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Pixart keeps diversifying its image sensor portfolio with some degree of success:

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SeekingAlpha publishes Himax Q4 2017 earnings call transcript. Few quotes on 3D and CMOS sensor business:

"At present, our total market is primarily the Android based smartphone. SLiM, our total – our structure light-based 3D sensing total solutions which we announced jointly with Qualcomm last August, brings together Qualcomm’s industry leading 3D algorithm with Himax’s cutting-edge design and manufacturing capabilities in optics and NIR sensors as well as our unique know-how in 3D sensing system integration.

The majority of the key technologies inside the SLiM total solution is developed and supplied by Himax ourselves. These critical technologies include, on the projector end, DOE and collimator utilizing our world leading WLO technology, a tailor-made laser driver IC, and high precision active alignment for the projector assembly; and on the receiver end, a high efficiency near-infrared CMOS image sensor. Last but not least, Himax also developed an ASIC by incorporating Qualcomm’s algorithm for 3D depth map generation. The fact that all of these critical components are developed in-house puts us in a unique leading position. It represents a very high barrier of entry for any potential competition and a much higher ASP and profit margin for us.

The Qualcomm/Himax solution is by far the highest quality 3D sensing total solution available for the Android market right now. It has the industry’s best performance in all of the dimension, 3D depth accuracy, indoor/outdoor sensitivity and power consumption. It passes the toughest eye safety standards with a proprietary glass broken detection mechanism to safeguard the user from any potential harm. Furthermore, we have the only solution to offer face recognition for secure online payment, a must-have feature for high end smartphones of the future. We are working with multiple tier-1 smartphone makers, aiming to launch 3D sensing on their premium smartphones starting the first half of 2018.

Our SLiM solution will be ready for mass production and shipment by the end of the first quarter, 2018 with an initial capacity of 2 million units per month, following some waiting period. The initial capacity is part of our Phase I expansion of $80 million. We have already achieved pretty satisfactory production yields in our internal pilot production. Given that SLiM is a highly integrated solution with ASPs much higher than those of individual components, by the time we started making shipment, it will be a major growth contributor to our top and bottom lines.

In an attempt to accelerate the adoption of 3D sensing for Android phones, in addition to SLiM, we’re also working on stereoscopic type 3D sensing as a lower costs alternative. Unlike SLiM which utilizes structure light to generate 3D, stereoscopic type uses two cameras to replicate 3D vision in nature, augmented by coded light for image depth enhancement. Both types of solutions offered by Himax operate on active NIR light source with high sensitivity NIR sensors, thus working very well even under extreme brightness or total darkness.

For 3D sensing purposes, structure light approach offers better depth precision than stereoscopic type but the cost is also higher. By introducing stereoscopic 3D sensing, we aim to bring down the cost of 3D sensing so that it can be afforded by mass market smartphone models. We are pleased to report that development of stereoscopic 3D sensing total solution for face recognition and 3D features has been under way. We are aiming to be mass production and shipment ready by Q4 of this year. Similar to our experience in SLiM, we are working with some of the most prominent ecosystem partners in developing our stereoscopic 3D total solution.

We are very update progress in due course or low costs compared to structure light their stereoscopic 3D was still represent a much higher ASP and better gross margin potential for us. Last but not least and this year CES many of our customers and partners demonstrated 3D sensing applications in IoT or promoted AR/VR and robotic related products with Himax SLiM inside and received very positive feedback. As I mentioned before, 3D sensing can have a broad range of applications that go beyond smartphone. We are very excited about the growth prospects it represents and believes 3D sensing will be our biggest long-term growth engine."

A slide from the company presentation:

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Autosens publishes a presentation "LIDAR systems for automotive: Benefits and the challenges for OEMs" by Jaguar Landrover's Andy Lewin:

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MDPI Special Issue on the 2017 International Image Sensor Workshop publishes Delft University paper "Temporal Noise Analysis of Charge-Domain Sampling Readout Circuits for CMOS Image Sensors" by Xiaoliang Ge and Albert J. P. Theuwissen.

"In order to address the trade-off between the low input-referred noise and high dynamic range, a Gm-cell-based pixel together with a charge-domain correlated-double sampling (CDS) technique has been proposed to provide a way to efficiently embed a tunable conversion gain along the read-out path. Such readout topology, however, operates in a non-stationery large-signal behavior, and the statistical properties of its temporal noise are a function of time. Conventional noise analysis methods for CMOS image sensors are based on steady-state signal models, and therefore cannot be readily applied for Gm-cell-based pixels. In this paper, we develop analysis models for both thermal noise and flicker noise in Gm-cell-based pixels by employing the time-domain linear analysis approach and the non-stationary noise analysis theory, which help to quantitatively evaluate the temporal noise characteristic of Gm-cell-based pixels. Both models were numerically computed in MATLAB using design parameters of a prototype chip, and compared with both simulation and experimental results. The good agreement between the theoretical and measurement results verifies the effectiveness of the proposed noise analysis models."

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Espros February newsletter (not on the web site yet) explains the company plans to expand its BSI production line:

"One of the most important factors is time to market. The semiconductor industry is in a very difficult position in this respect because the supply chain and thus the lead time is quite long.

Typically, more than 20 weeks from the start of wafer processing to final chips is not abnormal. Thus, if a shortage in the supply chain occurs, e.g. due to increasing demand, allocation for 30-50 weeks is not really special. In the case of our products where we do rather complex backside processing, we had to add another 11 weeks to the supply lead time one year ago. This situation was not satisfying at all and we decided to invest heavily into additional in-house capabilities.

The result is now that we can do the backside and the back-end processing of the wafers within days, if needed. We showed this performance in a recent project where lead time from wafer production start until the chips were in the lab was only nine weeks. Not just wafer processing and backside processing, but also assembly including AR coating and band-pass filter bonding."

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IC Insights publishes a report on worlds fab closures. It turns out that CIS market expansion has saved two 300mm fabs from closure:

"Renesas sold its 300mm logic fab to Sony in 2014. Sony repurposed that fab to make image sensors. In 2017, Samsung closed its 300mm Line 11 memory fab in Yongin, South Korea, also repurposing it to manufacture image sensors."

According to other sources, the re-purporsed Samsung fab is located in Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province and should start CIS manufacturing in 1H 2018.

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AutoSens publishes CSEM Christophe Pache presentation on flash LiDARs with a Q&A session starting at 20:20 time:

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BusinessWire: Renesas announced the R-Car V3H SoC for computer vision and AI processing at industry-leading low power levels, targeting automotive front cameras for use in mass-produced Level 3 (conditional automation) and Level 4 (high automation) autonomous vehicles. The new SoC is optimized for use in stereo front cameras and achieves five times the computer vision performance of its predecessor, the R-Car V3M SoC.

The R-Car V3H algorithms include Dense Optical Flow, Dense Stereo Disparity, and Object Classification. The integrated IP for CNN accelerates deep learning at industry-leading low power levels of only 0.3 watts, achieving more than two times of the deep neural network performance of the R-Car V3M.

Samples of the R-Car V3H SoC will be available from Q4. Mass production is scheduled to begin in Q3, 2019.

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BusinessWire: Teledyne DALSA is expanding its manufacturing capacity given increased demand for the company’s CMOS-based digital X-ray detectors. Teledyne DALSA is a leader in the design and assembly of specialized CMOS X-ray detectors which offer superior lag-free, real-time imaging at both higher resolution and reduced X-ray dose levels.

Teledyne detectors feature proprietary active pixel architecture which offers higher image quality, QE and SNR compared with image intensified charge coupled devices (IICCDs), amorphous silicon (a-Si) or amorphous selenium (a-Se) detectors and even other CMOS-based competitive products.

In order to service its global customer base, Teledyne currently operates X-ray detector manufacturing and assembly locations in the Netherlands, Canada and the US.

“The expansion of the cleanroom facilities in the Netherlands will help us satisfy greater anticipated demand from dental and medical imaging OEMs,” said Robert Mehrabian, Chairman, President and CEO of Teledyne. “In fact, we currently expect that demand for our detectors will more than double by 2020 compared with 2017.”

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South China Morning Post publishes an article about Pixelplus launching "moving image HDR sensors" for the automotive applications.

“HDR technology was developed several years ago on the image signal processing (ISP) level, but the issue with digital artefact persisted. Our solution is an image sensor technology that eliminates artefact because functionality is built inside the image sensor itself,” says SK Lee, president and CEO of Pixelplus. “Our plan is to be among the global top five image sensor providers, especially for the automotive industry based on new camera platforms.”

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PRWeb: LensVector seems to shift its liquid crystal lens efforts away from imaging to light fixtures, possibly a result of appointing a new CEO:

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Imaging Resource publishes a review of Light.co L16 computational camera and the conclusion is quite bad:

"After years of hype and teasers, we finally got our hands on one, and suffice it to say, the image quality and performance leave a lot to desired.

...shooting out in the real world, the L16 is pretty much underwhelming on all fronts."

Fine "detail" crop

Light L16 camera

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Three new LiDAR videos have been published on Youtube today. AutoSens publishes Yole Developpment analyst Pierre Cambou presentation on LiDAR market:

The video is currently taken off-line. Will be re-posted here when it's available again.

Now, a shortened video is re-instated:



Waymo publishes self-driving experience from its imaging systems point of view:



SOSLab shows its "Hybrid Scanning" LiDAR demo:

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AutoSens Detroit conference to be held on May 14-17, 2018 announces it agenda with a rich image sensing content:

Near-Infrared QE Enhancing Technology for Automotive Applications
Boyd Fowler
CTO, OmniVision Technologies, Inc.
• Why is near infrared sensitivity important in automotive machine vision applications ?
• Combining thicker EPI, deep trench isolation and surface scattering to improve quantum efficiency, in CMOS image sensors, while still retaining excellent spatial resolution.
• Improving the performance of CMOS image sensors for in cabin monitoring and external night time imaging.

Challenges, opportunities and deep learning for thermal cameras in ADAS and autonomous vehicle applications
Mike Walters, VP of Product Management for Uncooled Thermal Camerast, FLIR Systems
• Deep learning analytic techniques including full scene segmentation, an AI technique that enables ADAS developers to create full scene classification of every pixel in the thermal image.

The emerging field of free-form optics in cameras, and its use in automotive
Li Han Chan, CEO, DynaOptics

Panel discussion: how many cameras are enough?
Tom Toma, Global Product Manager, Magna Electronics
Sven Fleck, Managing Director, SmartSurv Vision Systems GmbH
Patrick Denny, Senior Expert, Valeo
• OEM design engineer – can we make sensors a cool feature not an ugly bolt-on?
• Retail side – how to make ADAS features sexy?
• Tier 1 – minimal technical requirements
• Outside perspective – learning from an industry where safety sells (B2C market)

A review of relevant existing IQ challenges
Uwe Artmann
CTO/Partner , Image Engineering

Addressing LED flicker
Brian Deegan, Senior Expert - Vision Research Engineer , Valeo Vision Systems
• Definition, root cause and manifestations of LED flicker
• Impact of LED flicker for viewing and machine vision applications
• Initial proposals for test setup and KPIs, as defined by P2020 working group
• Preliminary benchmarking results from a number of cameras

CDP – contrast detection probability
Marc Geese, System Architect for Optical Capturing Systems, Robert Bosch

Moving from legacy LiDAR to Next Generation iDAR
Barry Behnken, VP of Engineering, AEye
• How can OEMs and Tier 1s leverage iDAR to not just capture a scene, but to dynamically perceive it?
• Learn how iDAR optimizes data collection, allowing for situational configurability at the hardware level that enables the system to emulate legacy systems, define regions of interest, focus on threat detection and/or be programmed for variable environments.
• Learn how this type of configurability will optimize data collection, reduce bandwidth, improve vision perception and intelligence, and speed up motion planning for autonomous vehicles.

Enhanced Time-Of-Flight – a CMOS full solution for automotive LIDAR
Nadav Haas, Product Manager, Newsight Imaging
• The need for a real 3D solid state lidar solution to overcome challenges associated with lidar.
• Enabling very wide dynamic range by means of standard processing tools, to amplify very weak signals to achieve high SNR and accurately detect objects with high resolution at long range.
• Eliminating blinding by mitigating or blocking background sunlight, random light from sources in other cars, and secondary reflections.
• Enabling very precise timing of the transmitted and received pulses, essential to obtain the desired overall performance.

Panel discussion: do we have a lidar bubble?
Abhay Rai, Director Product Marketing: Automotive Imaging, Sony Electronics
• Do we even need lidar in AV?
• Which is the right combo; lidar + cornering radar or no lidar just radar + camera?
• How many sensors are the minimum for autonomous driving
• Are image sensors and cameras fit for autonomous driving?

All-weather vision for automotive safety: which spectral band?
Emmanuel Bercier, Project Manager, AWARE Project
• The AWARE (All Weather All Roads Enhanced vision) French public funded project is aiming at the development of a low-cost sensor fitting to automotive requirements, and enabling a vision in all poor visibility conditions.
• Evaluation of the relevance of four different spectral bands: Visible RGB, Visible RGB Near-Infrared (NIR) extended, Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) and Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR).
• Outcome of two test campaigns in outdoor natural conditions and in artificial fog tunnel, with four cameras recording simultaneously.
• Presentation of the detailed results of this comparative study, focusing on pedestrians, vehicles, traffic signs and lanes detection.

Automotive Sensor Design Enablement; a discussion of multiple design enablement tools/IP to achieve smart Lidar
Ian Dennison, Senior Group Director R&D, Cadence Design Systems
• Demands of advanced automotive sensors, driving design of silicon photonics, MEMS, uW/RF, advanced node SoC, and advanced SiP.
• Examining design enablement requirements for automotive sensors that utilize advanced design fabrics, and their integration.

Role of Specialty Analog Foundry in Enabling Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Driving
Amol Kalburge, Head of the Automotive Program , TowerJazz
• Driving improvements in device level figures of merit to meet the technical requirements of key ADAS sensors such as automotive radar, LiDAR and camera systems.
• Optimizing the Rdson vs breakdown voltage to enable higher bus voltages of the future hybrid/EV systems.
• Presenting an overview of advanced design enablement and design services capabilities required for designers to build robust products: design it once, design it right.

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PMD and Infineon present what the call the smallest ToF camera:

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GlobeNewswire: Himax presents Android smartphone samples equipped with its 3D sensing total solution with face recognition capability. The solution is now ready for mass production.

SLiM, Himax’s structured light based 3D sensing total solution which the Company jointly announced with Qualcomm last August, brings together Qualcomm’s 3D algorithm with Himax’s design and manufacturing capabilities in optics and NIR sensors as well as know-how in 3D sensing system integration. The Qualcomm/Himax solution is claimed to be by far the best performing 3D sensing and face recognition total solution available for the Android smartphone market right now.

The key features of the Himax SLiMTM 3D sensing total solution include:

• Dot projector: More than 33,000 invisible dots, the highest in the industry, projected onto object to build the most sophisticated 3D depth map among all structured light solutions
• Depth map accuracy: Error rate of < 1% within the entire operation range of 20cm-100cm
• Face recognition: Enabled by the most sophisticated 3D depth data to build unique facial map that can be used for instant unlock and secure online payment
• Indoor/outdoor sensitivity: Superior sensing capability even under total darkness or bright sunlight
• Eye safety: Certified for IEC 60825 Class 1, the international laser product standard which governs laser product safety under all conditions of normal use with naked eyes
• Glass broken detection: Patented glass broken detection mechanism in the dot projector whereby laser is shut down instantaneously in the event of broken glass in the projector
• Power consumption: Less than 400mW for projector, sensor and depth decoding combined, making it the lowest power consuming 3D sensing device by far among all structured light solutions
• Module size: the smallest structured light solution in the market, ideal for embedded and mobile device integration

“3D sensing is among the most significant new features for smartphone. We are pleased to announce that our SLiM total solution is now ready for mass production. It outperforms all the peers targeting Android market in each and all aspects of engineering. We are working with multiple tier-1 Android smartphone makers, on target to launch 3D sensing on their premium smartphones starting the first half of 2018,” said Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax.

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PRNewswire: Mediatek flagship P60 application processor features triple ISP and AI processor:

"Compared to the previous Helio P series, MediaTek Helio P60's three image signal processors (ISPs) increase power efficiency by using 18 percent less power for dual-cameras set-ups. By combining the Helio P60's incredible camera technology with its powerful Mobile APU, users can enjoy AI-infused experiences in apps with real-time beautification, novel, real-time overlays, AR/MR acceleration, enhancements to photography, real-time video previews and more."

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BusinessWire: Leica Camera AG and pmdtechnologies announce a strategic alliance to jointly develop and market 3D ToF sensing camera solutions for mobile devices. The geographical proximity of the two companies allows a particularly fast and efficient coordination during development, testing and optimization of the lenses for the 3D sensor systems.

During the last months Leica designed a dedicated state-of-the-art optical lens for pmd’s recently announced new 3D depth sensing imager for mobile devices. By decreasing the f-number by 25% and simultanously decreasing the height of the pmd module by 30% to 11.5x7x4.2mm the dedicated lens for pmd’s latest 3D ToF pixel- and imager generation leads to a significant improvement compared to past lenses. As the Leica lens is optimized for a wavelength of 940nm, it enables ambient light robustness. With a depth data accuracy of 1%, the system is expected to reach the best in class performance despite the miniaturization regarding pixel, imager and module size. First samples of the new lens will be available in May 2018.

“The co-work between Leica and pmd has as the result the most sophisticated and smallest optic design, which pmd used so far. The co-work with Leica aligned perfectly with our mission to miniaturize 3D depth sensing without sacrificing data quality so that 3D depth sensing can be put into any device and make 3D depth sensing ubiquitous. We are looking forward to the mobile device opportunities, which the super-small 3D depth sensing modules, which use Leica’s optic, will enable. And we are more than happy that with Leica we found a top-class partner, who will join us on this exciting journey,” stated Jochen Penne, Executive Board Member of pmdtechnologies ag.

Markus Limberger, COO of Leica Camera AG said: “The cooperation between pmd and Leica is an excellent example of how two globally leading companies combine their core competencies to drive market oriented innovation efficiently. The foremost position of pmdtechnologies in Time-of-flight sensor technology and Leica’s expertise in cutting edge optical design were used to develop a very compact and powerful lens, which fits perfect to the specific requirements and the uncompromising quality of the new 3D sensor generation of pmd.”

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OSA Optics Express publishes Heriot-Watt University's paper "High-resolution depth profiling using a range-gated CMOS SPAD quanta image sensor" by Ximing Ren, Peter W. R. Connolly, Abderrahim Halimi, Yoann Altmann, Stephen McLaughlin, Istvan Gyongy, Robert K. Henderson, and Gerald S. Buller.

"A CMOS single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) quanta image sensor is used to reconstruct depth and intensity profiles when operating in a range-gated mode used in conjunction with pulsed laser illumination. By designing the CMOS SPAD array to acquire photons within a pre-determined temporal gate, the need for timing circuitry was avoided and it was therefore possible to have an enhanced fill factor (61% in this case) and a frame rate (100,000 frames per second) that is more difficult to achieve in a SPAD array which uses time-correlated single-photon counting. When coupled with appropriate image reconstruction algorithms, millimeter resolution depth profiles were achieved by iterating through a sequence of temporal delay steps in synchronization with laser illumination pulses. For photon data with high signal-to-noise ratios, depth images with millimeter scale depth uncertainty can be estimated using a standard cross-correlation approach. To enhance the estimation of depth and intensity images in the sparse photon regime, we used a bespoke clustering-based image restoration strategy, taking into account the binomial statistics of the photon data and non-local spatial correlations within the scene. For sparse photon data with total exposure times of 75 ms or less, the bespoke algorithm can reconstruct depth images with millimeter scale depth uncertainty at a stand-off distance of approximately 2 meters. We demonstrate a new approach to single-photon depth and intensity profiling using different target scenes, taking full advantage of the high fill-factor, high frame rate and large array format of this range-gated CMOS SPAD array."

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PRNewswire: SmartSens launches the 5MP 1/2.7-inch SC5235 BSI sensor. The new sensor is capable of running 5MP (2608H x 1960V) at 25 fps and supports the interline HDR image synthetic algorithm that expands DR up to 100dB. It can be used in security surveillance systems, ip cameras, car digital video recorders, sport cameras and video telephone conference systems.

SmartSens Technology is also launching the NIR enhanced edition-SC5238. It extends the performance advantage of SC5235 based on the optimization of technology to improve QE in 850nm-940nm band. Moreover, SC5238 can run at a speed of 30 fps and supports the image format at 4MP 50 fps for 16:9 video. Both chips are expected to go into mass production in March 2018.

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BusinessWire: Samsung introduces the 3-stack ISOCELL Fast 2L3. The 1.4-μm 12MP image sensor with 2Gb of integrated LPDDR4 DRAM delivers fast data readout speeds for super-slow motion and sharper still photographs with less noise and distortion.

“Samsung’s ISOCELL image sensors have made great leaps over the generations, with technologies such as ISOCELL for high color fidelity and Dual Pixel for ultra-fast autofocusing, bringing the smartphone camera ever closer to DSLR-grade photography,” said Ben K. Hur, VP of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “With an added DRAM layer, Samsung’s new 3-stack ISOCELL Fast 2L3 will enable users to create more unique and mesmerizing content.”

Conventional image sensors are constructed with two silicon layers; a pixel array layer that converts light information into an electric signal, and an analog logic layer that processes the electric signal into digital code. The digital code is then sent via MIPI interface to the device’s mobile processor for further image tuning before being saved to the device’s DRAM. While all these steps are done instantaneously to implement features like zero-shutter lag, capturing smooth super-slow-motion video requires image readouts at a much higher rate.

The 2Gb LPDDR4 DRAM layer is attached below the analog logic layer. With the integration, the image sensor can temporarily store a larger number of frames taken in high speed quickly onto the sensor’s DRAM layer before sending frames out to the mobile processor and then to the device’s DRAM. This not only allows the sensor to capture a full-frame snapshot at 1/120 of a second but also to record super-slow motion video at up to 960fps.

By storing multiple frames in the split of a second, the sensor can support 3-Dimensional Noise Reduction (3DNR) when shooting in low-light, as well as real time HDR imaging, and detect even the slightest hint of movement for automatic instant slow-motion recording.

The image sensor is also equipped with Dual Pixel technology, which allows each and every one of the 12M pixels of the image sensor to employ two photodiodes that respectively work as a PDAF agent.

The ISOCELL Fast 2L3 is currently in mass production.

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Samsung Galaxy S9 presentation seems to be build mostly around its cameras, imaging and vision features:

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Samsung Galaxy S9 presentation seems to be build mostly around its cameras, imaging and vision features:

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TradeArabia quotes FT report that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in discussions to invest $400M in Magic Leap on valuation of $6B. This is supposed to be an extension of October 2017 financial round when the company raised $502M. The Saudi investment is to bring the total raised capital to $2.3B.

Magic Leap is said to be developing its own silicon, optics, operating system, and applications which explains the unprecedented scale of the fundraising.

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MDPI Special Issue on the 2017 International Image Sensor Workshop publishes Omnivision paper "Second Generation Small Pixel Technology Using Hybrid Bond Stacking" by Vincent C. Venezia, Alan Chih-Wei Hsiung, Wu-Zang Yang, Yuying Zhang, Cheng Zhao, Zhiqiang Lin, and Lindsay A. Grant.

"In this work, OmniVision’s second generation (Gen2) of small-pixel BSI stacking technologies is reviewed. The key features of this technology are hybrid-bond stacking, deeper back-side, deep-trench isolation, new back-side composite metal-oxide grid, and improved gate oxide quality. This Gen2 technology achieves state-of-the-art low-light image-sensor performance for 1.1, 1.0, and 0.9 µm pixel products. Additional improvements on this technology include less than 100 ppm white-pixel process and a high near-infrared (NIR) QE technology."

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Yole Developpement releases "Sensors for Robotic Vehicles 2018" report:

"As far as we know, each robotic vehicle will be equipped with a suite of sensors encompassing Lidars, radars, cameras, Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The technology is ready and the business models associated with autonomous driving (AD) seem to match the average selling prices for those sensors. We therefore expect exponential growth of AD technology within the next 15 years, leading to a total paradigm shift in the transportation ecosystem by 2032. This will have huge consequences for high-end sensor and computing semiconductor players and the associated system-level ecosystems as well.

...in 2022 we expect sensor revenues to reach $1.6B for Lidar, $44M for radar, $0.6B for cameras, $0.9B for IMUs and $0.1B for GNSS. The split between the different sensor modalities may not stay the same for the 15 years to come. Nevertheless the total envelope for sensing hardware should reach $77B in 2032, while, for comparative purposes, computing should be in the range of $52B."

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SeekingAlpha: TowerJazz Q4 2017 earnings report has an update on the foundry's image sensor business:

"For CMOS image sensor we use the 300 millimeter 65 nanometer capability to develop unique high dynamic range and extremely high sensitivity pixels with very low dark current for the high-end digital SLR and cinematography and broadcasting markets.

In these developments, we've included are fab 2 stitching technology to enable large full frame sensors. In addition, we developed a unique family of global shutter state-of-the-art pixels ranging from 3.6 micron down to 2.5 micron to note the smallest in the world with extremely high-shutter efficiency using the unique dual light pipe technology already developed at TPS Go for high quantum efficiency and high image uniformity.

And lastly within the CIS regime, we've pushed the limits of our x-ray dye size developing a one dye per wafer x-ray stitch sensor to produce a 300 millimeter a 21 cm x 21 cm imager. All of the above technologies have been or are being implemented in our CIS customers next generation products and are ramping or are plan to begin ramping this year with some additional next year.

Our Image sensor end markets including medical, machine vision, digital SLR camera, cinematography and security among others represented about 15% of our corporate revenues or $210 million and provided the highest margins in the company. We are offering the most advanced global shutter pixel for industrial sensor market with a 2.8 micron global shutter pixel on 110 nanometer platform. The smallest global shutter pixel in the world already in manufacturing. Additionally, as mentioned we have a 2.5 micron state of the art global shutter pixel in development at 65 nanometer, 300 platforms with several leading customers allowing high sensor resolution for any given sensor size enabling TowerJazz to further grow its market leadership.

We also offer single photon avalanche diode which is state of the art technology and ultra fact global shutter pixel for automotive radars based on time of flight principle, answering automotive market needs. We have engaged with several customers in the development of their automotive radar and expect to be a major player in this market in the coming future.

During 2017, we announced a partnership with Yuanchen Microelectronics for backside illumination manufacturing in Changchun China that provide us the BSI process segment for CIS 8 inch wafer manufactured by TowerJazz to increase our service to our worldwide customer base in mass production. So I will be ready for this mass production early second half of this year with multiple customers already having started their product designs.

In addition, we developed backside illumination and stack way for technology on 12 inch wafers in the Uozu factory serving as a next generation platform for high end photography and high end security market. We now offer both BSI and column level stack wafer PDKs to our customers.

We are investing today in three main directions. Next generation global shutter technology for industrial sensor market. Backside illumination stack wafers for the high end photography market and special pixel technology for the automotive market."

An earlier presentation shows the company's CIS business in a graphical format:

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ULIS publishes a Youtube demo of its thermal sensors usefulness in ADAS applications. One can see how hot the car tires become on the highway, while keep being cool in city driving:



Sensata prizes Quanergy LiDAR performance:

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