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Markets and Markets publishes its "3D Sensor Market by Technology" report. The company analysts expect the 3D sensor market to reach $3.4B by 2020 at a CAGR of 23.43% in 2014-2020.

3D Sensor Market by Regions

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PR Newswire: OmniVision announces the OV7676, a cost-effective 1/7.5-inch VGA SoC for mobile phones, tablets, wearables, notebooks, and IP network cameras. Built on mature 3-micron OmniPixel3-HS, the OV7676 is said to have best-in-class low-light sensitivity, SNR10 figure, full-well capacity, quantum efficiency and low-power consumption. The OV7676 also supports video-in-video functionality, allowing users to simultaneously record video feeds from both the front- and rear-facing cameras in smartphones, tablets and notebooks.

"The OV7676 is uniquely positioned to deliver high-level performance to a diverse range of consumer devices that have stringent requirements on function and value," said Paul Gallagher, senior director of marketing and business development at OmniVision. "With more mainstream devices incorporating cameras in their designs, we believe the OV7676 is ideally suited to meet the demands of this particular product segment. Likewise, the OV7676 can also serve as a cost-effective camera solution for emerging applications, such as IP security cameras and wearable devices."

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A crowd-funded experiment promising to extend the human eye sensitivity to NIR reports an initial success. The group of researchers was able to extend it to 950nm. The key idea is to restrict vitamin A1 intake, while administrating vitamin A2 supplement at the same time. The vitamin A2 supplement is not readily available and it took the research group about a year to get it. After the two weeks of vitamin A2-rich diet, the group has registered biopotentials showing the retinal reaction on the 950nm LED flashes:

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Sony announces new ceramic packages for ICX810 and ICX811 CCDs for security cameras (NTSC and PAL respectively). The new packages are more compact and sustain higher temperatures in reflow soldering process:


One has to note that the recommended reflow temp profile is quite delicate - most common reflow processes have heat peaks at 245-250C.

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Sharp Japan web site publishes an announcement of RJ5DY1BA0LT, the 12MP, 1-inch image sensor capable of 4K2K video at 60fps. The sensor is based on 3.1um pixels with 1420mV/lux-sec sensitivity (3200K light source, F5.6). When shooting 4K/60fps video, the sensor consumes 420mW, said to be the lowest power in the industry.


The 2014 Q3 Sharp LSI catalog shows somewhat lower sensitivity of the new sensor - 1170mV/lux-sec:

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The rumor is that Heptagon has acquired Swiss ToF camera and image sensor maker MESA Imaging. MESA ToF cameras and sensors are mainly used in industrial applications, while Heptagon is oriented to mass market wafer optics used in many camera phones. The synergy between the two cameras is not clear to me.

Historically, both companies started from Switzerland CSEM technology:

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Mantis Vision's CTO, Gur Bittan presents "Mobile Depth Sensing Methods and What They're Good For" at GPU Technology Conference held in March 2014. One can download the presentation video here or see it below.

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EETimes: InSilixa comes out of stealth mode with a promise to deliver a cheap DNA testing technology PCR by means of 32 x 32 image sensor array. The sensor is supposed to cost $20-$50, has 100um pixel pitch and is manufactured in IBM 250nm process:


In 2013, the startup company won Nokia XCHALLENGE award, as seen in this Youtube video:

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Egami blog publishes Olympus Japanese patent application 2014-135535 proposing a 2-layer RGB-IR sensor. The main purpose is to remove the need in IR-cut filter.

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iFixit teardown shows that Mantis Vision structured light camera is responsible for Google Project Tango tablet 3D vision. The teardown team quotes Google: "The IR projector is from Mantis Vision, and designed specific to our specs for field of view and resolution. It is custom designed to work in partnership with the 4MP RGB-IR camera on the other side."

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Business Wire: ON Semiconductor announces the completion of its acquisition of Aptina Imaging. ON expects to establish a new reporting segment, which will incorporate the financial results of the company’s consolidated sensor businesses, including the recent acquisitions of Aptina Imaging and Truesense Imaging, and ON Semiconductor’s existing optical, image and touch sensor businesses. The company expects to begin reporting financial results for the newly created segment from Q3 2014.

Taner Ozcelik, has been named SVP of the Aptina image sensor business and will report to Keith Jackson, president and CEO of ON Semi. Before the acquisition, Taner Ozcelik used to be Aptina SVP responsible for the Automotive and Embedded business.

For the Q3 2014, the acquisition of Aptina will likely contribute revenue in the range of $60M to $70M. Excluding the costs related to restructuring, and other acquisition related items, the acquisition of Aptina is expected to be slightly accretive to the ON's non-GAAP net income in Q3 2014.

In its investor presentation, ON Semi shows financial targets for Aptina business:

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Espros Photonics presents an improved version of the evaluation kit for its epc610 ToF sensor:


"The new epc610 Evaluation Kit is a significant upgrade from the former version. We opted for a completely new hardware design of the camera module. This module is based on our thorough background on TOF and incorporates the recent learnings from our customers.

A first novelty is an LED subsystem, which is optimized to illuminate the operation range in a more uniform way. Seven LEDs (Osram SFH 4059) are placed at the edge of the camera PCB. These LEDs cover the more distant operating range. Together, they deliver a high intensity, but due to the placement away from the receiver lens, their effect drops drastically at close range. This is where the single short range LED jumps in. Placed close to the receiver lens this single LED is much better suited to delivering light on to close objects, while its effect fades when the targets move further away. The result of this design is an illumination intensity with reduced peaks at certain distances. On signal level, this translates to a lower dynamic range that needs to be covered by the the detector system. Ask your sensor specialist and he will tell you why he likes that! With this design, the epc610 Camera Module works in a range from zero up to about three meters – depending on the target reflectivity."

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As written in comments to the previous post, Taiwan-based LIPS posted Youtube videos demoing a 3D camera based on combination of ToF and stereo. No explanation of the technology is given, other than saying it's compatible with Primesense openNI 1.5 and 2.x software.

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Image Sensors Americas conference publishes an interview with Richard Crisp from Etron on future of 3D imaging. Few quotes:

"I see the key applications in the area of control, security, visualization and reproduction. Significant market opportunities lie ahead in general-purpose computing/communications platforms (notebook/tablet/smartphone) as well as in fixed function appliances."

"The area of end application concepts, software and infrastructure are major areas of activity today. Once fully deployed, the impact of 3D imaging technology on our everyday life will be transformative in the same way the internet was: it will fundamentally change how we do things."

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Sensors Online published IMEC's Piet De Moor article "CMOS Imagers with Embedded CCD." Few quotes:

"Imec developed a CMOS compatible CCD module and included this into its custom imager 130-nm process... Imec implemented a number of process modifications to realize a CMOS compatible CCD module in its 130-nm custom image sensor technology platform. The embedded CCD module uses a single layer poly-silicon CCD electrode with narrow gaps to allow efficient charge transfer. It is customizable depending on application needs, and is compatible with back-side illumination."

"Embedded CCD, being a CCD compatible with CMOS operating voltages, opens possibilities for new and rich pixel architectures. For example, users could utilize an in-pixel CCD to implement a charge-domain global shutter functionality. Although this concept to image a full frame at the same exact timing is possible using CMOS imagers, it generally comes with a noise penalty.

Other possible uses of embedded CCD pixels include extreme high-frame rate burst imagers, where subsequent frames are stored inside the pixel using small CCD based analog memories. Certain time-of-flight implementations could also benefit from this technology. In addition to monolithic TDI applications for industrial inspection, TDI functionality is also used in hybrid infrared and x-ray imagers."

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Aptina has shipped 50 millionth image sensor for automotive systems. The company estimates that nearly one in every two cars with an imaging solution uses an Aptina image sensor. The company sees this as an important milestone in its ten years of focus on automotive imaging.

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Nikkei says that Sony has developed a sensor for automotive applications, which is "10 times as sensitive to light as existing chips, allowing for easier detection of objects in dark environments. The sensor can provide a color display of the surrounding area even in moonlight, enabling it to detect obstacles more readily than a driver can." Sony plans to start mass production of the sensor and begin sales to automotive equipment manufacturers in the latter half of 2015. The new sensor is expected to appear in car-mounted devices in 2016.

Aptina and OmniVision are leading the automotive image sensor market now. "But Sony aims to eventually pick up 50% of the market." Annual production of smart cars equipped with many cameras is expected to reach 100 million vehicles by 2025.

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Fox Business News, Seeking Alpha, WSJ, Barron's: Omnivision says it received a $1.64 billion takeover offer from a Chinese investor group led by Hua Capital Management Ltd. The investor group includes state-owned Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Investment Co. Omnivision's board is reviewing Hua's proposal, and has made no decision yet.

Update: Here is the official Omnivision statement on the offer.

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Nature Photonics publishes a paper from a number Japanese universities and research centers showing 450x450 pixel imaging at 4.4 trillion fps:

"Sequentially timed all-optical mapping photography (STAMP)"
K. Nakagawa, A. Iwasaki, Y. Oishi, R. Horisaki, A. Tsukamoto, A. Nakamura, K. Hirosawa, H. Liao, T. Ushida, K. Goda, F. Kannari & I. Sakuma

The paper is supplemented by a nice videos explaining the camera operation and showing the demo movies (see more videos at the bottom of the Nature Photonics page):

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Why would HVAC system need an image sensor? Trane International's patent application US20140217185 "HVAC System With Camera and Microphone" by Kirby Neal Bicknell explains that the right question is not "why" but "how many image sensors":

"An image data set captured by the image sensor or an audio file captured by the microphone may be searched for the presence of predetermined conditions to reconfigure user settings. For example, if User A likes the room kept at 65 degrees in the winter, while User B likes the room kept at 72 degrees in the winter, an HVAC controller may recognize the presence of either User A or User B to change the default settings to the preferences of that particular user. In addition, the HVAC system controller may be programmed to prioritize one user over another user.

In another example, an HVAC system may be configured to cool a house when the temperature rises above 72 degrees. However, if an image sensor attached to an outdoor unit captures an image of User C or User D in the back yard, the HVAC system may override the default settings and suppress the cooling operation until User C and/or User D leave the back yard. This may be done to suppress the noise generation by the outdoor unit, or for various safety considerations. If User C is a small child, the operation of the outdoor unit with a high speed fan may present a safety consideration. If User D is typically present to mow the yard, presence of this individual may be a condition to trigger shut down of the outdoor unit to avoid grass being sucked into the outdoor unit, and clogging the heat exchanger."

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Image Sensor Americas conference publishes tow new interviews on its site. Forza Silicon CTO Daniel Van Blerkom talks about image sensor design:

"Backside illuminated technology (BSI) is now becoming standard, even in custom sensors. This, coupled with 3D packaging with dense interconnects, is creating an exciting opportunity in stacked sensors. We are currently working on projects utilizing pixel level interconnects in 3D stacked devices."

"Forza Silicon team is in the process of developing a compact, low-power 3D sensor technology that can enable a wide range of smart applications in the programmable world (otherwise know as the "Internet of Things")."

IMEC image sensor group manager Piet De Moor too talks about stacked sensor technology:

"I expect a big impact of stacked image sensors, not so much on the image sensing quality but rather at the system integration level, which will enable smart and very compact imagers for both consumer (e.g. mobile phone) as industrial inspection and security imaging systems."

"The additional functionality offered by stacking is the potential of an area distributed pixel readout right underneath the pixel area, which allows a very fast or high dynamic range readout, a local analog-to-digital conversion, local image processing or combinations of above."

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Business Wire: Aptina is in mass production of the ASX344AT SOC for backup cameras. The 1/4-inch, 5.6um pixel VGA resolution ASX344AT delivers 180 degree viewing with de-warp functionality. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that 180 degree camera solutions provide a nearly 60% improvement over traditional mirror-based systems and a nearly 15% improvement over traditional 130 degree viewing systems for backup accident avoidance.

"The ASX344AT is a comprehensive, robust imaging solution for automotive backup cameras and further expands our industry-leading automotive portfolio," said Taner Ozcelik, SVP of Business Development at Aptina. "By incorporating robust image processing with leading image sensor technology into a single solution, customers will be able to accelerate their time-to-market and reduce overall system costs."

The ASX344AT meets AEC-Q100 qualification with operating temperatures of -40°C to +105°C.

De-warp demo

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Laser Focus: UK, Cambridge University spin-off, Optalysys says that it is only months away from launching a prototype optical processor operating at 1.32 gigaFLOPS. An array of fast image sensors is supposed to be used as the output device for the supercomputer. A Youtube video by Emeritus Prof. Heinz Wolff pitches the technology:

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Reuters publishes an article on automotive camera market potential, largely based on views of Mcnex, Korea's biggest car camera vendor. High-end cars carry as many as eight cameras supporting wide range of applications from parking to emergency braking. Eventually, this number can reach 12 when cameras replace side-view mirrors. Once these camera technologies reache mid- and lower-end cars, the market can grow seven-fold from 2011 to nearly $6.6B in 2018, according to TSR.

Automotive cameras have to be far more robust than camera phones. They must withstand tests that include days of submersion in water and 1,000 hours of cycling temperature within seconds between -40C to +85C. "Vehicle cameras are completely different from mobile cameras in terms of specifications. Phone camera makers have had to face a steep learning curve," said Lee Hyo-cheol, a principal research engineer at Korean auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis.

"It is very difficult to enter the automotive camera market from supplying mobile phone cameras, especially the complicated front camera market," IHS senior analyst Helena Perslow. Cameras for cars are priced around $32 each compared with $4 for phones, according to Mcnex, which earned 19 percent of revenue last year from car cameras versus 2 percent in 2007. Prices could fall, however, as volume grows.

About 83M car cameras are likely to be sold in 2020, five times more than in 2012, according to IHS Automotive. By comparison, shipments of smartphones - which generally feature two cameras - will likely grow 6% in 2018 from 39% last year, according to IDC.

Panasonic and Sony lead in parking cameras, according to IHS, and Continental AG, Robert Bosch GmbH and Autoliv Inc dominate front cameras.

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CMOSIS has acquired Swiss AWAIBA Group (including its Portugal and Germany branches). AWAIBA develops and markets innovative line-scan CMOS imagers for industrial web inspection, sub-mm-sized CMOS camera modules for endoscopy, and on-board automotive cameras. The transaction has been closed on August 4, 2014.

"The acquisition of AWAIBA is a natural fit for CMOSIS. It strengthens our presence in existing markets and expands our activities in adjacent segments with complementary image sensor products. It also strengthens our relationship with our existing customer base," stated Luc De Mey, CMOSIS Chairman and CEO. "The acquisition became possible after TA Associates stepped in as a strong financial partner of CMOSIS earlier this year. This enabled horizontal expansion and growth acceleration. AWAIBA is a profitable and well-established brand with an attractive and strongly growing client base. We are very excited to welcome their experienced team having an impressive track record of innovation and deep understanding of customer needs. This permits us to even better serve our customers as an independent and pure-play supplier of CMOS image sensors."

"AWAIBA and CMOSIS are joining forces. This allows AWAIBA to secure the financial, human and technological resources for the development of next-generation line-scan and sub-millimeter sized image sensors," commented Martin Waeny, AWAIBA founder and CEO. "The newly combined entity will take a much stronger position as a leading supplier of high-quality CMOS image sensors in the consolidating markets of advanced image sensors."


CMOSIS' announcement came a week after e2v annouced its intention to buy Spanish Anafocus. Optics.org publishes an article on the acquisition and analysis of the consolidating European image sensor scene.

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Korea IT Times: SK Hynix aims to expand its image sensor sales to Chinese smartphone makers. In the past, SK Hynix has focused on low-end products, but now the company plans to enter high-end market. In addition to the 13MP sensor for mainstream smartphones, SK Hynix also showing to potential customers a 21MP model under development now.

SK Hynix official said: "We will strive to increase the sales of high-pixel products by applying the new light-concentrating technology onto 13-megapixel-plus CMOS image sensors."

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Pixart reports its Q2 2014 results. The revenues of NT$1.26B (~$41.97M) are 5.5% higher than the previous quarter and 8.3% higher than a year ago. Net profit is NT$104M (~$3.46M), 13.2% higher than in Q1 and 65.1% higher than a year ago. The gross margin for half a year period is 44.7%, up from 40.8% a year ago.

The company's product mix is changing dynamically every quarter:

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SPIE Electronic Imaging 2015 Image Sensors and Imaging Systems session is in danger. The session committee was supposed to select 40 best papers out of 50-60 ones. However, by now, only 8 papers have been submitted. The call for paper deadline has been extended to Aug. 15. The submission effort is limited:

• 200-Word Summary: Please submit a 200-word text-only summary suitable for early release. If accepted, this summary text will be published prior to the meeting in the online or printed programs promoting the conference.
• 500-Word Abstract: Please submit a 500-word text-only abstract for technical review purposes unless the individual call specifies otherwise. SPIE is authorized to circulate your abstract to conference committee members for review and selection purposes.
• Only original material should be submitted.

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With a proliferation of FinFETs and other 3D devices, it's just a matter of time to see them adapted in image sensors. Apple patent application US20140211056 "Vertically stacked image sensor" by Xiaofeng Fan seems to propose exactly that:

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Himax reports its Q2 2014 results. The company says on the image sensor business status:

"Shipment of low-end CMOS image sensor ... had some negative impact on gross margin in Q2. Although it is expected that more sales from higher-end CMOS image sensor and smartphone driver IC in Q3, pricing remains competitive."

"The CMOS image sensors delivered another strong quarter in Q2, up over 20% sequentially. The Company’s existing 2 and 5 megapixel CMOS image sensors are producing good sales from select international brands and Chinese white-box customers. However, the Company is experiencing some delay in design-in process with its customers to replace older generation sensors with new designs. Such delays will have a negative impact on the corporate gross margin.

It is expected that the 8 megapixel sensors to start small volume shipments from Q3. The 8 megapixel sensor products will contribute to sales growth and better gross margin as they enter mass production. The Company recently launched its first 13 megapixel sensor, which positions us among a small group of players with such high end offering. Additionally, following multi-year design efforts, the Company now has a competitive CMOS image sensor product line for automotive and surveillance applications, both large, lucrative and fast-growing markets. This is a market with a high entry barrier where special know-how is required. Collectively, it is expected that the CMOS image sensor business to more than double in 2014.

The current strategy for the CMOS image sensor business is to focus on increasing shipments and gaining market share. The gross margin for this business will improve when we successfully replace certain old generation designs with new ones and the higher end products, initially 8 megapixel and then 13 megapixel products; comprise a larger portion of the revenue mix. Looking further ahead, the contribution from sensors for automotives and surveillance applications will further improve the gross margin of this product line."

"Last but not least, the Company has been working with several industry leading partners using its unique and industry-leading wafer level optics, or WLO, for the development of three exciting product areas of the future, namely array cameras, certain special purpose sensors and microdisplay light guides for wearable devices. Such development sometimes involves the capabilities of its in-house CMOS image sensor, LCOS microdisplay and video processing algorithm teams. Himax is in a unique position in these exciting new technology areas in that it is the only player in the marketplace which is able to provide a total solution. The Company is excited to be in the forefront of such technological developments thanks to many years of technological innovation which leads to a unique product portfolio covering the full range of image processing related knowhow."

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