Archives for July 2015

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Augmented World Expo publishes many of its its presentations and tutorials on Youtube. One can see Intel RealSense tutorial, Occipital presentation, Sony SmartEyeglass introduction, and more.

Softkinetic VP and GM in the US, Tim Droz, presents the company's vision on 3D ToF camera applications in AR systems:



Tobii CTO and founder, John Elvesjo, talks about eye tracking applications:

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Octa Finance: Liquid crystal AF lens developer Lensvector has submitted form D reporting on $24.61M equity financing. So far, Lensvector was able to raise $19.93M. The funding round is not closed yet and still has about $4.68M more.

How it works

Note 3 :AFC time based on 2 diopter increments, hill-climb search and parabolic curve fitting to determine best OP (At 45C and 15fps).

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Nikkei: Sharp announces a 1/3-inch 0.35MP CCD for ITS (intelligent transport systems) and FA (factory automation) cameras. Sharp says it have been able to achieve a the industry's highest visible light sensitivity of 3,800mV by expanding the area for converting light to image signals. Also, Sharp employed its own high-speed image signal transmission technology and output for up to two channels outputting up to 200 frames per second.

The company starts sampling the new CCD on July 16, 2015, and plans a volume production with an expected rate of 10,000 units per month Sept 30, 2015. Sharp re-confirms its commitment to develop new CCDs, with plans to develop CCDs with resolution up to 8MP for FA and ITS.

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Business Wire: Toshiba announces T4KC3, a 16MP BSI CMOS sensor, said to be "the world’s smallest class 16 megapixel chip also offers low power consumption." Toshiba is meeting the smaller and thinner sensor need with a design method, already deployed in its earlier products, that realizes smaller CMOS sensor chips and low-power circuits. That method has now resulted in the world’s smallest class 16MP chip, which also realizes 30fps at full-resolution output with power consumption of 240mW or lower.

The new sensor features PDAF, HDR and Toshiba’s Bright Mode, which boosts image brightness up to four times and enables HD video capture at 240fps equivalent.

Sample shipments are scheduled to start in Sept. this year, with volume production to start in Dec. 2015.

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The newly announced ZTE Axon smartphone features dual 13MP + 2MP rear camera, in addition to a 8MP front one. The cameras have BSI sensors. The dual camera combo is said to be able to focus in 0.15s and has after-the-fact re-focus capability:

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Adimec announces they are exploring white light interferometry applications for their extreme high full, high speed camera, such as (non-destructive) interferometric optical microscopy, defraction based contrast imaging, 2D shot noise limited bright scene imaging, and more. Adimec developed this camera for non-invasive optical imaging for cancer assessment as part of the FP7 funded CAReIOCA consortium.

The new 2MP Q-2A750-CXP camera has 1440x1440 resolution at up to 720fps speed and is based on 12um pixels. The design of the pixels in this global shutter CMOS sensor is optimized for maximum full well performance. An industry unique FWC of over 2Me- per pixel is said to be between 100 to 200 times higher compared to commonly available high speed CMOS sensor technology today (typically 10-20 kel full well). 2Me- full well results in extremely good shot noise performance of up to 63 dB SNR, making it possible to accurately detect very weak contrast variations in bright environments at high throughput.

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SpecPick opens a database of CMOS sensors which is supposed to cover all image sensors from the manufacturers around the globe. Will see if they invest into keeping the database constantly updated. For now, it misses some companies, such as Brigates, e2v, Viimagic. And Sony has just 1 sensor in the database - the latest IMX250:

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A preliminary open-access copy on IEEE EDL paper "Quanta Image Sensor Jot with Sub 0.3e- r.m.s. Read Noise and Photon Counting Capability" by Jiaju Ma and Eric Fossum is available on IEEE site. The paper has the latest results of pumped gate Jot sensor with measured noise down to 0.28e- in some pixel versions:

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The unexplained effect of laser causing a dead row or, less often, a dead column in image sensors keep appearing in more and more Youtube videos. Most videos show damage in larger sensor cameras, while smartphone image sensor damage is a rarity. The larger lens probably collects more laser energy. Or the higher quality lens might be able to focus light into a smaller spot. Still, in theory, the on-chip microlens should sway the light away from the metals and pixel transistors, so the damage should be limited to the PD and TG. This is local to the affected pixel and should not affect the full row or column.

So far, the damaged sensors appear to be all FSI. I was not able to find a single BSI sensor affected. This might be an unsung advantage of BSI tech.






Update: As somebody pointed in comments, there is a MSc thesis "Damage Mechanisms in Visible Band Cameras Subjected to Continuous Wave Laser Attack", July 2014 Sacha Casken, Cranfield University. One interesting observation of the thesis is that no damage is made by red lasers, explained by their larger divergence. It remains to be seen whether this explanation is correct or not.

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Statista publishes smartphone image sensor market shares in 2011, showing how dynamic the market is:

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Shizuoka University publishes PhD Thesis "A Study on Column-Parallel ADCs Using DMOS Capacitors for CMOS Image Sensors" by Zhiheng Wei. Depletion mode MOS caps are said to provide much higher capacitance per unit area and, hence, save the column space.

Caps comparison

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IMEC publishes a number of Vimeo videos on its hyperspectral imagers applications. One of them is banknotes examination:



Another video shows a difference between plastic leaves and real leaves:

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RKBlog: Sony 1.3MP 3.75um pixel IMX224 sensor inside astronomical camera is said to have measured read noise of 0.75-1.5e-, depending on the gain. Sony has not officially specified the read noise value for IMX224, although it emphasizes the sensor's high sensitivity. The official ZWO ASI224 camera page only talks about 1.5e- read noise.

ZWO ASI224 camera

Thanks to PM for the link!

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IMEC Piet De Moor presented "3D Integration of Imagers" at TIPP 2014. Few slides out of 60 in the presentation:

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e2v has provided NASA’s New Horizons Mission with two image sensors which hope to capture the first ever close-up images of Pluto.

LORRI is a black and white telescopic camera which has a 1k x 1k pixel image sensor at its core.

Paul Jerram, Chief Engineer of Image Sensors at e2v, commented, “LORRI is very similar to the Navcam image sensor we made for the Rosetta mission, which has been producing the majority of the incredible images of comet 67p. LORRI will be providing images of the approach to Pluto, as well as high resolution geological data as New Horizons passes the dwarf-planet.”

Ralph is a 5k wide multi-colour scanning imager which will produce a full colour image of the surface of Pluto as New Horizons flies past. Paul Jerram continues, “Ralph is highly bespoke, in fact it is seven different CCDs (Coupled Charged Devices) made on the same substrate, providing a complete focal plane within a single sensor. As the spacecraft is travelling at 33,000 miles per hour and there is 1,000 times less sunlight at Pluto than at the Earth, this image sensor has to be extremely sensitive and has to work perfectly for the short time that the spacecraft is close to Pluto.”

NASA publishes the first Pluto images received from New Horizons Mission:

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Remember Cista Systems, a startup founded by ex-Omnivision engineers? Now it has its first five patent applications published and revealing its innovations:

US20150171130 application "Integrated circuit having flexible reference" by Dennis Tunglin Lee, Guangbin Zhang proposes a flexible way to control reference voltages in image sensor. The application states "To reduce the layout area, designers often choose the best-guess range of rough-step references. However, the consequence is that the capability of design characterization is limited, and the accuracy of characterization is greatly compromised... As electronic devices become smaller and more light-weighted, it is desirable to provide a wide range of fine-step reference source with a small physical layout area." The company proposes to combine a voltage reference, such as bandgap one, with a voltage converting circuit, such as R-2R ladder DAC:


US20150171749 application "Voltage regulator with multiple output ranges" by Li Guo, Guangbin Zhang addresses an issue that "Conventional linear voltage regulators... can provide only a single voltage output range, i.e., either positive or negative. Specifically, the positive voltage regulator can output only a positive voltage, and the negative voltage regulator can output only a negative voltage. As a result, manufacturers in the electronic industry have to prepare many different kinds of voltage regulators, in order to meet the needs in different applications." The proposed regulator gets the a positive voltage from supply and a negative voltage from a negative charge pump 13, and can change its output polarity, depending on the need:


US20150189197 application "Compact row decoder with multiple voltage support" by Li Guo, Guangbin Zhang defines the problem: "As the resolution of the CMOS in sensor is continuously improved, the number of the pixel rows included in the CMOS image sensor increases accordingly. As a result, more and more row-level decoders are deployed in the CMOS image sensor to drive the pixel rows. These two-level decoders consume a significant portion of the layout area and increase the overall cost of the image sensor." So, the company proposes a more compact decoder:


US20150171841 application "Method and system for generating a ramping signal" by Dennis Tunglin Lee, Guangbin Zhang solves a number of challenges "The ramp signal generator generates a ramping signal as a global reference signal for column read circuits to record the converted electrical signal. In operation, the quality of the ramping signal can significantly affect the quality of the output of the image sensor. For example, a ramping signal with poor linearity can cause a gain non-linearity of the column read circuits. In addition, a ramping signal with a large glitch power can have a lost-bit effect. Moreover, a ramp signal generator with low power consumption and a small physical area is often desired." So, the company presents its approach to the ramp generators based on the currents, then converted to the voltages:


US20150172580 application "Column comparator system and method for comparing a ramping signal and an input signal" by Guangbin Zhang defines the problem: " because a large number of comparators are used, a significant portion of the total power consumption and the vertical fixed-pattern noise (VFPN) of an image sensor circuit may be attributed to the comparators. Additionally, analog type comparators may have a slower conversion speed, due to the low operation speed of analog transistors." The solution is presented below in flowchart and the actual schematic forms. Basically, the idea is to control the gain of the comparator, so that its delay mismatches that contribute to the column FPN can be made lower, when possible:

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BusinessWire: ON Semiconductor announces early sampling of the company’s first BSI sensor for the automotive imaging market. The new BSI technology is said to deliver 4x better low light SNR, a 40% increase in visible light sensitivity, and greater than 60% improvement in NIR performance than the current market leading AR0132AT CMOS image sensor for ADAS.

“The advantages this new BSI technology brings to the automotive market are exciting,” said Sandor Barna, VP of Automotive and Scanning Division at ON Semiconductor. “The state-of-the-art BSI devices based on this technology, that we currently have in early sampling, exhibit true industry-leading low light performance, and demonstrate our commitment to continued investment in automotive imaging technology.”

The first product to incorporate this new technology will be the AR0136AT 1/3-inch image sensor with 1280 x 960 resolution, and 3.75um BSI pixels. The AR0136AT supports linear and HDR modes, in a single chip HDR solution, with a 120dB DR in HDR mode. It has an output pixel rate of 74.25 MP/second, which results in a frame rate of 45fps at 960p resolution and 60fps at 720p resolution. It has an operating junction temperature range of -40 °C to +125 °C and will be fully qualified to AEC-Q100. Engineering samples will be available in Q3 of 2015, with mass production planned for early 2016.

EETimes-Japan and mynavi.jp publish more info about the new sensor:

1 lux conparison

0.4 lux comparison

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Korea-based ZeeAnn publishes details of its WDR pixel approach on its web site.


The company patent US8797434 "CMOS image sensor having wide dynamic range and sensing method thereof" by Jawoong Lee, Jun Hee Cho, Jong Beom Choi and a more recent patent application US20150189145 with the same name explain:

"The present invention provides a CMOS image sensor and a sensing method thereof, capable of embodying wide dynamic range by simultaneously outputting two or more output signals corresponding to different exposure integration times in a pixel without any need of additional external memories outside the pixel and with relatively simple image processing."

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Samsung patent application US20150185380 "Color filter arrays, and image sensors and display devices including color filter arrays" by Naoyuki Miyashita proposes to use CFA materials with different refractive indexes for one or more colors to reduce pixel crosstalk:

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Israel-based Deep Optics presents its intelligent multifocal glasses featuring a pair of image sensor in each pair of glasses. A Youtube video shows how it works:



The company's chart presents the ophthalmic multifocal lens progress over the years:

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Invisage posts a nice photo gallery of from QFAB3 inauguration ceremony held on June 11 in Taiwan. While most of them have been published in other sources, now we can get them in high quality and from the official source:

Drummers performance at QFAB3 entrance

Invisage CEO, Jess Lee, holds a vial containing enough quantum dots to make 10,000 cameras

Cutting the ribbon (left to right): James Chou (VP of Manufacturing Operations, InVisage), C. H. Tu (Director General of SIPA), C. C. Wei (CEO, TSMC), Jess Lee (CEO, InVisage), Kenneth Kin (Associate Dean, National Tsing Hua University), Robin Cheung (VP of Materials and Manufacturing, InVisage)

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SeekingAlpha speculates on why Sony needs so large capacity expansion: "If we look at the amount that SNE plans to allocate the device capex, SNE could have the option of expanding the capacity to 110k -120k wafer/month from the current 87k. At the end, this will bring total capex for the new capacity to JPY460bn or equivalent of SNE's total image sensor revenue for FY3/15."

The SeekingAlpha's guess "is that SNE's decision to add additional capex to the current level implies that the company is confident on securing a place as a integrated camera solution provider for an Apple iPhone model in 2016. There's a good chance that this involved SNE's dual camera module, a feature that has been rumored by the press in the past. I think that SNE is confident on receiving large order volume driven by its exclusive supplier relationship (as it has done in the past with AAPL), high standardization and the longevity of the component, all of which allow for economies of scale."

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SeekingAlpha reports that Omnivision shares are traded at ~$24.5, about 20% "below the $29.75/share buyout price it agreed to with a Chinese investor group in April. Fears U.S. regulators will reject the deal have weighed on shares, as have shareholder suits attempting to stop it on the grounds it undervalued OmniVision."

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Chipworks publishes a series of reverse engineering reports on Sony IMX214 stacked sensor based on 1.12um pixel. The device is defined as "a second generation13 MP Exmor RS “stacked” CIS with spatially multiplexed exposure-high dynamic range (SME-HDR). SME-HDR technology involves imaging at two different exposure conditions and performing image processing to generate images with wide dynamic range."

The logic die photo reveals a lot of empty space in the middle of the die:

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Yole Développement reports that uncooled IR imaging market has grown by 30% in shipments and 7% in revenue in 2014. The uncooled thermal camera market re-entered a growth phase in 2014, after a subpar 2012 and 2013, thanks to an earlier-than expected stabilization of military demand and a dynamic commercial business. Commercial markets dominate thermal imaging, and were worth US$1,29B in 2014. FLIR Systems was especially successful in 2014, far exceeding the market’s average growth in shipments.

“FLIR Systems developed its activities both organically by launching large products line (from high end to low end) in each commercial market and by pioneering new applications (smartphones, PVS, UAV…). FLIR also acquired many companies,” Yole’s report says. “It bought Indigo in 2003, and since 5 years, bought 6 companies for US$595M: Traficon International, Lorex Technology, DigitalOptics, Raymarine, ICX, Aerius.”

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PRNewswire: OmniVision announces that on July 23, 2015 it schedules the Special Meeting at which OmniVision shareholders will vote on matters in connection with the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated April 30, 2015. The meeting has been delayed in order to provide additional time for court resolution of class action lawsuits related to the proposed merger.

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Semico Research publishes 2015 semiconductor companies Capex ranking. "In the top fifteen, the company with the largest increase is Sony, with a 207% increase to almost US$2 billion. The bulk of this increase is to expand image sensor production capacity, but some will also be spent on camera module production capacity, a relatively new market for Sony. Sony’s dollar increase is second only to Samsung’s, but this is partly due to the decline in value of the yen."

The ranking has been published on June 22, a week before the latest Sony announcement of the additional investment.

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Semico Research publishes Capex rating of the semiconductor companies in 2015. "In the top fifteen, the company with the largest increase is Sony, with a 207% increase to almost US$2 billion. The bulk of this increase is to expand image sensor production capacity, but some will also be spent on camera module production capacity, a relatively new market for Sony. Sony’s dollar increase is second only to Samsung’s, but this is partly due to the decline in value of the yen."

The rating has been published on June 22, a week before the latest Sony announcement of the additional investment.

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Marketwired: Palo Alto, CA-based Light startup that recently came out of stealth mode with an array camera for smartphones, announced a manufacturing partnership with China-based Sunny Optical Technology. The announcement comes in an unusual bullet fashion:

• Light's imaging technology radically reduces the size, cost and weight of advanced optics systems, resulting in high-quality imaging in a smaller form factor.
• With this partnership, Sunny Optical will build and assemble Light's camera modules, which is a core component of the imaging technology.
• Precision manufacturing, including active alignment, of the camera modules is critical in order to produce high-resolution images, without sacrificing the field of focus.
• Active alignment ensures the optical center of the lens barrel aligns with the optical center of the sensor assembly.
• As the global leader in integrated optical manufacturing, Sunny Optical can manufacture and assemble Light's imaging technology at scale.
• Light was co-founded by Dave Grannan (CEO) and Rajiv Laroia (CTO) in 2013.
• Financial terms of the partnership have not been disclosed.

Dave Grannan, CEO and co-founder, Light:
"To provide great imagery, we need to deliver an impeccably produced product. Sunny Optical delivers first-class manufacturing capabilities and the capacity to produce high-quality camera components at a global scale. The camera modules are the principal ingredient in Light's breakthrough technology and we are thrilled to be working with a manufacturing leader like Sunny Optical to make our vision a reality."

David Wang, CEO, Sunny Opotech - a company of Sunny Optical Technology:
"Light's technology brings a new element to the imaging market, and we are excited to work with Dave and the Light team. With our leading imaging and optical expertise, we look to continue to help our partners develop smart and integrated imaging and optical systems."

Light Co. team, May 2015

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