Patent ID: 7244920

Claim:
A CMOS active pixel sensor array having a shared structure, comprising a plurality of unit blocks, the unit block comprising: N pairs of photo diode regions arranged in a first direction on a plane, where N is a natural number; 2N transfer transistors respectively corresponding to the photo diode regions, wherein each of the transfer transistors is formed at a corner of the corresponding photo diode region, and wherein for each pair of photo diode regions the two corresponding transfer transistors symmetrically oppose each other; N floating diffusion nodes, wherein each of the floating diffusion nodes is respectively arranged between a pair of photo diode regions, and wherein each of the floating diffusion nodes is shared by the two corresponding transfer transistors and the corresponding pair of photo diode regions; at least one metal line coupling the N floating diffusion nodes; a reset transistor configured to reset a voltage of the floating diffusion nodes; and a readout circuit including at least one transistor configured to sample the floating diffusion node, wherein the reset transistor and the at least one transistor of the readout circuit are disposed between two or more pairs of the N pairs of photo diode regions.