Patent ID: 8736925

Claim:
A scanning image sensor with summation, allowing a synchronized reading of a same image line by a plurality of lines of P photosensitive pixels successively and allowing a pixel to pixel summation of signals read by the different lines, wherein the sensor comprises: an array of M groups of N lines of P pixels producing charges proportional to illumination, these pixels being arranged in P columns, each column of rank j, where j varies from 1 to P, comprising M respective charge transfer register, allowing progressive accumulation, in a pixel of rank j of a N-th line of P pixels of a group of rank m, where m varies from 1 to M, of charges collected in the N pixels of rank j of this group, within the array, M lines of P read circuits for reading charges collected in the P pixels of the N-th line of a group of pixels, each read circuit of rank j of a line of rank m being connected to a respective column conductor of rank j common to all the read circuits of rank j of the different lines, in order to provide on this column conductor an analog electrical signal based on the charges accumulated in the pixel of rank j of the N-th line of any group of lines of pixels, outside the array of pixels, M lines of P digitization circuits, the digitization circuit of rank j of a respective line of P digitization circuits comprising a sampler for sampling an analog signal present on said column conductor of rank j, and an analog-digital converter for supplying a digital value of said analog signal, and a summation means for summing digital values, capable of adding together digital values obtained from the converters and corresponding to a sampling of a plurality of analog signals all corresponding to an observation of a same image point of rank j in an observed image line.