Patent ID: 11906353
Assignee: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G

Claim 20:
21. An apparatus, comprising:
a photodiode;
a charge storage unit; and
a processing circuit configured to:
transfer overflow charge from the photodiode to the charge storage unit to develop a first voltage;
perform a first quantization operation to generate a first digital value;
perform a second quantization operation to generate a second digital value; and
output one of the first digital value or the second digital value to represent an intensity of light received by the photodiode,
wherein the first quantization operation comprises:
comparing the first voltage against a first ramping threshold voltage to generate a first decision; and
generating, based on the first decision, a first digital value from a counter;
wherein the second quantization operation comprises:
transferring residual charge from the photodiode to the charge storage unit to develop a second voltage;
comparing the second voltage against a second ramping threshold voltage to generate a second decision; and
generating, based on the second decision, a second digital value from the counter;

and
wherein the counter is reset based on at least one of: the first ramping threshold voltage reaching a first voltage break point during the first quantization operation, or the second ramping threshold voltage reaching a second voltage break point during the second quantization operation.