Archives for March 2015

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Altera shows its low power stereo vision FPGA solution in this Youtube video:



Cadence Youtube video presents is video/imaging DSP IP platform, says it consumes 10x less power:

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Business Wire, Samsung Tomorrow: Samsung’s 8MP ISOCELL RWB CMOS image sensor, the S5K4H5YB, is aimed to front-facing mobile cameras. By combining ISOCELL technology with the newly developed RWB (Red-White-Blue) color filter, the new image sensor enhances light sensitivity and color fidelity, allowing an improvement of over 3 dB in SNR in low light settings. In addition, unlike other types of color pattern configurations, the high similarity between the RWB and RGB patterns eliminates the need for an RGB convertor in a RWB filter, which prevents unnecessary color deviation.

Physical barriers between each ISOCELL pixel allow 30% decrease in crosstalk and 30% increase in full-well capacity when compared to "conventional" BSI sensors, possibly, S5K4H5YC.

Samples of the 8 MP RWB ISOCELL image sensor are available for customers and mass production of the product is scheduled for Q2 2015. Incidentaly, the S5K4H5YB has already been announced a year and a half ago. By that time, Samsung said "The S5K4H5YB is currently sampling to customers with mass production scheduled for Q4 2013." However, in the earlier announcement, Samsung has not mentioned RWB CFA.

Samsung S5K4H5YB product page says that it's already in production:

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PR Newswire: OmniVision announces the OV16880, a 16MP sensor built on OmniVision's PureCel-S stacked die technology. The 1/3-inch OV16880 introduces a new 1um (!) pixel technology, as well as advanced features such as phase detection autofocus (PDAF).

"Industry observers expect the 1/3-inch image sensor market for 13-megapixel to 16-megapixel resolution segments to double within the next two years, driven mostly by the proliferation of higher resolution mainstream smartphones and tablets," said Kalai Chinnaveerappan, senior product marketing manager at OmniVision. "The OV16880 is the industry's first 1/3-inch 16-megapixel image sensor, putting it in the forefront of this high-growth market segment. The sensor enables slim devices to transition from a 13-megapixel to 16-megapixel camera while maintaining excellent image quality and pixel performance."

The OV16880 PureCel-S stacked die pixel array features buried color filter array (BCFA) technology, which reduces pixel crosstalk and improves SNR. The OV16880 captures 16MP images at 30fps, allowing burst photography and zero shutter lag at full resolution. Additionally, the sensor is capable of capturing 4K video at 30fps, 1080p video at 90fps, and 720p video at 120fps. The OV16880 also supports interlaced high dynamic range (iHDR) timing functionality. The sensor fits into a 8.5 mm x 8.5 mm module with a z-height of less than 5 mm.

The sensor is currently available for sampling, and is expected to enter volume production in Q3 2015.

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Business Wire, PR Newswire: Toshiba announces the T4KB3, a 13MP BSI CMOS image sensor with the optical format of 1/3.07-inch for smartphones and tablets. The new design methodology helps to reduce the power consumption of the new 13MP sensor to 53% of Toshiba’s sensor currently in mass production, to 200mW or less at 30fps. The 1.12um pixel-based T4KB3 is also said to be world’s smallest 13MP sensor. Toshiba “Bright Mode” technology boosts image brightness up to four times in Full-HD video capture at 120fps equivalent. The sample shipments start today.

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Business Wire: Freescale introduces the S32V vision microprocessor, said to be the first automotive vision SoC with the requisite reliability, safety and security measures to automate and ‘co-pilot’ a self-aware car. “Many automotive vision systems available today are based on consumer-oriented silicon solutions originally designed to enhance gaming graphics or run smartphone apps. But in a new era where cars will serve as trusted co-pilots, utilizing consumer-oriented silicon is fundamentally unwise,” said Bob Conrad, SVP and GM of Automotive MCUs for Freescale. “Relying on anything less than automotive-grade silicon to take control of a vehicle and make critical driving decisions is simply not acceptable – not for me, not for my family and not for my customers.”

The S32V vision microprocessor integrates the 2nd generation CogniVue APEX-642 core image processing technology, as well as four ARM Cortex-A53 cores. Full market availability for the S32V is expected in July 2015.

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Semiconductor Engineering reports that Mentor Graphics has purchased Tanner EDA for an undisclosed sum. Tanner CAD is popular among low budget image sensor design houses.

Update: As Semiwiki reports "Over the last 27 years Tanner EDA has shipped close to 35,000 licenses of its software to more than 5,000 customers in 67 countries."

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Rambus promotes its lensless sensors in this Youtube video:

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Toshiba announces the TMPV7608XBG, an image recognition processor that provides recognition and detection of vehicles and pedestrians at night. The new processor is capable of 1.9 Tera operations per second (TOPS) and integrates new feature descriptors that make use of color-based image information.

The new processor is said to realize a nighttime pedestrian detection as reliable as a daytime detection available with conventional vision systems. Toshiba’s original Enhanced CoHOG (Co-occurrence Histograms of Oriented Gradients) accelerators combine luminance-based CoHOG feature descriptors with color-based feature descriptors obtained using a newly developed technique. This enhancement leads to an improvement in the recognition accuracy, especially at nighttime and at scenes with less luminance differences between objects and the background:


The TMPV7608XBG incorporates a Structure from Motion (SfM) accelerator that allows detection of general stationary obstacles such as fallen objects and landslides. The SfM accelerator provides three-dimensional (3D) estimates of the distance to, and the height and width of, the stationary obstacles, based on a sequence of images from a monocular camera. This accelerator makes it possible to detect any stationary obstacles without a learning curve, as well as moving objects (using motion analysis) and a particular class of objects such as pedestrians and vehicles (using pattern recognition).


The TMPV7608XBG is able to simultaneously perform Traffic Light Recognition (TLR), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Vehicle and Pedestrian Collision Warning and Collision Avoidance, High-Beam Assistance, and General Obstacle Collision Warning. The devices interfaces with up to 8 cameras, while consuming 3.37W of power:


The sample shipment started in January 2015.

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