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CN-122029831-A - Solid-state image pickup element, image pickup system, and control method for solid-state image pickup element

CN122029831ACN 122029831 ACN122029831 ACN 122029831ACN-122029831-A

Abstract

The invention improves the reliability of a solid-state image pickup device capable of detecting the presence or absence of a self-failure. The solid-state image pickup element includes a predetermined number of column circuits, a redundant column circuit, a failure detection section, and a control section. The predetermined number of column circuits reads the pixel signals. The failure detection unit detects the presence or absence of a failure in each of the column circuits. In the case where a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits, the control section performs redundancy switching for switching a connection destination of at least a part of the column circuits of the predetermined number and a connection destination of the redundancy column circuit.

Inventors

  • NOJIRI NAOYA

Assignees

  • 索尼半导体解决方案公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20240823
Priority Date
20231019

Claims (12)

  1. 1. A solid-state image pickup element comprising: a predetermined number of column circuits that read the pixel signals; A redundant column circuit; A fault detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of a fault in each of the column circuits, and And a control unit configured to perform redundancy switching for switching between a connection destination of at least a part of the column circuits and a connection destination of the redundant column circuit, in a case where a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits.
  2. 2. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 1, further comprising: a pixel array section including N floating diffusion layers arranged in a predetermined direction, Wherein the predetermined number of column circuits is N column circuits, The first to N-th floating diffusion layers are connected to the first to N-th column circuits before failure detection, and Assuming that N is an integer between 1 and N, in the case where the nth column circuit fails, the control section switches the connection destination of the nth to nth floating diffusion layers to the (n+1) th to nth column circuits and the redundant column circuit in the redundancy switch.
  3. 3. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 1, wherein, In the case where a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits, the control section performs one of the redundancy switching and a retiring operation for reducing a reading speed of the predetermined number of column circuits.
  4. 4. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 3, wherein, Each of the predetermined number of column circuits includes: A first analog-to-digital converter and a second analog-to-digital converter; A first vertical signal line and a second vertical signal line; A first selector connecting any one of the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal line to any one of the first analog-to-digital converter and the second analog-to-digital converter, and A second selector connecting either one of the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal line to one of the first analog-to-digital converter and the second analog-to-digital converter, and In the case where one of the first analog-to-digital converter and the second analog-to-digital converter fails or one of the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal line fails, the control section controls one of the first selector and the second selector in the retract operation so that the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal line are alternately connected to the other of the first analog-to-digital converter and the second analog-to-digital converter in synchronization with a horizontal synchronization signal.
  5. 5. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 4, further comprising: A holding section that holds setting information indicating priorities of the redundancy switch and the fallback operation, and And a retraction/redundancy determination unit that determines, based on the setting information, which of the redundancy switching and the retraction operation the control unit is to execute, when a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits.
  6. 6. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 5, wherein, In the case where the retract operation is to be performed, the retract/redundancy determination section requests the host device to change the period of the vertical synchronization signal.
  7. 7. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 5, further comprising: A pixel array section in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in a two-dimensional lattice pattern, and A pixel interpolation unit that interpolates a pixel signal of a defective pixel based on a pixel signal around the defective pixel when one or more pixels among the plurality of pixels are defective, Wherein the failure detection section further detects the presence or absence of a failure in each of the plurality of pixels.
  8. 8. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 7, further comprising: And a statistical processing unit that obtains a fluctuation range of the region of interest in the pixel array unit by statistical processing.
  9. 9. The solid-state image pickup element according to claim 8, further comprising: A failure counting unit that counts the number of times a failure is detected within the fluctuation range within a predetermined period, and outputs a count value, Wherein the redundancy/retraction determination section performs the redundancy switch or the retraction operation in a case where the count value is greater than a predetermined threshold value.
  10. 10. A solid-state image pickup element comprising: a predetermined number of column circuits that read the pixel signals; A fault detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of a fault in each of the column circuits, and And a control section that, in the case where a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits, performs a retract operation for reducing a reading speed of the predetermined number of column circuits.
  11. 11. An imaging system, comprising: A host device; a predetermined number of column circuits that read the pixel signals; A redundant column circuit; a failure detection unit for detecting whether or not each of the column circuits has a failure, and notifying the host device of the detection result, and And a control unit configured to perform redundancy switching for switching between a connection destination of at least a part of the column circuits and a connection destination of the redundant column circuit, in a case where a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits.
  12. 12. A control method of a solid-state image pickup element, the control method comprising: A step of reading the pixel signals using a predetermined number of column circuits; a fault detection step of detecting the presence or absence of a fault in each of the column circuits by a fault detection unit, and And a control step of, in the case where a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits, performing, with a control section, redundancy switching for switching between a connection destination of at least a part of the column circuits of the predetermined number and a connection destination of the redundancy column circuit.

Description

Solid-state image pickup element, image pickup system, and control method for solid-state image pickup element Technical Field The present technology relates to a solid-state image pickup element. More specifically, the present technology relates to a solid-state image pickup element, an image pickup system, and a control method of the solid-state image pickup element capable of detecting the presence or absence of a failure. Background Conventionally, a solid-state image pickup element used in an industrial camera, an in-vehicle camera, or the like is sometimes equipped with a BIST (built-in self test) function for detecting a self-failure. For example, a solid-state image pickup element capable of detecting a failure of a row driver, or disconnection of a vertical signal line, or the like, and notifying a host device (host device) such as an electronic control unit (ECU: electronic control unit) of the detection result has been disclosed (for example, see patent document 1). CITATION LIST Patent document 1 International application publication WO 2017/209721A Disclosure of Invention Problems to be solved by the invention In the conventional technique described above, the BIST function is used to specify the location of the fault. However, in the above-described conventional technique, a failure in the circuit may cause defects such as streak defects to occur in the image data (i.e., frames). In the case where this defect occurs, for example, the solid-state image pickup element may perform pixel interpolation (pixel interpolation), but the pixel interpolation may deteriorate image quality and may deteriorate reliability of the system. The present technology has been developed in view of the above-described situation, and therefore, an object of the present technology is to improve the reliability of a solid-state image pickup element capable of detecting the presence or absence of a failure itself. Technical proposal for solving the problems The present technology has been developed in order to solve the above-described problems, and a first aspect of the present technology is a solid-state image pickup element and a control method for controlling the solid-state image pickup element. The solid-state image pickup element includes a predetermined number of column circuits that read pixel signals, redundant column circuits, a failure detection section that detects the presence or absence of a failure in each of the column circuits, and a control section that performs redundancy switching (redundancy switchover) for switching between a connection destination of at least a part of the predetermined number of column circuits and a connection destination of the redundant column circuits when a failure is detected in any of the column circuits. This brings about an effect that the reliability of the system can be improved. Further, in the first aspect, the solid-state image pickup element may further include a pixel array section including N floating diffusion layers arranged in a predetermined direction. The predetermined number of column circuits is N column circuits. The first to nth floating diffusion layers are connected to the first to nth column circuits prior to failure detection. Assuming that N is an integer between 1 and N, in the case where the nth column circuit fails, the control section switches the connection destination of the nth to nth floating diffusion layers to the (n+1) th to nth column circuits and the redundant column circuit in the redundancy switch. This brings about an effect that the reliability of the system can be improved. Further, in the first aspect, in the case where a failure is detected in any one of the column circuits, the control section may perform one of the redundancy switching and a retiring operation (fallback operation) for reducing the read speed of the predetermined number of column circuits. This brings about an effect that reliability and throughput can be maintained. Further, in the first aspect, the predetermined number of column circuits each include a first analog-to-digital converter and a second analog-to-digital converter, a first vertical signal line and a second vertical signal line, a first selector connecting any one of the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal line to any one of the first analog-to-digital converter and the second analog-to-digital converter, and a second selector connecting any one of the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal line to one of the first analog-to-digital converter and the second analog-to-digital converter. Here, in the case where one of the first analog-to-digital converter and the second analog-to-digital converter fails or one of the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal line fails, the control section may control one of the first selector and the second selector in the retract operation so that the first vertical signal line and the second vertical signal l