Patent ID: 8723997

Claim:
An image sensor comprising: a controller configured to generate a first control signal and a second control signal; a plurality of up/down ripple counters configured to receive a plurality of operation control signals, the plurality of operation control signals being based at least in part on the first control signal; and a plurality of memory chains; each of the plurality of up/down ripple counters configured to perform one of a stop operation and a count operation in response to a corresponding one of the operation control signals and perform the count operation as one of an up-count operation and a down-count operation based on the second control signal, wherein each of the plurality of memory chains includes a plurality of memory devices which are serially connected to one another, each of the plurality of memory devices configured to receive a count value output from a corresponding one of the plurality of up/down ripple counters, and each of the plurality of memory chains is configured to sequentially shift the corresponding count value and output the corresponding count value in series.