“Nikon has drawn as usual and decided how they want the sensor to function, since it is also, as usual, an external sensor manufacturer based on, in this case Sony.”
And to make things more interesting, according to Markus Hillebrand (Marketing Manager, Nikon Germany) the D7000 sensor is design and produced by Nikon:
“A further highlight is the 16.2 effective megapixel resolution CMOS image sensor, the Nikon According to Markus Hillebrand, Marketing Manager, Nikon Germany, has even developed and produced.”