanche multiplication by the photodiode is possible and in a charging state for returning the photodiode having performed the avalanche multiplication to the standby state; and
a second circuit including a counter and a logic circuit,
wherein a signal corresponding to an output of the photodiode and the control signal are input to the logic circuit, and an output of the logic circuit is input to the counter, and
wherein the counter is configured to count a number of periods in which the avalanche multiplication has occurred among a plurality of periods of the standby state by using the control signal and the signal corresponding to the output of the photodiode.