초록 ▼

An image sensor IC may have a non-volatile memory for several functions. The functions may include storing control parameters for a camera autofocus module, part tracking data, and data for defect correction or color science. The non-volatile memory can in particular be an antifuse non-volatile memo

An image sensor IC may have a non-volatile memory for several functions. The functions may include storing control parameters for a camera autofocus module, part tracking data, and data for defect correction or color science. The non-volatile memory can in particular be an antifuse non-volatile memory, which may not need special light shielding.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An electronic device comprising: a substrate;a volatile memory on said substrate;an antifuse non-volatile memory on said substrate;an image sensing pixel array on said substrate; anda co-processor configured to write contents of said antifuse non-volatile memory to said volatile memory, the conte

1. An electronic device comprising: a substrate;a volatile memory on said substrate;an antifuse non-volatile memory on said substrate;an image sensing pixel array on said substrate; anda co-processor configured to write contents of said antifuse non-volatile memory to said volatile memory, the contents including operational parameters of the electronic device, andre-write the contents back into a different region of said volatile memory. 2. The image sensor IC of claim 1, further comprising a volatile memory and mapper for mapping contents of said antifuse non-volatile memory to said volatile memory. 3. The image sensor IC of claim 2, wherein said volatile memory comprises an I2C data bus. 4. The image sensor IC of claim 1, further comprising a switcher for selectively powering said antifuse non-volatile memory. 5. The image sensor IC of claim 4, wherein said switcher is arranged to power said antifuse non-volatile memory upon power-up and to switch off said antifuse non-volatile memory when its contents have been copied to said volatile memory. 6. The image sensor IC of claim 1, wherein said antifuse non-volatile memory is encoded with data for part-tracking. 7. The image sensor IC of claim 6, wherein the data for part-tracking comprises at least one of: sensor ID, date of manufacture, sales region ID, tester ID, test result, wafer ID, and die ID. 8. The image sensor IC of claim 1, wherein said antifuse non-volatile memory is encoded with data for defect correction of image data. 9. The image sensor IC of claim 8, wherein the data for defect correction comprises locations of defective pixels. 10. The image sensor IC of claim 8, wherein the data for defect correction comprises couplet locations. 11. The image sensor IC of claim 1, wherein said antifuse non-volatile memory is encoded with data for color filter array reconstruction. 12. The image sensor IC of claim 11, wherein the data for color filter array reconstruction comprises at least one of: data for anti-vignetting, color channel gains, range scaling parameters, demosaicing algorithms, range clipping parameters, and gamma correction data. 13. The image sensor IC of claim 1, wherein said antifuse non-volatile memory is encoded with data defining embedded firmware for microprocessor or DSP control. 14. The image sensor IC of claim 1, further comprising a processor coupled to said image sensor IC. 15. An electronic device comprising: an image sensor integrated circuit (IC) including a substrate,a volatile memory on said substrate;an antifuse non-volatile memory on said substrate, andan image sensing pixel array on said substrate; anda co-processor coupled to said image sensor IC and configured to write contents of said antifuse non-volatile memory to said volatile memory, the contents including operational parameters of the image sensor IC, andre-write the contents back into a different region of said volatile memory. 16. The electronic device of claim 15, further comprising an auxiliary device connected to at least one of said image sensor IC and said co-processor. 17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein said auxiliary device comprises a motor for driving a lens carriage, and said antifuse non-volatile memory is encoded with operational parameters for driving said motor. 18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein said motor comprises a piezoelectric motor. 19. The electronic device of claim 17, further comprising a lens position sensor arranged in feedback with said motor. 20. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the operational parameters for driving said motor comprise at least one of a first command signal frequency for driving the motor in a first direction, a second command signal frequency for driving the motor in a second, direction, and a hard-stop lens position defining an infinity focus. 21. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein said electronic device defines at least one of an optical mouse, a web camera, an imaging apparatus, and a mobile telephone. 22. An electronic device comprising: a co-processor;an image sensor integrated circuit (IC); anda motor for driving a lens carriage and coupled to at least one of said co-processor and said image sensor IC; said image sensing IC including a non-volatile memory encoded with operational parameters for driving said motor, and a volatile memory;said co-processor configured towrite contents of said non-volatile memory to said volatile memory, the contents including operational parameters of the image sensor IC, andre-write the contents back into a different region of said volatile memory. 23. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein said electronic device defines at least one of an optical mouse, a web camera, an imaging apparatus, and a mobile telephone. 24. The electronic of claim 22, wherein said motor comprises a piezoelectric motor. 25. The electronic device of claim 22, further comprising a lens position sensor arranged in feedback with said motor. 26. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the operational parameters for driving said motor comprise one or more of a first command signal frequency for driving the motor in a first direction, a second command signal frequency for driving the motor in a second direction, and a hard-stop lens position defining an infinity focus. 27. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the non-volatile memory comprises an antifuse non-volatile memory. 28. A method of operating an image sensor integrated circuit (IC) comprising a substrate, a volatile memory on the substrate, an antifuse non-volatile memory on the substrate, and an image sensing pixel array on the substrate, the method comprising: writing the contents of the antifuse non-volatile memory to a volatile memory, the contents including operational parameters of the image sensor IC;selectively powering the antifuse non-volatile memory; andre-writing the contents back into a different region of said volatile memory. 29. The method of claim 28, further comprising powering up the antifuse non-volatile memory upon power-up of the image sensor IC. 30. The method of claim 28, further comprising powering down the antifuse non-volatile memory when it contents have been mapped to the volatile memory. 31. The method of claim 28, further comprising encoding the antifuse non-volatile memory with data for at least one of part-tracking, defect correction of image data, and color filter array reconstruction. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the data for defect correction comprises locations of defective pixels. 33. The method of claim 31, wherein the data for defect correction comprises couplet locations.