1.-67. (canceled)
68. A method of operating a wide dynamic range pixel cell, the method comprising:
resetting a photosensor to remove all charge from the photosensor, the photosensor comprising first and second charge accumulation regions having respective first and second pinned voltages;
exposing the photosensor to light during an integration period, the photosensor capable of converting the light into charges;
draining said charges from said first accumulation region into said second accumulation region; and
performing a readout of the charges generated by the photosensor during the integration period.
69. The method of claim 68, wherein said step of resetting the photosensor comprises signaling a transistor to apply a reset voltage to the photo sensor.
70. The method of claim 68, further comprising the step of activating a first anti-blooming transistor to drain excess charges from said second accumulation region into a drain region.
71. The method of claim 70, further comprising the step of a first transfer of generated charges from the photosensor to a floating diffusion region.
72. The method of claim 71, further comprising the step of second transfer of charges accumulated since said first transfer, from the photosensor to said floating diffusion region.
73. The method of claim 72, wherein said readout of said charge comprises:
performing a first readout of charges from said floating diffusion region after said first transfer; and
performing a second readout of charges from said floating diffusion region after said second transfer.
74. The method of claim 73, wherein said second readout occurs subsequent to said anti-blooming transistor draining excess charge from said photo sensor.
75. The method of claim 70, further comprising the step of de-activating said anti-blooming transistor.
76. The method of claim 68, wherein said step of resetting the photosensor comprises operating a mechanical shutter.
77. A method of operating a wide dynamic range pixel cell, the method comprising:
resetting a photosensor to remove all charge from the photosensor by setting a reset signal to activate a reset transistor and pulsing a transfer signal to activate a transfer transistor, the photosensor comprising first and second charge accumulation regions having respective first and second pinned voltages;
exposing the photosensor to light during an integration period, the photosensor capable of converting the light into charges;
draining said charges from said first accumulation region into said second accumulation region;
setting an anti-blooming transistor to drain excess charge from the second charge accumulation region into a drain region; and
performing a readout of the charges generated by the photosensor during the integration period.
78. The method of claim 77, further comprising the step of a first transfer of generated charges from the photosensor to a floating diffusion region.
79. The method of claim 78, further comprising the step of second transfer of charges accumulated since said first transfer, from the photosensor to said floating diffusion region.
80. The method of claim 79, wherein said readout of said charge comprises: performing a first readout of charges from said floating diffusion region after said first transfer; and performing a second readout of charges from said floating diffusion region after said second transfer.
81. The method of claim 80, wherein said second readout occurs subsequent to said anti-blooming transistor draining excess charge from said photo sensor.
82. The method of claim 78, wherein performing the readout comprises:
setting a row select signal and sample and hold signals high to readout a signal from the floating diffusion region;
turning the reset signal high to turn on the reset transistor; and
setting a reset sample and hold signal high to readout the reset signal.
83. The method of claim 77, further comprising opening a shutter to expose the photosensor to light during an integration period.
84. The method of claim 77, wherein after completion of performing the readout of the charges, all signals are returned to low and the steps of resetting the photosensor to performing the readout are repeated row-by-row for each pixel cell of an array.
85. The method of claim 77, wherein a set point of the anti-blooming transistor is set by the respective first and second pinned voltages of the first and second charge accumulation regions.
86. A method of operating a wide dynamic range pixel cell, the method comprising:
closing a shutter to prevent light from reaching a photosensor within the cell, the photosensor comprising first and second charge accumulation regions having respective first and second pinned voltages;
opening the shutter to expose the photosensor to light during an integration period, the photosensor converting the light into charge in the first accumulation region;
draining said charge from said first accumulation region into said second accumulation region; and
performing a readout of the charge generated by the photosensor during the integration period.
87. The method of claim 86, wherein the second charge accumulation region is directly coupled to a drain region.
88. The method of claim 86, wherein after completion of the readout of the charge, all signals are returned to low and the steps of resetting the photosensor to performing the readout are repeated row-by-row for each pixel cell of an array.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An optical filter package comprising: a first optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal; an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter; an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter; a collimating lens positioned between said optical fibers and said filter; and a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber, wherein the filter is a gain-flattening shaping filter.
2. An optical filter package comprising:
a first optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
a collimating lens positioned between said optical fibers and said filter; and
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber, wherein the filter comprises a dielectric film.
3. An optical filter package comprising:
a first optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
a collimating lens positioned between said optical fibers and said filter; and
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber, wherein the reflector comprises a metallic coating.
4. An optical filter package comprising:
a first optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
a collimating lens positioned between said optical fibers and said filter;
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber; and
at least one substrate that supports the filter and the reflector.
5. An optical package comprising:
an optical element suitable for processing a light signal;
an input optical waveguide optically coupled to said optical element;
an output optical waveguide optically coupled to said optical element;
a reflector suitable for reflecting a desired wavelength of light signal, the optical element positioned between the input waveguide and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical waveguide, is transmitted through the optical element, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the optical element to the output optical waveguide; and
at least one substrate supporting said optical element and said reflector, said at least one substrate having a first side and a second side, wherein said optical element is deposited on said first side.
6. The optical package of claim 5 wherein the optical element is an isolator.
7. The optical package of claim 5 wherein the optical element is a filter.
8. The optical package of claim 7 wherein the filter is a shaping filter.
9. The optical package of claim 8 wherein the filter is a gain-flattening filter.
10. The optical package of claim 7 wherein the filter comprises at least one dielectric layer.
11. The optical package of claim 5 wherein said reflector is deposited on said second side.
12. The optical package of claim 5 further comprising a glass enclosure having an aperture for receiving a lens and said optical element, and wherein said optical element is positioned in said aperture of said glass enclosure.
13. An optical filter package comprising:
an optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber; and
at least one substrate having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the filter is supported on the first surface and the reflector is supported on the second surface.
14. An optical filter package comprising:
an optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber; and
at least one substrate having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the reflector is deposited on the first surface and the filter is deposited on the reflector.
15. An optical filter package comprising:
a first optical filter and a second optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filters;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filters;
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filters positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filters, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filters to the output optical fiber; and
at least one substrate that supports the filters and the reflector, the at least one substrate having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first filter is supported on the first surface and the second filter is supported on the second surface.
16. An optical filter package comprising:
an optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber; and
at least one substrate that supports the filter and the reflector, wherein the at least one substrate that supports the reflector has an angled surface such that the reflector is not parallel to the filter.
17. An optical filter package comprising:
a first optical filter suitable for shaping a desired wavelength of light signal;
an input optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
an output optical fiber optically coupled to the filter;
a reflector suitable for reflecting the desired wavelength of light signal, the filter positioned between the fibers and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical fiber, is transmitted through the filter, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the filter to the output optical fiber; and
a glass filter holder, the holder comprising a lens aperture for receiving the lens and a surface opposite the aperture for mounting the filter, the aperture of sufficient dimensions to allow micro tilting of the holder relative to the lens.
18. An optical package comprising:
an optical element suitable for processing a light signal;
an input optical waveguide optically coupled to said optical element;
an output optical waveguide optically coupled to said optical element;
a reflector suitable for reflecting a desired wavelength of light signal, the optical element positioned between the input waveguide and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical waveguide, is transmitted through the optical element, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the optical element to the output optical waveguide; and
at least one substrate supporting said optical element and said reflector wherein one of said substrates comprises an angled surface supporting said reflector, said angled surface being at an angle relative to a plane parallel to the optical element.
19. An optical package comprising:
an optical element suitable for processing a light signal;
an input optical waveguide optically coupled to said optical element;
an output optical waveguide optically coupled to said optical element;
a reflector suitable for reflecting a desired wavelength of light signal, the optical element positioned between the input waveguide and the reflector such that a light signal transmitted through the input optical waveguide, is transmitted through the optical element, is reflected by the reflector, and is transmitted back through the optical element to the output optical waveguide; and
a collimating lens positioned between said input waveguide and said optical element, and a glass optical element holder supporting said optical element, said holder comprising a lens aperture having dimensions sufficient to allow micro tilting of said holder relative to said lens.