Patent ID: 11924573
Assignee: TRUSTEES OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. An imaging system, comprising:
an imaging array comprising a plurality of jots that are single-bit or multi-bit, wherein each jot of the plurality of jots is configured to generate a respective electrical signal in response to photon absorption; and
readout circuitry in electrical communication with the imaging array and configured to quantize, for each jot of the plurality of jots, a respective analog signal corresponding to the respective electrical signal of the jot, wherein the imagine system is configured as a three-dimensional (3D) vertically integrated circuit with the imaging array stacked vertically above the readout circuitry,
wherein the imaging array is configured as a plurality of clusters, each cluster of the plurality of clusters comprising a respective group of said plurality of jots,
each respective cluster of the plurality of clusters is electrically coupled to and configured to be read out by a respective readout circuit block of the readout circuitry,
each readout circuit block comprising a respective primary image processor configured to perform digital signal processing of respective jot signals to generate a respective digital value corresponding to the respective cluster based on a respective processing digital signal corresponding to the respective electrical signal generated by each jot read out from the respective cluster for a given frame, such that an output data rate of the imaging system is reduced, and
the respective digital value corresponding to the respective cluster for the given frame is stored in a respective memory.