A 16/spl times/16-pixel range-finding CMOS image sensor

Abstract

This paper describes the design and characterization of a 16/spl times/16-pixel image sensor, fabricated in a 0.35 /spl mu/m, 3.3 V CMOS technology for real time three dimensional measurements based on multiple-pulse indirect time-of-flight technique. Owing to an innovative fully differential pixel (FDP) architecture, which allows for the detection of very short and low intensity light pulses, the sensor array provides a range map from 2 m to 9 m with a precision of /spl plusmn/4.0% at 2 m and /spl plusmn/1.7% at 9 m. The pixel power consumption is 100 /spl mu/W, whereas the overall power consumption of the chip is 47 mW in real time operation (30 fps).