CAREER: Toward hybrid energy-harvesting image sensors

这项研究的目的是发展并将电路集成和压缩传感理论的进展应用于下一代能量采集图像传感器的设计。压缩感知是一种新的信号捕获理论框架。在拟议的项目中，压缩传感提供了一种在图像质量和采集能量之间进行权衡的解决方案。具体地说，这些图像传感器将具有可重新配置的像素，可以作为光传感器或微型太阳能电池使用。根据环境条件，可以将更多或更少的像素重新配置为任何一种模式。提出的研究引入了一种新的感知范式，特别适用于传感器网络和能量受限的感知应用。提出了一种基于分形几何的提高片上太阳能电池效率的新方法。该项目将通过提供硬件解决方案和实用的编码技术来推动压缩传感领域的发展。该项目还包括可以同时执行量化和熵编码任务的模数转换器。所提出的研究将导致适合于监视、空间探索和监控应用的低成本图像传感器。这些传感器可以收集周围的能量，因此可以在无人值守的情况下长时间工作。此外，所提出的分形光电二极管可用于改进太阳能电池的设计。拟议的教育活动将加强密苏里大学堪萨斯城分校教授的课程。将举办设计竞赛和讲习班，以增加任职人数不足的学生对研究活动的参与，并丰富外联工作。

The objective of this research is to develop and to apply advances in circuit integration and Compressive Sensing theory to the design of next generation of energy-harvesting image sensors. Compressive Sensing is a new theoretical framework for signal acquisition. In the proposed project, Compressive Sensing provides a solution for the trade-off between image quality and harvested energy. Specifically, these image sensors will have reconfigurable pixels that can work as light sensors or as tiny solar cells. Depending on the environmental conditions more or less pixels can be reconfigured to either modality. The proposed research introduces a new sensing paradigm especially suited to sensor networks and energy-constrained sensing applications. It also introduces a new approach based on fractal geometry to increase the efficiency of on-chip solar cells. The project will advance the field of Compressive Sensing by providing hardware solutions and practical encoding techniques. Analog-to-digital converters that can jointly perform the tasks of quantization and entropy encoding are also included in this project.The proposed research will result in low-cost image sensors suitable for surveillance, space exploration, and monitoring applications. These sensors can harvest ambient energy and, thus, can operate unattended for extended periods of time. Moreover, the proposed fractal photodiodes can be employed to improve solar cell design. The proposed educational activities will enhance the curricula of courses taught at University of Missouri-Kansas City. A design competition and a workshop will be implemented to increase the participation of underrepresented students in research activities and to enrich outreach efforts.