Archives for May 2020

Yole Predicts Thermal Imaging Boost in Post-Coronavirus Era

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Yole Developpement analyst Dimitrios Damianos says “For sure, the COVID-19 outbreak will have a big impact on the thermal detector and imager markets and industrial landscape at different levels.”

Indeed the automotive market did not show impressive interest for thermal technologies in the past,” explains Dimitrios Damianos. “In addition, such technology is not yet considered as a very important ADAS system in a car.

But, in parallel, the demand for surveillance and thermography systems linked to fever monitoring will increase in various infrastructure such as airports, hospitals, public areas and warehouses. Therefore, Yole expects a positive impact in this specific industry.
In term of volumes, Eric Mounier, Fellow Analyst at Yole explains: “For thermal imagers, we expect more than 1.5 million fever detection cameras to be deployed in 2020 and in the next 3-4 years cumulatively at airports, businesses and other infrastructure. In US$ value, we estimate the total market to be US$7.6 billion in 2020, generating an impressive 76% YoY growth.

In the current context, Yole’s analysts explore a new hypothesis: what if a thermal imager gets inside every smartphone? What if a major smartphone maker, like Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, Samsung or Apple, introduces a phone with a temperature measurement option now? Dimitrios Damianos asserted: “Naturally people are worried about COVID-19. It wouldn’t be outrageous to use something to measure their body temperature frequently, which happens to be constantly in or near their hands, namely their smartphone or their smartwatch.

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Newsight Imaging Raises $7M in Round A Investment

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Newsight Imaging has completed a $7M series A round of financing led by Infinity Capital with the participation of George So. The new investment brings Newsight’s total funding, including government grants, to $15M.

The series A financing follows a prototype design with ZKW, a automotive lighting system company, a number of design wins of the NSI1000 eTOF enhanced-Time-Of-Flight chip, and the pilots and engagements in the spectral analysis field with Mekorot, the national water company of Israel, and recently a pilot of at-home coronavirus detection reference design at a leading Israeli medical center.

We welcome our new investors to the Newsight family” said Newsight Imaging’s CEO Eli Assoolin. “While the world came to an almost complete stop due to the Corona Virus situation, Newsight’s team worked intensively to utilize our powerful machine vision chip capabilities with recent technology for water and beverage detection, and built a patent pending device solution for at-home virus detection that is expected to enable fast recovery to normal market conditions and become a key factor that will allow normal life to resume. With Infinity’s guidance and with Dr. George’s strategic partnership, we are confident about Newsight’s scaling and will continue now to round-B fundraising, which is supposed to bring the company to much greater revenues and to new exciting markets.

Newsight will soon offer SpectraLIT, a reference design for spectral analysis:

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GEO Reports that 20 Car Models with its Vision Processors Enter Mass Production in Q4 2019

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BusinessWire: GEO Semiconductor announces that Q4 2019 was a record quarter for GEO with 20 vehicle models from major automotive OEMs successfully launched into production.

GEO, a fabless chip company headquartered in San Jose and focused on the fast growing automotive camera market, develops application specific camera video processors with both the GW4 and GW5 product lines. These products feature HDR processing, eWARP technology, overlay graphics, and in the case of the GW54x0, a DSP processor to enable computer vision processing in the camera head.

GEO won the first automotive camera program in 2015 and has been consistently growing market share each year for the past five years. The typical timeline from a design win to start of production in the automotive market is between 18 and 30 months.

The OEMs that started shipping GEO’s CVP product in Q4 are located in Japan, South Korea, and China, and the primary applications include Back-Up Cameras, Surround View Camera Systems, Car DVR, as well as Rearview Mirror Camera systems.

GEO has developed an extremely competitive automotive CVP product portfolio, created and supported by an outstanding team that has established GEO as experts in Camera Video Processing technology for automotive applications,” said Dave Orton, CEO of GEO. “GEO has proven itself as a leader in providing technical solutions and has developed the applications and quality infrastructure to insure our customers are able to ramp through production with confidence.

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SmartSens Announces 1080P with 60ms Power-Up Time

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PRNewswire: SmartSens announces the launch of SC210IoT – a 1080P 30fps low power video sensor for IoT devices. What sets the SC210IoT apart are superior low-light sensitivity, AEC function to enable fast wake-up from intermittent system operation, and lowered power consumption optimized for always-on applications.

The integrated AEC function speeds up a transition from power-off or sleep mode to active streaming with response time as low as 60~70ms, while other devices often take more than 100ms for a stable exposed image. This is said to be a leap forward in applications that collect crucial, timely visual data such as home and commercial surveillance equipment. The SC210IoT consumes 60mW in active state, while its standby power is lower than 10uW.

"The new product launch in our SmartPixel series is geared towards the future of IoT and not the past," said Chris Yiu, CMO of SmartSens. "SC210IoT is only the beginning of a long line of new sensor products to come. We will be seeing OEM to bring innovative products to accommodate in our modern daily life."

SC210IoT is available for sampling immediately and mass production in June 2020.

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Omnivision Announces its First IR-Enhanced Nyxel Sensor for Automotive Applications

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PRNewswire: OmniVision announces the expansion of its Nyxel NIR technology into the automotive market with the new 2.5MP OX03A2S image sensor for exterior imaging applications that operate in low to no ambient light conditions within 2 meters of the vehicle. Nyxel technology is said to achieve the world’s best automotive QE of 40% at 940nm.

The OX03A2S combines Nyxel technology and a 3.2 micron pixel to provide the world’s best low light performance of any automotive image sensor. Additionally, our dual conversion gain technology enables optimal HDR performance,” said Mathew Arcoleo, product marketing manager at OmniVision. “This new automotive imaging benchmark opens new possibilities for exterior, close-range cameras within the camera belt, operating in near or total darkness.

Automotive cameras using the OX03A2S will also require less illumination, thus reducing materials cost and overall power consumption. Additionally, this sensor has a 1/2.44” optical format and comes in an a-CSP™ package that is 50% smaller than the competition to keep cameras out of sight and improve styling.

While this RGB-IR sensor is primarily intended for day and night machine vision applications, it can also provide viewable IR-enhanced RGB images during daytime conditions. Nyxel technology also enhances RGB image captures in bright conditions by improving sensitivity.

This new OX03A2S image sensor is available now, and is AEC-Q100 Grade 2 certified.

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Sony to Separate Image Sensor Business Next Year?

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Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation announces its new management structure that looks like a preparation to spinning it off as a separate business entity starting April 1st next year:

  • Terushi Shimizu - President and CEO
  • Goh Asayama - In charge of Mobile business 1
  • Satoshi Yoshihara - In charge of Mobile business 2
  • Mitsuru Yamashita - In charge of Industrial business
  • Hideki Somemiya - In charge of Solutions business
  • Yoshihiro Yamaguchi - In charge of Manufacturing
  • Keiichi Ohno - In charge of R&D
  • Shinji Sashida - In charge of Sales
  • Yasuhiro Kono - CFO
  • Hitoshi Morise - In charge of Human Resources and General Affairs
  • Yasuhiro Kono - Senior General Manager of Planning & Control Division

Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting does not say anything definite about semiconductor business separation:

Imaging & Sensing Solutions

  • Due to the uncertain market environment, Sony is carefully reviewing its capital expenditure plans in this segment in relation to projected demand through the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, but its goals of maintaining the global number one position in imaging and gaining the global number one position in sensing remain unchanged.
  • Sony is also strengthening its focus on sensing solutions for mobile devices that "connect people to people," and automotive sensing solutions that "support people," which are expected to grow over the long term.
  • Based on its belief that image sensors will be key devices in the AI era, Sony intends to leverage its world-leading stacked CMOS image sensor technology and provide AI sensing solutions that deliver new value across a broad range of applications.

Here is a couple of slides from the Strategy meeting:

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Sony and Microsoft to Connect AI-Enabled CIS to Azure Cloud for Enterprise

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PRNewswire: After a year since the first announcement, Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Microsoft re-announce their partnership to create solutions connecting AI-powered smart cameras and video analytics for their mutual customers. The companies will embed Microsoft Azure AI capabilities on Sony's intelligent vision sensor IMX500, which extracts useful information out of images in smart cameras and other devices. Sony will also create a smart camera managed app powered by Azure IoT and Cognitive Services that complements the IMX500 sensor and expands the range and capability of video analytics opportunities for enterprise customers. The combination of these two solutions will bring together Sony's imaging and sensing technologies, including the unique functionality of high-speed edge AI processing, with Microsoft's cloud expertise and AI platform to uncover new video analytics opportunities for customers and partners across a variety of industries.

"By linking Sony's innovative imaging and sensing technology with Microsoft's excellent cloud AI services, we will deliver a powerful and convenient platform to the smart camera market. Through this platform, we hope to support the creativity of our partners and contribute to overcoming challenges in various industries," said Terushi Shimizu, Representative Director and President, Sony Semiconductor Solutions.

"Video analytics and smart cameras can drive better business insights and outcomes across a wide range of scenarios for businesses," said Takeshi Numoto, CVP and commercial chief marketing officer at Microsoft. "Through this partnership, we're combining Microsoft's expertise in providing trusted, enterprise-grade AI and analytics solutions with Sony's established leadership in the imaging sensors market to help uncover new opportunities for our mutual customers and partners."

For example, retailers can use smart cameras to detect when to refill products on a shelf or to better understand the optimal number of available open checkout counters according to the queue length. Additionally, a manufacturer might use a smart camera to identify hazards on its manufacturing floor in real time before injuries occur.

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Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM review

Cameralabs        Go to the original article...

The Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 is a bright standard zoom for its full-frame Alpha mirrorless cameras aimed at events and portraiture. It launched the G Master series but in the face of new rivals is it still your best choice? Find out in our review!…

The post Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM review appeared first on Cameralabs.

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Teledyne e2v Reports Surge in CCD Demand for Coronavirus Diagnostics

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GlobeNewswire: Teledyne e2v is supplying its large pixel CCDs for COVID-19 diagnostic instruments. In the past few weeks, the UK CCD Fabrication team have been producing hundreds of CCD77-358 devices that will be designed into camera systems to support COVID-19 diagnostics.

Miles Adcock, President of Teledyne e2v Space & Quantum said: “The Coronavirus outbreak has triggered increased demand and interest for CCD and CMOS sensors. We expect to have manufactured several times the forecasted annual demand for the CCD77-358 devices by the end of this quarter alone. Our ability to expedite and meet urgent requirements is testament to the drive and commitment of the Chelmsford CCD Fabrication Operations team.

The CCD77-358 sensor is back-illuminated and has an image resolution of 512 x 512 pixels, a large pixel size of 24µm in size and a high dynamic range.

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Samsung Unveils 50MP Sensor with All-Pixel PDAF

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BusinessWire, BusinessWire: Samsung introduces ISOCELL GN1, a new 50MP sensor with 1.2μm pixels. The ISOCELL GN1 is Samsung’s first image sensor to offer both Dual Pixel and Tetracell technologies.

With innovative pixel technologies, Samsung has been at the forefront of offering high-performance image sensors that closely cater to increasingly diversifying market needs. The ISOCELL GN1 is part of that commitment to deliver stunning images to consumers in any environment,” said Yongin Park, EVP of sensor business at Samsung. “We will continue to introduce image sensor solutions at the cutting-edge that will lead the next trends in mobile photography.

The GN1 auto-focuses with 100 million PDAF agents. When capturing images, a single pixel output is created by merging the outputs from the two photodiodes within the pixel. Samsung also provides a software algorithm that takes light information from each photodiode to produce image resolutions comparable to 100MP.

For low-light photography, the GN1 adopts Tetracell technology, a pixel-merging technique that improves the pixels’ capacity to capture and process more light. By binning four pixel signals into one, Tetracell doubles the image sensor’s pixel size to 2.4μm and quadruples the light sensitivity to take brighter 12.5MP photographs.

In addition to Dual Pixel AF and Tetracell technologies, the GN1 comes with Smart-ISO that intelligently selects the optimal ISO, real-time HDR that captures the scene in multiple exposures simultaneously, and gyro-based EIS. The image sensor supports video recording at up to 8K resolution at 30fps.

Samsung ISOCELL GN1 has started mass production this month.

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Thoughtography: Interaction of Mind with Image Sensor

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PsyArXiv, a free preprint service for the psychological sciences, publishes paper "Modern Thoughtography: Mind Interaction at a distance with digital camera sensors: a pilot study" by Luciano Pederzoli, Marco Bilucaglia, Elena Prati, Marzio Matteoli, and Patrizio Tressoldi from EvanLab, Università IULM, and Università di Padova, Italy.

"The main purpose of this pilot study was to verify the possibility of mentally and distantly influencing the digital sensor of a professional photographic camera to make a pre-chosen image appear on it. This study is part of a rich field of research on mind-matter interaction which by now has an approximately 70 year history, as documented by Duggan (2017).

In this case here it was decided to verify the possibility of influencing sensors of modern professional photographic cameras specifically because they now have a large number of pixels and each pixel also has a very high signal/noise ratio, so that for each pixel we can record a brightness range of 12 bits, or 4096 different values.

Three participants experienced in distant mind-matter interaction techniques took part in a total of 48 trials. In 7 out of 48 trials (14.5%) the value of the Structural Similarity Index of the target image chosen by the participant for the distant mental influence trial on the camera’s sensor was greater than that obtained when the target was different.

Although still preliminary, these results suggest that it may be possible to use modern professional cameras to study the effects of distant mind-matter interactions.
"

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Front-View Automotive Camera Market Grew 95% in 2019 in China

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ResearchInChina report "Automotive Vision Industry Chain Report 2019-2020 (I): Monocular Vision" says:

"About 23 million cameras were pre-installed in new passenger cars in China in 2019, up 11.7% on an annualized basis, as is revealed by ResearchInChina.

Front-view monocular cameras and surround-view cameras grew by 95.6% and 23.9% year-on-year respectively, while both rear-view and side-view cameras dropped.

The Tier1 suppliers such as Bosch, Continental, Aptiv, Denso, Valeo, Veoneer, ZF, etc. occupy more than 90% share of the front-view monocular camera market, so that Chinese visual ADAS vendors that rarely ever break monopoly turn to focus on surround-view cameras, rear-view cameras, commercial vehicle vision ADAS and other markets.
"


"For safer driving on roads, European Commission approved EU rules requiring life-saving technologies in vehicles. The advanced systems that will have to be fitted in all new vehicles are: intelligent speed assistance; alcohol interlock installation facilitation; driver drowsiness and attention warning; advanced driver distraction warning; emergency stop signal; reversing detection; and event data recorder (“black box”). Most of these technologies and systems are due to become mandatory as from May 2022 for new models and as from May 2024 for existing models."

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Ams to Demo Under-Display 3D Sensor for Smartphones in 2H 2020

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SeekingAlpha: Ams Q1 earnings report mentions the directions of its R&D and production efforts. The company plans to demo its behind-OLED-display (BOLED) 3D sensing in the second half of this year.


"In display management, we are seeing further adoption of our behind-OLED light sensing in high-volume Android smartphone and mobile device platforms, which includes several recent releases. This unmatched technology moves light and proximity sensing invisibly behind the OLED display so OEMs can remove bezel-placed elements from the device front and maximize the screen-to-body ratio.

Our strong market success continues to be driven by leading Android OEMs while we move along a multigeneration road map for this technology. All in all, we are shipping significant volumes of our wide range of advanced display management across the leading consumer OEMs.

We continued our strong R&D investments for further innovation in optical sensing. Leveraging our unmatched behind-OLED capabilities into 3D sensing, we are progressing with our developments to move front-facing 3D sensing invisibly behind the display. Based on active stereo vision technology, we continue to expect to demonstrate behind-OLED 3D solution in the second half. Here, we work to combine ams VCSEL illumination, near-infrared sensing, software and algorithm from our portfolio to create a high-performance 3D offering. We address the market trend to reduce visible components on the device front and expect significant market interest in 3D behind-OLED technology in mobile devices. Generally, both active stereo vision and structured light technology are able to support behind-OLED 3D sensing. So we plan to explore all paths for innovation in front-facing 3D.
"

Then, in Q&A part of the earnings call:

"...The question about structured light behind the OLED. Based on our technical information, it appears that it's possible, it's doable, and that's why we are keen to explore all the ways related to structured light, but also for active stereo vision to move this technology behind the OLED screen because I strongly believe that will be the future, that you don't see any sensors on the display in a smartphone anymore. And because of that reason, we see a future for those either structured light or active stereo vision behind-OLED.

Q: Just on the timing of structured light, is it the same timing that you have for active stereo vision, a product that could be showcased over the next 6 months or it will be after active stereo vision on your road map?

A: It will be later than active stereo vision, that's correct. So active stereo vision will happen this - in the second half of this year. Structured light will be a bit later. But we are working, as always, on road maps for the next quarters and years ahead so that we are always available to be the first to offer new technology to our customer base.

Q: The 3D behind-OLED, you added now structured light. When are you expecting industry adoption? As you mentioned, you will have it in the second half. And potentially what content could we look at for both ASV and structured light?

A: So 3D behind-OLED, that's, as I mentioned before, is, I think, a very attractive solution for our customer base, and we expect a very nice adoption from the end customers. Obviously, the industry adoption will be not this year, will be next year, probably end of next year. Our customer base have to use designs after we demonstrated with our demonstrator, what we will release during the second half of this year. So we have to be a bit sensitive, but I think in the - the discussion with customers will start end of the year and continues into next year. And then it depends on the road map of customers when they bring this to market. But it's certainly, and that's why we're investing in this technology, a very positive and unique selling point for our customer base related to their end customers.
"


Ams application note for its TCS3701 BOLED Color and Proximity Sensor explains how it works:

"The IR transmissivity of an OLED display is inherently low, primarily due to the required layers of metallization that are present. In order to get the most reflected IR energy through the display to the photodiode, any non-essential, IR-blocking materials on the bottom side of the display (protective barriers, copper, glue, etc.), must be removed to essentially create an aperture on the bottom side of the display. The design and the shape of this aperture should be optimized to maximize proximity signal and to minimize crosstalk. An optimized display aperture is one that is aligned with the device’s package (or rubber boot) aperture and is the same shape but slightly oversized. The ideal aperture design for the sensor will consider the sensor’s Field-Of-View (FOV), boot thickness, air gap, mechanical tolerances, assembly tolerances, etc. The same guidelines above apply to the emitter Field-Of-Illumination (FOI)."

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On-line Masterclass on Recent Developments in CMOS Image Sensors

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

Image Sensors Europe hosts an on-line masterclass "Developments In CMOS Image Sensors Since IS Europe 2019" by Albert Theuwissen.

"The world of CMOS image sensors is changing at a pace that we never have seen before. New applications, new technologies, new features are constantly added to the large portfolio of CMOS devices that are out in the market. In this way the performance as well as the possibilities of the devices is constantly improved.

During Image Sensors Europe 2019 conference, a masterclass was organised around the recent developments in the CIS world and due to the the success of it, Albert Theuwissen and Smithers have created this follow up online masterclass to review the year and report on the latest developments.

Several subjects will be discussed : small pixels, new colour filters, new ToF image sensors, new stacked devices, global shutter devices, high-dynamic range techniques, etc. Some topics that are not yet announced at the moment of writing this abstract will be included as well, because one can be sure: further developments of the CIS technology will not stop on a short notice! Still exiting times are ahead for the imaging engineers and the imaging community.
"

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Beyond Ventures: US-China Trade War Creates Opportunities for Smartsens

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EJInsight: Lap Man, a founder of Beyond Ventures in Hong Kong and one of SmartSens investors, believes that the tensions between the USA and China create new opportunities ahead for chip makers like SmartSens Tech. “Under the trade war, many firms have no choice but to consider using chips made in China, which presents a unique opportunity for Chinese chipmakers.

Beyond Ventures has participated in a funding round of SmartSens Tech, led by Samsung and ARM China, according to Lap Man.

Update: Smartsens CMO Ms. Chris You has contacted me and corrected the above statements: "First, I should note that Mr. Lap Man’s opinion is his alone, and although he is an investor, he does not represent SmartSens’ viewpoint. Therefore, I believe your title could mislead some readers to think that SmartSens is attempting to benefit from the current situation. However, the truth is quite the opposite: It is our opinion that neither semiconductor customers nor anyone in the semiconductor supply chain can truly operate independently at this time, and no party benefits from a trade war."

Digitimes writes about Smartsens (in Microsoft translation).

Update: Smartsens kindly sent me a high-quality human translation of the article. See the quotes below.

"SmartSens Technology has emerged as one of the area’s premier CIS vendors. The company is located in Shanghai’s Caohejing High-Tech Park and has held the honor of World's No. 1 CIS Vendor in Security Surveillance Shipments for the past two consecutive years [TSR Report H1 2019]. Founded in 2011, SmartSens has focused on delivering high-performance CIS solutions for security applications and has also gained traction in several other vertical markets such as automotive electronics, consumer electronics (such as drones and robots), and artificial intelligence (with applications such as facial recognition-based payments).

SmartSens’ rapid growth can be tied to its innovative pairing of high-quality CMOS sensors with cutting-edge artificial intelligence, much of which is rooted in the capabilities of its Taiwanese supply chain. For example, the SmartGS™ series SC132GS, based on the global shutter technology using the BSI Stacked process fabricated in Taiwan’s major foundry company, has excellent performance at high frame rate of 120fps, optimized near-infrared sensitivity and excellent shutter efficiency.

The company’s CMO Chris Yiu ...noted that the key requirement in security surveillance applications is near-infrared sensitivity, because most security surveillance cameras use 850-940nm range NIR LED lights for night-time image capture. SmartSens’ partnership with its Taiwan factory has been committed to improving the sensitivity of the NIR range, and resulted in an industry first, when it launched its CIS solution in 2017. "Today, all mid- to high-segment SmartSens products provide this near-infrared enhancement as a standard feature, but we pioneered this pathway, and we continue to advance the technology for the benefit of the entire industry," said Ms. Yiu.

Eric Chu, General Manager of SmartSens’ Taiwan institutional investment company WK Innovation Ltd., noted: "Image sensing will become the focus of future growth in the semiconductor industry. As a leading CMOS image sensor chip company, SmartSens has been at the forefront of sensor innovation in the many touchpoints of our supply chain. We’re optimistic about the positive feedback loop brought on by in-depth collaboration between SmartSens and the fab and packaging and testing plants."



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USA-China Trade War Creates Opportunities for Smartsens

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

EJInsight: Lap Man, a founder of Beyond Ventures in Hing Kong and one of SmartSens investors, believes that the tension between the USA and China creates new opportunities ahead for chip makers like SmartSens Tech. “Under the trade war, many firms have no choice but to consider using chips made in China, which presents a unique opportunity for Chinese chipmakers.

Beyond Ventures has participated in a funding round of SmartSens Tech, led by Samsung and ARM China.

Digitimes writes about Smartsens (in Microsoft translation):

"Headquartered in Shanghai's Weihe River High-tech Development Zone, a CIS component manufacturer has achieved the world's first shipment of security monitoring applications for two consecutive years, namely - SmartSens.

As a CIS company founded in 2011, it "miraclely" opened up about innovation - since 2015, SmartSens has moved into the field of security surveillance and has grown rapidly and received attention; Multiple areas, such as artificial intelligence, have handed over some remarkable transcripts.

SmartSens' rapid growth is inseparable from the partnership with the drivers behind Taiwan's supply chain. In the competitive field of integrated component factory strong hand ring, CMOS sense from "traditional" to "intelligent" change, during which the change of AI technology is a very big challenge to CMOS sensing components, but also has great opportunities for development.

SmartSens CMO Chris Yiu says the key requirement in the field of security surveillance is near-infrared sensitivity, as most security surveillance cameras use NIR LED lights for night vision imaging. SmartSens' partnership with Taiwan Plant is dedicated to improving the sensitivity of sensing components in the 850-940nm range and is the first to launch new products with these improvements in 2017.

"All of SmartSens' mid- to high-end products now offer this near-infrared enhancement as standard. We see this as an essential technological improvement for the entire industry, Chris Yiu said.

SmartSens Taiwan institutional investment Puxun Innovation General Manager, "Image recognition will become the focus of the future semiconductor industry growth, as a leading technology CMOS image sensor chip company, SmartSens in recent years has been at the forefront of technology, and very optimistic about SmartSens and fabs, sealing plant depth cooperation brought about by the comprehensive effect." The Pusus Innovation team will work with partners in the industry to continue to help SmartSens thrive.
"


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Vidicon vs CCD vs CMOS at CERN

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Germany, publishes Arxiv.org paper "Video Cameras used in Beam Instrumentation -- an Overview" by B. Walasek-Hoehne, K. Hoehne, R. Singh. The paper has been presented at CERN Accelerator School: Course on Beam Instrumentation, in June 2018, Tuusula, Finland.

"Imaging systems have been an integral part of many beam monitors since the early days of accelerator diagnostics. The main application remains the observation of scintillating screens during commissioning, alignment and routine operation with the beam. Recorded images are often further analyzed to characterize the beam distribution for machine optimization. This report provides an overview of imaging technologies and market trends of today. The image sensor, like TV tubes and solid state sensors (CCD, CMOS and CID), with particular focus on the aspects important for beam instrumentation will be discussed. Digital image acquisition as well as camera interfaces and radiation effects will be also presented."


"For the video tube camera like Vidicon, there is no radiation limit as proven by many years of operation at CERN SPS and only aging of the optics caused by irradiation can limit the system performance.

In comparison, a standard CCD camera at the same position went out of order within two weeks.
"


"The CID-based camera exhibits a significant improvement for operation in a radiation rich environment as compared to the CCD and CMOS-based cameras. No significant change in the camera performance like quality of image, loss of contrast and resolution was observed. This is inline with the tests performed by the manufacturer. These devices were found to be tolerant to gammas, neutrons, high energy electrons and proton radiation to at least 30 kGy. First noticeable degradation in the image quality was reported for 140 kGy exposure.

CCD and CMOS are typically not radiation hard; they can survive irradiation up to 100 Gy.
"

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Omdia: Under-Display Fingerprint Market Grew 8x in 2019, Keeps Growing in 2020

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

Omdia: Global shipments of fingerprint-on-display (FoD) sensors expanded by nearly a factor of eight in 2019 as these devices increasingly replace conventional capacitive chips in smartphones.

A total of 228.3M FoD sensors were shipped in 2019, up 674% from 29.5M in 2018, according to Omdia. With FoD sensors having reached the sweet spot for market pricing, FoD shipments are expected to continue rising at a tremendous rate in 2020, expanding to more than 400M units.

FoD sensors have become a critical biometric identification technology for smartphones,” said Calvin Hsieh, director, touch and user interface at Omdia. “Today’s smartphone displays are longer than ever, completely covering the front sides of handsets and leaving no space to locate capacitive fingerprint sensor chips on the surface. FoD sensors bypass this issue because they are hidden beneath the display, allowing them to avoid influencing the appearance of smartphones. This advantage is generating massive demand growth for FoD sensors.

More than 70 smartphone models integrated FoD in 2019. FoD technologies are mature and affordable, so the ASP of a fingerprint module can be as low as about $3 to $4, which is more cost-effective than alternative 3D facial recognition technologies.

Goodix is the leading FoD solution supplier with a 50% market share. The company has benefited from sales to Chinese smartphone brands.

Optical imaging CIS solutions accounted for a 79% shipment share of the FoD market, while the ultrasonic approach held 21% of the market in 2019. Due to growing market demand and more suppliers entering the business, Omdia estimates the optical imaging CIS solutions will grab an 88% share of shipments in 2020. FoD solution providers are also offering thinner microlens types of FoD solutions, which can reduce space usage to make room for more battery capacity inside of smartphones.

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Sony Announces CIS with Embedded AI Processor

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

PRNewswire: Sony announces the upcoming release of two intelligent vision sensors, said to be the first image sensors in the world to be equipped with AI processing functionality. Including AI processing functionality on the image sensor itself enables high-speed edge AI processing and extraction of only the necessary data, which, when using cloud services, reduces data transmission latency, addresses privacy concerns, and reduces power consumption and communication costs. The new products are aimed to a diverse range of applications in the retail and industrial equipment industries and contributing to building optimal systems that link with the cloud.




The pixel chip is back-illuminated and has approximately 12.3MP eff. In addition to the conventional image sensor operation circuit, the logic chip is equipped with Sony's original DSP dedicated to AI signal processing, and memory for the AI model. This configuration eliminates the need for high-performance processors or external memory, making it ideal for edge AI systems.

Signals acquired by the pixel chip are run through an DSP and AI processing is done in the process stage on the logic chip, and the extracted information is output as metadata, reducing the amount of data handled. Ensuring that image information is not output helps to reduce security risks and address privacy concerns. In addition to the image recorded by the conventional image sensor, users can select the data output format according to their needs and uses, including ISP format output images (YUV/RGB) and ROI specific area extract images.

The new sensor products from Sony perform ISP processing and high-speed AI processing (3.1ms processing for MobileNet V1) on the logic chip, completing the entire process in a single video frame. This design makes it possible to deliver high-precision, real-time tracking of objects while recording video.

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SK Telecom Starts Deploying Photon Shot Noise-Based Security

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SK Telecom together with Samsung and Switzerland-based ID Quantique officially introduces the Galaxy A Quantum, said to be the world’s first 5G smartphone equipped with a quantum random number generator (QRNG).

The Galaxy A Quantum is equipped with the world’s smallest QRNG chipset S2Q000 measuring 2.5mm x 2.5mm. This QRNG chipset allows smartphone holders to use selected services in a safe and secure manner by generating true random numbers that cannot be hacked.

Users of the Galaxy A Quantum will go through two-factor authentication (2FA) – i.e. ID login and quantum one-time password (OTP) authentication - when they log in with their T-IDs. By adding OTP authentication as an extra layer of protection, the new QRNG-powered smartphone ensures strong protection for users’ online accounts.

2FA for T-ID is expected to be well utilized as T-ID login is applied to SK Telecom’s 28 services including 11st (online marketplace), T Map (mobile navigation), Wavve (OTT platform), Flo (music streaming), T Membership (subscriber membership) and Nugu (AI platform/speaker).

Customers will also benefit from advanced protection while making payments via the SK Pay app at offline affiliate stores such as convenience stores and restaurants. Going forward, SK Telecom plans to expand the feature to the mobile apps of SK Pay affiliate stores.

Last year, SK Telecom and ID Quantique have been awarded quantum communication network building projects in the U.S. and Europe (EU), and applied QRNG to SK Telecom’s 5G authentication center (AuC) for the first time in the world. Going forward, SK Telecom will expand its footprint in the quantum security business by integrating QRNGs to more devices and networks.

Securing mobiles phones has become a top priority for mobile operators, who are also looking to generate new revenues,” Says Grégoire Ribordy, co-founder and CEO of ID Quantique. “With its compact size and low power consumption, our latest Quantis QRNG chip can be embedded in any smartphone, to ensure trusted authentication and encryption of sensitive information. It will bring a new level of security to the mobile phone industry.

With the release of the Galaxy A Quantum, we are opening a new chapter in the history of the quantum security industry,” said Ryu Young-sang, VP and Head of MNO Business of SK Telecom. “We will offer differentiated security solutions to enable our customers to use ICT services in a safe and secure manner in the hyper-connected era of 5G.


ID Quantique adds few more details pn its solution inside Samsung smartphone:

"Generating strong keys from a reliable entropy source is the cornerstone of any security system. IDQ’s Quantis QRNG chip (IDQ250C2) is the first Quantum Random Number Generator designed and manufactured specifically for mobile handsets. It generates provably unbiased and unpredictable randomness with high entropy from the very first bit from the shot noise of a light source captured by a CMOS image sensor, a patented quantum technology from ID Quantique.

IDQ’s Quantis QRNG chip (IDQ250C2) is low profile, small footprint, and now makes our connected world more secure.
"

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Tower Sees Growth Potential in Optical Fingerprint and Stacked Sensors

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SeekingAlpha: Tower reports its Q1 2020 results and updates on its image sensor foundry focus:

"The other area that I believe we'll see very strong growth in is what we've said where our focus is, was the fingerprint under OLED. That will be a very, I believe, strong area for us, as well as the fingerprint under LCD. And the LCD will start volume production by target at the end of this year and growing into volumes -- significant volume in 2021.

In addition, we have a lot of very, very active advanced stacking projects with image sensors that will continue in the '22, '23, '24 to become very, very big numbers. I believe they shouldn't rebound, they promised to be able to.
"

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Sony Sees No Significant Coronavirus Impact on CIS Sales

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Sony reports its March 31-ended fiscal year results and updates on coronavirus impact:

  • Now I will discuss the impact of the coronavirus on the I&SS segment.
  • As of today, there has been no major impact from the coronavirus on our manufacturing facilities in Japan, which are operating as usual.
  • Moreover, we understand that the factory operations and supply chains of our major mobile customers have been recovering.
  • On the other hand, we believe that the decrease in shipments of our image sensors was relatively minor compared to the impact the coronavirus had on the manufacturing and sales of our mobile customers in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2020, so there is a possibility that inventory in the supply chain of those customers has increased.
  • In addition, we are monitoring how much the final outlet for our products, the smartphone market, may decelerate going forward.


Talking about the near future expectations, Sony states:

  • Now I would like to discuss the current state of our I&SS business.
  • Considering the deceleration of the smartphone market due to the impact of the coronavirus, there is a possibility that image sensor sales this fiscal year will be flat year-on-year.
  • At this point in time, there is no change to our view that image sensors will drive improvements in the functionality of cameras, which are a major differentiating factor for smartphones, or our view as to the expansion of demand over the mid- to longterm. Thus, we have already decided to invest more than 80% of the cumulative capital expenditure we planned to make over the three years of our mid-range plan.
  • However, given the uncertain operating environment, we will postpone as long as possible decisions regarding the remaining capital expenditures so we can make appropriate and timely decisions after gathering more market information.
  • In addition, we will be disciplined in our prioritization of research and development spending, but we plan to maintain the current level of spending as we manage Sony for the mid- to long-term.

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SPAD ToF Imager Paper

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IEEE JSSC publishes an open access paper "A 32 x 128 SPAD-257 TDC Receiver IC for Pulsed TOF Solid-State 3-D Imaging" by Sahba Jahromi, Jussi-Pekka Jansson, Pekka Keränen, and Juha Kostamovaara from University of Oulu, Finland.

"A single-chip receiver for pulsed laser direct time-of-flight 3-D imaging applications has been realized in a 0.35-μm HV CMOS technology. The chip includes a 32 x 128 single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array [35% fill factor (FF)] and 257 time-to-digital converters (TDCs) with a ~78-ps resolution. Two adjacent rows (2 x 128 SPADs) at a time can be selected for simultaneous measurement, i.e., 16 measurement cycles are needed to cover the whole array. SPADs are capable of operating in a gated mode in order to suppress dark and background light-induced detections. The IC was designed to be used in a solid-state 3-D imaging system with laser illumination concentrated in both time (short sub-ns pulses) and space (targeting only the active rows of the SPAD array). The performance of the receiver IC was characterized in a solid-state 3-D range imager with flood-pulsed illumination from a laser diode (LD)-based transmitter, which produced short [~150-ps full-width at half-maximum (FWHM)] high-energy (~3.8-nJ pulse/~14-W peak power) pulses at a pulsing rate of 250 kHz when operating at a wavelength of 810 nm. Two detector/TDC ICs formed an 8k pixel receiver, targeting a field-of-view of ~42° x 21° by means of simple optics. Frame rates of up to 20 fps were demonstrated with a centimeter-level precision in the case of Lambertian targets within a range of 3.5 m."

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Sony Unveils SWIR Sensors for Industrial Applications

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Sony announces the upcoming release of two new SWIR image sensors for industrial equipment. The new sensors capture images in the visible and invisible spectrum and boast a compact size made possible by the industry's smallest 5μm pixel size.

The new products employ Sony's original SenSWIR technology, in which photodiodes are formed on an InGaAs compound layer and are connected via Cu-Cu connection with the Si layer which forms the readout circuit.

When bonding the InGaAs layer, which forms the light receiving photodiodes, and the Si layer, which forms the readout circuit, using conventional bump connections, it is necessary to secure a certain bump pitch, which makes it difficult to achieve a smaller pixel size compared to current industrial CMOS sensors. This had made miniaturization a serious challenge. The Sony's new products, however, feature a smaller pixel pitch made possible by the Cu-Cu connection, resulting in the industry's smallest 5μm pixel size. This, in turn, makes it possible to reduce camera size while maintaining SXGA (IMX990)/VGA (IMX991) resolution, contributing to improved testing precision.

Sony's original SWIR image sensor technology is used to make the top InP layer,*4 which absorbs visible light, thinner, making it possible to transmit light to the InGaAs layer underneath, delivering high quantum efficiency even in the visible range. This design enables imaging in a broad range of wavelengths from 0.4μm to 1.7μm, enabling the use of a single camera instead of the conventional multiple that were required to capture visible light and SWIR.

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Hitachi-LG LiDAR Monitors Hand Washing

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Hitachi-LG posts another use case for its LiDAR - hand wash monitoring:

"A Hand Wash Monitoring Solution utilizes 3D LiDAR technology. It measures whether the washroom user washed their hands properly; washed for more than 20 seconds, used soap, and wiped their hands with a towel."

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Hitachi-LG LiDAR Monitors Hand Washing

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Hitachi-LG posts another use case for its LiDAR - hand wash monitoring:

"A Hand Wash Monitoring Solution utilizes 3D LiDAR technology. It measures whether the washroom user washed their hands properly; washed for more than 20 seconds, used soap, and wiped their hands with a towel."

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On-Line EMVA 1288 Course

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Framos hosts a two-day online training on the EMVA 1288 standard on May 27-28. The speaker is Prof. Bernd Jähne from Heidelberg University, a member of the EMVA board.

At the end of the course, participants will have the option of taking a written examination to gain certification as an EMVA 1288 Expert. The certificate shows that the holder can successfully carry out measurements in accordance with EMVA 1288, and correctly interpret the results.

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On-Line EMVA 1288 Course

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

Framos hosts a two-day online training on the EMVA 1288 standard on May 27-28. The speaker is Prof. Bernd Jähne from Heidelberg University, a member of the EMVA board.

At the end of the course, participants will have the option of taking a written examination to gain certification as an EMVA 1288 Expert. The certificate shows that the holder can successfully carry out measurements in accordance with EMVA 1288, and correctly interpret the results.

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ON Semi Reports Q1 2020 Results

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BusinessWire: ON Semi reports Q1 results with some updates about its image sensor business:

"During the first quarter, we secured a major design win for ADAS image sensors with a Japanese OEM. This OEM is one of the largest automakers in the world. This win underscores our global leadership in ADAS image sensors, and highlights customer confidence in our technology in a highly safety critical application.

Our engagement with e-commerce customers is growing at a rapid pace, and we expect ecommerce related applications will be a strong driver of our industrial image sensor business. We believe that growth in our e-commerce related business will be driven by increasing e-commerce volumes, increasing warehouse automation, and adoption of delivery robots. Through our early engagement with industry leaders in e-commerce, we have built a strong design win pipeline for our CMOS image sensors for warehouse automation and delivery robots.
"

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Yole about iPad Pro SPAD LiDAR: Sony Landed on the Moon Without Us Knowing

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Yole Developpement publishes an article "With the Apple iPad LiDAR chip, Sony landed on the moon without us knowing" by its Principal Analyst Pierre Cambou and Taha Ayari, Technology & Cost Analyst at System Plus Consulting.

"...once we studied the cross-section an all-new story unfolded. In front of us lies the first ever consumer CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) product with in-pixel connection – and, yes, it is a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array. There was a space race for this new generation of 3D sensing chip, but so far, everyone thought that the winner would be for ST Microelectronics, Yole Développement included.

ST Microelectronics seemed to have the lead in this domain, as it was already shipping millions of SPAD detectors. This was until Sony’s technology dominance entered the race. In three years’ time Sony’s process engineers realized what many thought impossible in other places. They brought to reality a product that will probably have long lasting consequences in the consumer world but also in industrial robotics, automotive, in short all sensing markets.

A year ago, when Sony renamed its semiconductor division “Imaging & Sensing”, the sensing part was limited to Industrial Machine Vision image sensors, which remained a high-end niche market. Then it made two separate moves. The first was the supply of iToF sensors to Huawei and Samsung, generating in the order of $300M in 2019. The second was this design win of dToF sensors for Apple iPads, which could eventually end up in iPhones. Sony’s sensing revenues will probably exceed $1B in 2020 out of a business just surpassing the $10B landmark. This successful transition from imaging to sensing has been instrumental to Sony’s continuous strength in the CIS market. It will be a building block for the prosperous future of the division.

In term of technology innovation, the LiDAR module of the new iPad Pro is as packed as the Apollo program’s pioneering Eagle lander. In a small footprint it is a complex optical module, holding the sensor, a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) and a VCSEL driver.

The Sony’s 30K resolution, 10µm pixel size sensor is indeed using dToF technology with a SPAD array. The in-pixel connection is realized between the CIS and the logic wafer with hybrid bonding Direct Bonding Interconnect technology, which is the first time Sony is using 3D stacking for its ToF sensors. Deep trench isolation, trenches filled with metal, completely isolate the pixels.
"

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