Patents by Inventor Thomas Richard Ayers

Thomas Richard Ayers 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: 20220260716
    Abstract: An imaging device includes a pixel array including a plurality of pixels. Each pixel includes a photoelectric conversion region that converts incident light into electric charge, and a first transfer transistor coupled to a first floating diffusion and the photoelectric conversion region. The imaging device includes a first driving circuit to control the plurality of pixels in an imaging mode to generate a color image, and a second driving circuit to control the plurality of pixels in a depth mode to generate a depth image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2020
    Publication date: August 18, 2022
    Applicant: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Thomas Richard AYERS, Ping Wah WONG, Frederick BRADY
  • Publication number: 20180227522
    Abstract: An image sensor comprises a pixel circuit including a reset transistor and configured to output a pixel signal; and a differential comparator including a pixel input, a reference input, and a comparator output, wherein one of a source or a drain of the reset transistor is connected to the comparator output. In this manner, an active reset method may be incorporated in the image sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2018
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventors: Thomas Richard Ayers, Shizunori Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 9967496
    Abstract: An image sensor comprises a pixel circuit including a reset transistor and configured to output a pixel signal; and a differential comparator including a pixel input, a reference input, and a comparator output, wherein one of a source or a drain of the reset transistor is connected to the comparator output. In this manner, an active reset method may be incorporated in the image sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas Richard Ayers, Shizunori Matsumoto
  • Publication number: 20180007296
    Abstract: An image sensor comprises a pixel circuit including a reset transistor and configured to output a pixel signal; and a differential comparator including a pixel input, a reference input, and a comparator output, wherein one of a source or a drain of the reset transistor is connected to the comparator output. In this manner, an active reset method may be incorporated in the image sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Publication date: January 4, 2018
    Inventors: THOMAS RICHARD AYERS, SHIZUNORI MATSUMOTO
  • Patent number: 9654711
    Abstract: A system and method for scaling an image includes receiving raw image data comprising input pixel values which correspond to pixels of an image sensor, filtering pixels in a spatial domain, and filtering pixels in a frequency domain according to an oversampling ratio. The system and method may also include outputting scaled image data as output pixel values, which correspond to subgroups of the input pixel values. The filtering may be done according to a Bayer-consistent ruleset which includes a set of filter weights and a series of scaling rules. The oversampling ratio is set to minimize an error after the filtering in the spatial domain and the filtering in the frequency domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas Richard Ayers, Edward Elikhis, Ping Wah Wong
  • Publication number: 20170085818
    Abstract: A system and method for scaling an image includes receiving raw image data comprising input pixel values which correspond to pixels of an image sensor, filtering pixels in a spatial domain, and filtering pixels in a frequency domain according to an oversampling ratio. The system and method may also include outputting scaled image data as output pixel values, which correspond to subgroups of the input pixel values. The filtering may be done according to a Bayer-consistent ruleset which includes a set of filter weights and a series of scaling rules. The oversampling ratio is set to minimize an error after the filtering in the spatial domain and the filtering in the frequency domain.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2015
    Publication date: March 23, 2017
    Inventors: Thomas Richard Ayers, Edward Elikhis, Ping Wah Wong
  • Patent number: 9449366
    Abstract: A system and method for scaling an image includes receiving raw image data comprising input pixel values which correspond to pixels of an image sensor; and filtering pixels according to a Bayer-consistent ruleset. The system and method may also include outputting scaled image data as output pixel values, which correspond to subgroups of the input pixel values. The Bayer-consistent ruleset includes a set of filter weights and a series of scaling rules. The Bayer-consistent ruleset results in a scaled image having a high degree of Bayer-consistency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Ping Wah Wong, Thomas Richard Ayers
  • Patent number: 9424626
    Abstract: A system and method of processing raw image pixel information includes an integrated decimation filter and raw image scaling filter. The decimation filter operates in the time domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of time samples. The raw image scaling filter operates in the spatial domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of spatial samples. The raw image pixel information is modulated by a sigma-delta analog-to-digital modulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Thomas Richard Ayers
  • Patent number: 9342865
    Abstract: A system and method of processing raw image pixel information includes an integrated decimation filter and raw image scaling filter for a set of M columns of raw image pixel information. The decimation filter operates in the time domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of time samples. The raw image scaling filter operates in the spatial domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of spatial samples. The raw image pixel information is modulated by a sigma-delta analog-to-digital modulator. The system and method scale the raw image pixel information by a factor of 1/N. M and N are positive integers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Thomas Richard Ayers
  • Publication number: 20160093019
    Abstract: A system and method of processing raw image pixel information includes an integrated decimation filter and raw image scaling filter for a set of M columns of raw image pixel information. The decimation filter operates in the time domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of time samples. The raw image scaling filter operates in the spatial domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of spatial samples. The raw image pixel information is modulated by a sigma-delta analog-to-digital modulator. The system and method scale the raw image pixel information by a factor of 1/N. M and N are positive integers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2015
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventor: Thomas Richard Ayers
  • Publication number: 20160093016
    Abstract: A system and method for scaling an image includes receiving raw image data comprising input pixel values which correspond to pixels of an image sensor; and filtering pixels according to a Bayer-consistent ruleset. The system and method may also include outputting scaled image data as output pixel values, which correspond to subgroups of the input pixel values. The Bayer-consistent ruleset includes a set of filter weights and a series of scaling rules. The Bayer-consistent ruleset results in a scaled image having a high degree of Bayer-consistency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventors: Ping Wah Wong, Thomas Richard Ayers
  • Publication number: 20160093017
    Abstract: A system and method of processing raw image pixel information includes an integrated decimation filter and raw image scaling filter. The decimation filter operates in the time domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of time samples. The raw image scaling filter operates in the spatial domain; for example, to calculate a weighted average of spatial samples. The raw image pixel information is modulated by a sigma-delta analog-to-digital modulator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventor: Thomas Richard Ayers
  • Patent number: 9077924
    Abstract: An image sensing device and image sensing method are described herein. By way of example, the imaging sensing device includes a two-dimensional array of light sensing elements, each light sensing element being configured to generate an output signal indicative of an intensity level of light impinging on the light sensing element, one or more analog-to-digital converters configured to digitize output signals read out from the array of light sensing elements to generate digital output pixel values, a control circuit configured to generate digital pixel reset values, and a compression module configured to receive the digital pixel reset values and to generate a compressed digital pixel reset value corresponding to each digital pixel reset value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Pixim, Inc.
    Inventors: Ping Wah Wong, Thomas Richard Ayers
  • Publication number: 20150062377
    Abstract: An image sensing device and image sensing method are described herein. By way of example, the imaging sensing device includes a two-dimensional array of light sensing elements, each light sensing element being configured to generate an output signal indicative of an intensity level of light impinging on the light sensing element, one or more analog-to-digital converters configured to digitize output signals read out from the array of light sensing elements to generate digital output pixel values, a control circuit configured to generate digital pixel reset values, and a compression module configured to receive the digital pixel reset values and to generate a compressed digital pixel reset value corresponding to each digital pixel reset value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2013
    Publication date: March 5, 2015
    Applicants: PIXIM, INC., SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ping Wah Wong, Thomas Richard Ayers