Pattern matching oriented photodetector image sensor with programmable interconnection between pixels

Abstract

We present a photodetector sensor that is able to perform preprocessing operations on the focal plane. Each pixel can be connected with any of its neighbors in order to implement detection zones defined by software. The output current of the sensor is a customizable weighted sum of the currents sourced at the defined detection zones. This characteristic leads to applications related to pattern matching. Two examples are shown in our work: one is related to speckle correlation for real-time vibration detection, and the other one is an alternative image recording method that is the first step to an on-hardware compressed sensing technique.