Patents by Inventor Hideki Ikedo

Hideki Ikedo has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240136370
    Abstract: A photoelectric conversion apparatus includes an output line and multiple unit pixels. Each of the multiple unit pixels includes a photoelectric conversion element that generates signal electric charge based on incident light, an amplifier transistor that has a gate into which the signal electric charge is input and that outputs a signal based on potential of the gate, a selection transistor with which the amplifier transistor is connected to the output line, and a reset transistor that resets the potential of the gate. The photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a first well on which the selection transistor is provided and a second well on which at least two transistors are provided. The first well is electrically separated from the second well.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2023
    Publication date: April 25, 2024
    Inventors: SHINYA ICHINO, HIDEKI IKEDO
  • Publication number: 20240128285
    Abstract: A photoelectric conversion device comprises a pixel substrate. The pixel substrate includes a photoelectric conversion unit to generate signal charge according to incident light, a floating diffusion unit to receive the signal charge as input, a pixel transistor region including the floating diffusion unit, first and second output lines, and a first region and a second region located outside the first region. In a plan view relative to a main surface of the pixel substrate, the first region is where the first output line overlaps with at least a portion of the pixel transistor region, the second region is where the second output line overlaps with at least a portion of the photoelectric conversion unit, and an end portion of the second output line intersecting with respect to a longer-side direction of the second output line is positioned to overlap with at least a portion of the second region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Inventors: HIDEKI IKEDO, SATOSHI SUZUKI
  • Patent number: 11917300
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus capable of performing an appropriate correction processing that suppresses an influence of high luminance light is provided. The image pickup apparatus comprising at least one processor and/or circuit configured to function as inferring a luminance of a high luminance subject having a pixel signal saturation level or higher based on image signals generated from a plurality of pixels, and determining an area for obtaining a correction value used when correcting the image signals based on the inferred luminance of the high luminance subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 11637984
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus comprises a plurality of light-receiving circuits, each outputting a pulse signal in response to a photon being incident; a plurality of counter circuits that count the respective pulse signals output by the plurality of light-receiving circuits; and a correction circuit that corrects counts from the plurality of counter circuits and outputs the corrected counts as image data. The correction circuit calculates a correction coefficient on the basis of counts obtained by the plurality of counter circuits in a state where pulse widths of the pulse signals differ or under conditions where generation frequencies of the pulse signals differ, and performs the correction using the correction coefficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideki Ikedo, Ken Sasaki
  • Patent number: 11539907
    Abstract: An image sensor, comprising a pixel region in which a plurality of pixel units are arranged, each pixel unit having first and second photoelectric conversion portions, a first output portion that outputs, outside of the image sensor, a first signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, and a second output portion that outputs a second signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion and a signal from the second photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, wherein output of the first signal from the first output portion and output of the second signal from the second output portion are performed in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 11495005
    Abstract: An image sensor comprises a pixel array having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, a readout unit that controls readout of signals from the plurality of pixels, an output unit that outputs the read signals as an image signal and an extraction unit that performs feature amount extraction processing to extract a feature amount using the read signals. The readout of the signals by the readout unit and the feature amount extraction processing by the extraction unit are processed in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuki Ohshitanai, Hideki Ikedo
  • Publication number: 20220321753
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus capable of performing an appropriate correction processing that suppresses an influence of high luminance light is provided. The image pickup apparatus comprising at least one processor and/or circuit configured to function as inferring a luminance of a high luminance subject having a pixel signal saturation level or higher based on image signals generated from a plurality of pixels, and determining an area for obtaining a correction value used when correcting the image signals based on the inferred luminance of the high luminance subject.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2022
    Publication date: October 6, 2022
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 11457168
    Abstract: An image sensor, comprising a pixel region in which a plurality of pixel units are arranged, each pixel unit having first and second photoelectric conversion portions, a first output portion that outputs, outside of the image sensor, a first signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, and a second output portion that outputs a second signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion and a signal from the second photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, wherein output of the first signal from the first output portion and output of the second signal from the second output portion are performed in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Publication number: 20220247960
    Abstract: An image sensor, comprising a pixel region in which a plurality of pixel units are arranged, each pixel unit having first and second photoelectric conversion portions, a first output portion that outputs, outside of the image sensor, a first signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, and a second output portion that outputs a second signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion and a signal from the second photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, wherein output of the first signal from the first output portion and output of the second signal from the second output portion are performed in parallel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2022
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Publication number: 20220139987
    Abstract: A solid-state image sensor comprises a first region including a plurality of pixels that each pixel separating portion that intercepts light between the plurality of pixels and shielding each of the pixels from light; a second region provided outside the first region; and light-shielding portion provided in at least a part of a region between the first and second regions, for preventing light from one of the first and second regions from entering the other one, and the light-shielding portion is provided in a semiconductor substrate in which the photoelectric conversion element is provided in a state in which the light-shielding portion extends in the depth direction of the semiconductor substrate, and the light-shielding portion is formed so as to differ in configuration from the pixel separating portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: Makiko Saito, Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 11184569
    Abstract: An image sensor comprises: a plurality of pixels, each pixel including a light-receiving portion that outputs an electrical signal obtained by photoelectrically converting incident light and an A/D converter that AD-converts the electrical signal, the plurality of pixels configured to be capable of AD-converting a signal output from the light-receiving portion of a first pixel, among a predetermined plurality of pixels, using the A/D converter of another pixel, every predetermined plurality of pixels; and a selection circuit that selects a pixel to AD-convert the electrical signal output from the light-receiving portion of the first pixel, every predetermined plurality of pixels. The A/D converters of the predetermined plurality of pixels carry out the AD conversion in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideki Ikedo, Hirokazu Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20210271915
    Abstract: An image sensor comprises a pixel array having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, a readout unit that controls readout of signals from the plurality of pixels, an output unit that outputs the read signals as an image signal and an extraction unit that performs feature amount extraction processing to extract a feature amount using the read signals. The readout of the signals by the readout unit and the feature amount extraction processing by the extraction unit are processed in parallel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Publication date: September 2, 2021
    Inventors: Kazuki Ohshitanai, Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 11089251
    Abstract: An image sensor of a photon counting type that suppresses a reduction in the efficiency of photon detection dependent on a pixel position, is disclosed. The image sensor comprising a pixel region in which a plurality of pixels are arrayed in a matrix, each pixel including a photoelectric conversion region and an avalanche breakdown region. In a plan view of a pixel, a size of the avalanche breakdown region is smaller than a size of the photoelectric conversion region. In addition, at least some of pixels arranged in a peripheral region of the pixel region, the avalanche breakdown region is formed such that a position thereof is shifted with respect to a position of the avalanche breakdown region in pixels arranged in a central region of the pixel region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideki Ikedo, Hirokazu Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11089256
    Abstract: An image sensor comprising one or more processors and/or circuitry which functions as: a plurality of pixels each of which detects photons incident during a predetermined exposure period, counts a number of the photons, and outputs a first count value; a calculator that calculates a second count value per unit time based on the exposure period and the first count value; and a corrector that acquires a correction coefficient based on the second count value and corrects a detection error of the first count value using the correction coefficient, wherein the corrector acquires a larger value as the correction coefficient in a case where the second count value is a first value than in a case where the second count value is a second value which is smaller than the first value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Publication number: 20210168323
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus comprises a plurality of light-receiving circuits, each outputting a pulse signal in response to a photon being incident; a plurality of counter circuits that count the respective pulse signals output by the plurality of light-receiving circuits; and a correction circuit that corrects counts from the plurality of counter circuits and outputs the corrected counts as image data. The correction circuit calculates a correction coefficient on the basis of counts obtained by the plurality of counter circuits in a state where pulse widths of the pulse signals differ or under conditions where generation frequencies of the pulse signals differ, and performs the correction using the correction coefficient.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2020
    Publication date: June 3, 2021
    Inventors: Hideki Ikedo, Ken Sasaki
  • Publication number: 20200374480
    Abstract: An image sensor, comprising a pixel region in which a plurality of pixel units are arranged, each pixel unit having first and second photoelectric conversion portions, a first output portion that outputs, outside of the image sensor, a first signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, and a second output portion that outputs a second signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion and a signal from the second photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, wherein output of the first signal from the first output portion and output of the second signal from the second output portion are performed in parallel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Publication number: 20200351464
    Abstract: An image sensor comprising one or more processors and/or circuitry which functions as: a plurality of pixels each of which detects photons incident during a predetermined exposure period, counts a number of the photons, and outputs a first count value; a calculator that calculates a second count value per unit time based on the exposure period and the first count value; and a corrector that acquires a correction coefficient based on the second count value and corrects a detection error of the first count value using the correction coefficient, wherein the corrector acquires a larger value as the correction coefficient in a case where the second count value is a first value than in a case where the second count value is a second value which is smaller than the first value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2020
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 10785423
    Abstract: An image sensor comprises: a plurality of pixels each including a sensor portion that generates pulses at a frequency corresponding to a frequency at which photons are incident; counters that count a number of pulses generated by each of the sensor portions; and a detector that detects whether or not a count value obtained by any of the counters has reached a first threshold. The counters are reset based on a result of detection performed by the detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 10785438
    Abstract: An image sensor, comprising a pixel region in which a plurality of pixel units are arranged, each pixel unit having first and second photoelectric conversion portions, a first output portion that outputs, outside of the image sensor, a first signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, and a second output portion that outputs a second signal based on a signal from the first photoelectric conversion portion and a signal from the second photoelectric conversion portion of the pixel units, wherein output of the first signal from the first output portion and output of the second signal from the second output portion are performed in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo
  • Patent number: 10785439
    Abstract: An image sensor comprising one or more processors and/or circuitry which functions as: a plurality of pixels each of which detects photons incident during a predetermined exposure period, counts a number of the photons, and outputs a first count value; a calculator that calculates a second count value per unit time based on the exposure period and the first count value; and a corrector that acquires a correction coefficient based on the second count value and corrects a detection error of the first count value using the correction coefficient, wherein the corrector acquires a larger value as the correction coefficient in a case where the second count value is a first value than in a case where the second count value is a second value which is smaller than the first value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hideki Ikedo