Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ma et al. (US PGPUB 20210151485).
[Claim 1]
A method for reading out a pixel array in an image sensor, the method comprising:
determining a readout sequence based on a row offset, the row offset indicating a first set of rows (in fig. 18, first row of a set of rows is shown) and a second set of rows fig. 1 shows an image sensor 100 having an array of pixels 101. FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate alternative embodiments of the FIG. 1 pixel unit having, respectively, a single four-way shared output-node) sharing a first output line (OUT1) and a second output line (OUT2);
reading, in a first row from the first set of rows of the pixel array, each of a plurality of even pixels and a plurality of odd pixels (fig. 18, SW1-SW4) corresponding to a first floating diffusion (FD1 for upper left cluster) node from the first output line at a plurality of time intervals (OUT1, In fig. 19a corresponding to 1 PD/readout, SW1-SW4 are read at a plurality of time intervals), and
reading, in a second row from the first set of rows of the pixel array, each of a plurality of even pixels and a plurality of odd pixels (fig. 18, SW13-SW16) corresponding to a second floating diffusion (FD4 for lower right cluster) node from the second output line (OUT2) at the plurality of time intervals (, In fig. 19a corresponding to 1 PD/readout, SW13-SW16 are read at a plurality of time intervals), the first row and the second row from the first set of rows are incremented through the first set of rows based on the determined readout sequence (fig. 19a shows the readout sequence); and
reading, in a first row from the second set of rows of the pixel array (fig. 1 shows an image sensor 100 having an array of pixels 101. FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate alternative embodiments of the FIG. 1 pixel unit having, respectively, a single four-way shared output-node. Same numerals will be used for understanding purpose), each of the plurality of even pixels and the plurality of odd pixels (SW5-SW8) corresponding to a third FD node (FD2) from the second output line (OUT2) at the plurality of time intervals (fig. 19a) and
reading, in a second row from the second set of rows of the pixel array, each of the plurality of even pixels and the plurality of odd pixels (SW9-12) corresponding to a fourth FD node (FD3) from the first output line (OUT1) at the plurality of time intervals (fig. 19a), the first row and the second row from the second set of rows are incremented through the first set of rows based on the determined readout sequence (fig. 19a shows the readout sequence being incremented through different rows).
[Claim 2]
The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the row offset is based on a minimal distance between the first row and the second row from the first set of rows and the second set of rows while maintaining continuity in readout rows until an image is read (In fig. 18, the first and second set of rows are continuous with no distance between them).
[Claim 3]
The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first row and the second row from the first set of rows and the second set of rows share the first output line and the second output line (OU1 and OUT2 is same for first and second set of rows for both sets of rows).
[Claim 4]
The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first row and the second row from the first set of rows are simultaneously read , and wherein each of the plurality of even pixels and the plurality of odd pixels corresponding to the first row from the first set of rows is read through the first output line and each of the plurality of even pixels and the plurality of odd pixels corresponding to the second row from the second set of rows is read through the second output line (Paragraph 53, FIG. 19G illustrates a single-stage readout corresponding to the ×2-pitch readout sequence (all four 4-PD clusters read-out independently and concurrently) and the ×4-pitch readout sequence shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively).
[Claim 5]
The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first row and the second row from the second set of rows are simultaneously read (FIG. 19G illustrates a single-stage readout corresponding to the ×2-pitch readout sequence (all four 4-PD clusters read-out independently and concurrently) and the ×4-pitch readout sequence shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively), and wherein each of the plurality of even pixels and the plurality of odd pixels is read from the second output line (OUT1) and the first output line (OUT2).
[Claim 6]
The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of even pixels and the plurality of odd pixels are sequentially read from the first FD node and the second FD node (fig. 19a).
[Claims 7-12]
These are apparatus claims corresponding to method claims 1-6 and are analyzed and rejected based upon method claims 1-6.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOGESH K AGGARWAL whose telephone number is (571)272-7360. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at 5712727564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YOGESH K AGGARWAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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