Patent ID: 7250971

Claim:
A solid-state imaging device comprising: a plurality of light receiving units arranged linearly for receiving light to generate and store charges; a plurality of charge transfer paths disposed on both sides of said plurality of light receiving units for receiving the charges exiting from said plurality of light receiving units and for transferring and outputting the received charges; a controller for moving the charges stored in said plurality of light receiving units into said plurality of charge transfer paths, and for transferring at substantially the same time and outputting the charges moved into said plurality of charge transfer paths disposed on both sides of said plurality of light receiving units, wherein each of said plurality of light receiving units comprises a plurality of segments separated by an internal potential barrier so that charges stored in said plurality of light receiving units are moved to said plurality of charge transfer paths; and an addition unit for obtaining a signal value indicating quantity of light received by a light receiving unit from the plurality of light receiving units, wherein the signal value is obtained by adding charges that have been accumulated in the same light receiving unit and that were separated to move through different light receiving paths positioned on each side of the same light receiving unit, wherein said each of said plurality of light receiving units is a single, integrally formed, storage container for the received charges, and wherein the plurality of segments are four segments obtained by separating each of said plurality of light receiving units with an internal cruciform potential barrier.