• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.31-39
• /
• 2001

In this paper, we proposed a new pixel circuit of the CMOS image sensor for high dynamic range operation, which is based on a multiple sampling scheme and a conditional reset circuit. To expand the pixel dynamic range, the output is multiple-sampled in the integration time. In each sampling, the pixel output is compared with a reference voltage, and the result of comparison may activate the conditional reset circuit. The times of conditional reset, N, during the integration will contribute to the increase of the dynamic range by the times of N. The test chip was fabricated with 0.65-${\mu}m$ CMOS technology (2-P, 2-M).

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.294-299
• /
• 2007

For efficient and accurate diagnosis of ultrasound images, appropriate time gain compensation(TGC) and dynamic range(DR) control of ultrasound echo signals are important. TGC is used for compensating the attenuation of ultrasound echo signals along the depth, and DR controls the image contrast. In recent ultrasound systems, these two factors are automatically set by a system and/or manually adjusted by an operator to obtain the desired image quality on the screen. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to find the optimized parameter values far TGC and DR automatically. In TGC optimization, we determine the degree of attenuation compensation along the depth by dividing an image into vertical strips and reliably estimating the attenuation characteristic of ultrasound signals. For DR optimization, we define a novel cost function by properly using the characteristics of ultrasound images. We obtain experimental results by applying the proposed algorithm to a real ultrasound(US) imaging system. The results verify that the proposed algorithm automatically sets values of TGC and DR in real-time such that the subjective quality of the enhanced ultrasound images may be sufficiently high for efficient and accurate diagnosis.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers A
• /
• v.48 no.10
• /
• pp.1279-1286
• /
• 1999

In conventional GPS/DR integration schemes, the GPS position (or pseudo-range) information is used in calibrating DR sensors. In those schemes, however, an inaccurate calibration may degrade the position accuracy when the GPS measurement is not available. This paper presents a new integration scheme where the GPS velocity information is used in calibrating DR sensors. Also proposed is a new error model of DR sensors for calibrating the bias error and the tilt error in dynamic environments. The proposed model makes it possible that the errors of both the DR sensor parameters and the velocity are calibrated using the GPS carrier-based velocity(or the pseudo-range rate) measurement while the DR position error is calibrated using the GPS position measurement. Since the DR sensors are calibrated accurately, the positioning accuracy is drastically improved when the GPS measurements are unavailable.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.285-290
• /
• 2010

In this paper, a dynamic range(DR) extension technique based on a 3-transistor active pixel sensor(APS) and dual image sampling is proposed. The feature of the proposed APS is that the APS uses two or more photodiodes with different sensitivities, such as a high-sensitivity photodiode and a low-sensitivity photodiode. Compared with previously proposed wide DR(WDR) APS, the proposed approach has several advantages, such as no-external equipments or signal processing, no-additional time-requirement for additional charge accumulation, simple operation and adjustable DR extension by controlling parasitic capacitance and sensitivity of two photodiodes. Approximately 16 dB of DR extension was evaluated from the simulation for the situation of 10 times of sensitivity difference and the same size of parasitic capacitance between those two photodiodes.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.399-402
• /
• 2005

For efficient and accurate diagnosis of ultrasound images, the time gain compensation (TGC) and dynamic range (DR) control of the ultrasound echo signal are important. TGC is for compensating the attenuation of the ultrasound echo signal along the depth, and DR is used to control the image contrast. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for finding the optimized values of TGC and DR automatically. For TGC, the degree of compensation is determined along the depth based on the effective attenuation estimation of ultrasound signal. For DR optimization, we introduce a novel cost function on the basis of the characteristics of ultrasound image, which provides the minimum value at the optimal DR. Experiments have been performed by applying the proposed algorithm to a real US imaging system. The results show that the algorithm automatically can determine the values of TGC and DR in realtime so that the subjective quality of the corresponding US image may be good enough for diagnosis.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.79-82
• /
• 2015

This paper proposes a novel complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) and presents its performance characteristics. The proposed APS exhibits a linear-logarithmic response, which is simulated using a standard $0.35-{\mu}m$ CMOS process. To maintain high sensitivity and improve the dynamic range (DR) of the proposed APS at low and high-intensity light, respectively, two additional nMOSFETs are integrated into the structure of the proposed APS, along with a photogate. The applied photogate voltage reduces the sensitivity of the proposed APS in the linear response regime. Thus, the conversion gain of the proposed APS changes from high to low owing to the addition of the capacitance of the photogate to that of the sensing node. Under high-intensity light, the integrated MOSFETs serve as voltage-light dependent active loads and are responsible for logarithmic compression. The DR of the proposed APS can be improved on the basis of the logarithmic response. Furthermore, the reference voltages enable the tuning of the sensitivity of the photodetector, as well as the DR of the APS.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.277-283
• /
• 2009

It is important to get clinical ultrasonic images of good quality for accurate diagnosis. In this study, it observed the change of ultrasonic images against setting frequency, dynamic range(DR) and type of probes on ultrasonic scanner. In the experiment it evaluated image of LCS (Low Contrast Sensitivity) targets(-15, -6, -3, +3, +6, +15 dB) of a standard ultrasonic test phantoms(539,551, ATS, USA) similar to solid and cystic lesions. Its imaged from convex (C3-7IM) and linear probe (L5-12IM) on SA-9900 (Medison Ltd, Korea) scanner. The images obtained altering the setting parameters which are frequency(gen, pen, res, harmonic) mode and DR($40{\sim}100\;dB$). The quality of images evaluated compare with the nominal LCS value of target and measured LCS value. The results show that there was no significant changing of quality images altering DR 40, 60, 80, 100 dB against frequency in Convex probe but the image being the highest in LCS target at DR 60 dB, harmonic of frequency mode in the -15 dB target close to cystic lesion. In Linear probe, DR 40 dB, harmonic mode at -15 dB LCS target close to nominal value. It discussed necessity of evaluation about ROC(Receiver Operating Characteristic) from the psychological viewpoint and limit of evaluation from quantified images.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.25-33
• /
• 2007

In this paper, a fourth-order single-bit delta-sigma modulator is presented and implemented. The loop-filter is composed of both feedback and feedforward paths. Measurement results show that maximum 99dB dynamic range is achievable at a clock rate of 3.2MHz for 20kHz baseband. The proposed modulator has been fabricated in a $0.18{\mu}m$ standard CMOS process.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.755-765
• /
• 2015

A thermostatically controlled load (TCL) can be one of the most appropriate resources for demand response (DR) in a smart grid environment. DR capability can be effectively implemented in a TCL with various intelligent control methods. However, because traditional on-off control is still a commonly used method in a TCL, it is useful to develop a method for adding DR capability to the TCL with an existing on-off controller. As a specific realization of supervisory control for implementing DR capability in the TCL, two methods are proposed - a method involving the changing of a set point and a method involving the paralleling of an identified system without delay. The proposed methods are analyzed through the simulations with an electric heater for different power consumption levels in the on-state. Considerable cost benefit can be achieved with the proposed methods when compared with the case without DR. In addition, the observations suggest that a medium power consumption level, instead of the maximum power, in the on-state should be used for consistently obtaining the cost benefit without severe temperature deviation from the specified temperature range for DR.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.57-65
• /
• 2008

Setting parameters of Ultrasonic scanners influence the quality of ultrasonic images. In order to obtain optimized images sonographers need to understand the effects of the setting parameters on ultrasonic images. The present study considered typical four parameters including TGC (Time Gain Control), Gain, Frequency, DR (Dynamic Range). LCS (low contrast sensitivity) was chosen to quantitatively compare the quality of the images. In the present experiment LCS targets of a standard ultrasonic test phantom (539, ATS, USA) were imaged using a clinical ultrasonic scanner (SA-9000 PRIME, Medison, Korea). Altering the settings in the parameters of the ultrasonic scanner, 6 LCS target images (+15 dB, +6 dB, +3 dB, -3 dB, -6 dB, -15 dB) to each setting were obtained, and their LCS values were calculated. The results show that the mean pixel value (LCS) is the highest at the max setting in TGC, mid to max in gain and pen mode in frequency and 40-66 dB in DR. Among all images, the image being the highest in LCS was obtained at the setting of DR 40 dB. It is expected that the results will be of use in setting the parameters when ultrasonically examining masses often clinically found In either solid lesions (similar to +15, +6, +3 dB targets) or cystic lesions (similar to -15, -6, -3 dB targets).