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I missed this news at the time. Global Trade and Sanctions Law site reports:

"The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) has cleared the acquisition of Beijing OmniVision Technologies Co., Ltd. by Shanghai Will Semiconductor Co., a PRC-listed company, according to an April 16, 2019, filing with the securities regulators in China.

It is possible this transaction was the second step of an original plan to list the assets of OmniVision in China, and CFIUS was told in 2015 about the plan. It is therefore possible there is less here than meets the eye."

As Will Semiconductor's document states, CIFIUS has declined the approval several times since 2015, before finally allowing it this year.

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PRNewswire: OmniVision announces the OV12D, a 1.4um 12 MP image sensor with selective conversion gain (SCG) for balance between low-light image quality and HDR. The OV12D features a large 1/2.4" optical format, on-chip 4-cell remosaic color filter, PDAF and extra pixels for 4K2K video EIS.

According to TSR, the number of smartphones with two or three main cameras will grow from just 8% of the market in 2017, to over 20% by 2022, when the estimated total market size will be 5.5 billion phones. Additionally, Yole Développement predicts that, on average, there will be three cameras per smartphone by 2022.

"With multiple world-facing cameras becoming more common in premium smartphones, manufacturers are looking to not only increase the image quality of those cameras, but also to maximize their applications, in order to further differentiate their products," said Arun Jayaseelan, senior marketing manager at OmniVision. "The OV12D sensor leverages OmniVision's advanced pixel technologies and HDR expertise to enable mobile phone makers to use their ultra wide cameras to capture premium quality video with on-chip, 3-exposure HDR, even in low light conditions."

SCG allows the pixel conversion gain to be dynamically switched between low and high, depending on the scene being captured. When capturing images under low light conditions or with dark areas, high conversion gain can help lower noise and improve the signal-to-noise ratio, when compared with a traditional low conversion gain pixel. Likewise, when set to low conversion gain, the sensor has a higher full well capacity, which helps to provide more detail when capturing scenes under bright light. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio under bright light as well as the pixel's overall dynamic range.

The OV12D is a native 16:9 aspect ratio image sensor that uses a 4-cell color filter pattern. It has on chip 4-cell to Bayer remosaic, in order to provide 4K video at 60fps with 20% additional pixels for EIS. In a 4-cell binned mode, it can output a 3MP/1080p resolution with 20% additional pixels for EIS video and images at four times the sensitivity. Additionally, it supports 3-exposure HDR with on-chip combination and tone mapping. This sensor also supports both CPHY and DPHY interfaces, and can output 12MP 16:9 captures at 60fps, 4K video at 60fps and 1080p video at 240fps.

OV12D samples are available now.

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Sony LSI Design Executive Deputy President Hideki Yoshida's presentation at RISC-V Day Tokyo 2019 on Sept. 30 is titled "Future of Image Sensing with RISC-V." The presentation details on Sony plans of AI integration onto image sensors and also says that Sony is going to pursue "a recurring revenue business model:"


The presentation also shows an updated Sony Semiconductor org chart and the market segmentation and trends:

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Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, publishes a 2015 MSc thesis "Low-power column-parallel ADC for CMOS image sensor by leveraging spatial likelihood in natural scene" by Lifen Liu.

"In this thesis, a new operating method is proposed, which takes into account spatial likelihood in natural scenes. In the proposed method, the MSBs of selected pixel would be predicted before the ADC operation, based on that pixel’s neighbor pixels in the previous row. Because there is strong correlation between consecutive rows in most natural scenes, pre-ADC pixel estimation could save bits in ADC conversion cycles. The total number of ADC conversions would effectively be reduced, resulting in lower power consumption. This method was verified in extensive Matlab simulations, where ADC conversion cycles were reduced by up to 20%-30% for most natural scenes and a saving of up to 29.49% was achieved in switching energy for a 512×512 resolution Lena image."


A 2017 PhD thesis "Low power feature-extraction smart CMOS image sensor design" by Xiangyu Zhang proposes event-based sensor that does not require export of asynchronous pixel addresses to external processor:

"The aim of this work is to design a smart CMOS image sensor that can extract and process motion features on the same chip so as to simplify the entire visual system with minimal computation burden. In order to achieve this ultimate goal, several smart motion-detection image sensors have been developed."


A 2016 PhD thesis "Time-delay-integration CMOS image sensor design for space applications" by Hang Yu proposes:

"(1) A TDI CMOS image sensor was proposed with dynamic pipeline adjacent pixel signal transfer. Following the operation of conventional TDI, the photo signal will be shifted stage by stage and a given photodiode will be reset by the previous-stage photo signal. Meanwhile, this TDI sensor can also configure effective TDI stages for dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio optimization, as well as the signal transfer direction to compensate for the vibrations. (2) A TDI architecture with single-ended column-parallel signal accumulators was proposed. The TDI operation will be conducted by the off-pixel accumulators, whereby all the photo signals of each TDI stage will be read out after exposure. Accordingly, a 256×8-pixel prototype sensor was designed and fabricated."

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Autosens Brussels publishes an interview with Cliff De Locht, Product Marketing Manager at Melexis, on the company's 3rd generation of automotive ToF sensors:

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Yole Developpement, i-Micronews: “Q2 2019 has exceeded our expectations, with +7% but there is little good news beyond mobile,” announces Pierre Cambou, Principal Analyst, Imaging at Yole Développement.

In the immediate future, Yole expects CIS quarterly sales to reach US$4.6 billion in the fourth quarter, mirroring the expected 10% YoY growth rate for 2019. This is an incredible double-digit growth prospect, especially in the context of mobile saturation and overall industry cyclical recession.

Yes, Yole’s analysts can confirm: CIS definitely has its own growth engine – an engine powered by the proliferation of cameras in mobile, which have hit new heights in 2019 since most high-end flagships deliver 5 – 6 cameras per phone. Yole expects this trend to continue over the next 3 – 4 years, before coming to a somewhat abrupt end. Analysts have arbitrarily set their YoY growth expectation at 1% in 2024 to bring this insight to light, and chase away the trolls if for no other reason.

“If we peer below the CIS market’s surface, things begin to look way more interesting – lending more value to our quarterly analysis”, explains Chenmeijing Liang, Technology & Market Analyst, Imaging Activities at Yole. And she details Yole’s analysis:

• Since Q4 2017, “all markets except mobile” have been on a downward slope. At that time, they had reached US$1.5 billion, but are now down to US$1.1 billion, a -26% drop. These markets went through rough times in 2016 for several reasons, but were actually exhibiting high-growth momentum on a multi-annual basis. In fact, the sum of these markets had doubled from Q1 2015, which translates to a +26% CAGR during 2015 – 2017. But then the industry basically lost a full year’s growth – so what is actually happening before Yole’s quarterly-monitoring eyes?
• Looking closer at the “other” market breakdown, the two largest segments, consumer photography (DSC, DSLR, action cameras, drones) and computing (PC, laptop, tablets), have been on a slippery slope for a long time and are now on par with the other two segments: automotive and security.
• Q1 2019 and Q2 2019 are notable as the first time that automotive, and then security, became the second-largest CIS segments. This is definitely breaking news, and it will affect the rankings and strategy of the main CIS players. However, this is not all “honor and glory” for the automotive and security markets:
  The downturn in the Chinese and U.S. automotive markets is affecting automotive CIS sales, despite the growing number of cameras per car. While Yole’s initial five-year growth expectation was +19% CAGR for automotive CIS, YoY growth for 2019 is heading towards a -5% to -10% decrease.
• The same is more or less true for security, which Yole’s analysts originally announced a five-year +19% CAGR expectation for. Unfortunately, YoY growth will likely end up flat in 2019.
• The largest disappointment is the industrial segment, which had enjoyed a +26% CAGR from 2014 – 2017. But after reaching US$135 million in Q4 2017, it is now back in the US$100 million-per-quarter range. A global halt to capital expenditures in the semiconductor and automotive industries is probably the main reason. On the bright side, positive news from China leads us to the conclusion that this was simply a needed adjustment due to cyclical markets, and that growth could resume in 2020 since the bottom seems to have been reached. Time will tell.

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Pioneer announces that on Oct 1st, “Pioneer Smart Sensing Innovations Corporation” was split as a new company to take over the business activities of Smart & Autonomous Mobility Business Group, which handles autonomous driving-related business. The New Company will promote the autonomous driving-related business of Pioneer Group with a focus on 3D-LiDAR-based sensing technologies.

Pioneer has been pursuing the development of compact, high-performance, and low-cost MEMS mirror-based 3D-LiDAR sensors towards a target of mass production from 2020 onwards. Pioneer has been offering its 2018 models since last year, and is currently developing “high-precision object recognition algorithms” and “vehicle ego-localization algorithms”, utilizing 3D-LiDAR sensors.

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Sony announces the forthcoming release of six new types of stacked CMOS sensors with a BSI global shutter pixel for industrial applications. They will employ Sony’s Pregius S — stacked global shutter technology, first announced in March 2019.

Until now, increasing the number of pixels has resulted in the downside of increased chip and camera size. However, if the pixel size is reduced to prevent increasing the camera size, then the light-accumulating area per pixel will correspondingly decrease, resulting in a drop in the sensitivity and saturation signal level. This results in image quality degradation, in turn leading to degradation in recognition and detection performance.

The proprietary BSI pixel allows for a compact size of only 2.74µm square, which is about 63% of the conventional Sony pixel area, but still maintaining pixel characteristics such as sensitivity and saturation signal level. While using the same optical system as previous models, the number of pixels has been increased and the package size (area) has been reduced to about 91%.

The new products achieve a readout frame rate approximately 2.4 times the speed of conventional Sony image sensors thanks to the highly flexible wiring layout of the BSI pixel structure, and the use of the Scalable Low Voltage Signaling with Embedded Clock (SLVS-EC) high-speed interface standard developed by Sony. Further, the stacked structure allows for embedding various signal processing circuits such as HDR processing circuit that can prevent distortion in moving objects, thereby enabling myriad functions for various machine vision applications in a package more compact than conventional image sensors.

The Pregius S lineup includes the high-speed IMX530/531/532 models for high-end cameras using high-speed bandwidth, in addition to the standard IMX540/541/542 models that support 5Gbps supplementing the expansion in the application of USB 3.0 and 5GigE.

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Digitimes reports that Sony and OmniVision have both enjoyed robust demand for multi-camera smartphones from Huawei despite the US trade sanctions.

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Blickfeld presents is long range Cube LiDAR family featuring the range up to 250m (with 80% subject reflectivity, no sunlight illumination specified):


Outsight publishes its presentation on France24 International channel:



BusinessWire: Cepton announces Vista-X120 long range LiDAR. It's said to offer a 120° horizontal FOV, 0.15° angular resolution, and a maximum detection range of up to 200 meters at 10% reflectivity. Based on Cepton’s patented Micro Motion Technology (MMT), the frictionless beam-steering architecture is claimed to make Vista-X120 highly rugged and durable.


BusinessWire: Ouster LiDAR is going to be used by NVIDIA in its self-driving DRIVE AGX platform.

“Commercial autonomous vehicles have to withstand some of the world’s most demanding environments,” said Ouster CEO Angus Pacala. “The OS2’s reliability and resolution make it the clear choice for NVIDIA’s OEM partners that require the highest level of dependability.”

For autonomous driving systems, Ouster’s structured lidar data can increase input processing speeds by up to 100-times over traditional unstructured lidar data when using vector processors like NVIDIA GPUs. This enables faster object recognition and lower power requirements for the autonomous driving system.

Engadget: Ouster also proud of being able to catch on LiDAR the blackest colored car - BMW X6 SUV Vantablack absorbing 99% of light:



LaserFocus questions the common opinion that 1550nm wavelength is much safer than 905nm:

"There has been a claim that one person suffered a corneal burn from a 1550-nm laser that had been assessed as "eye safe at the exit aperture," but details remain private. Based on what little information is available, safety consultant and optical radiation biophysicist Bruce Struck says, "It seems possible but would have required an unusual viewing situation." Nonetheless, he says "we need thoughtful and comprehensive measurements."

A potential long-term danger is failure to filter out short-wavelength infrared pump light, a problem the National Institute of Standards and Technology found was common several years ago in green laser pointers. Fiber-laser lidars are pumped by diode lasers emitting in the 900 nm band, which can pose a retinal risk. Careful design and manufacturing can prevent hazardous leaks, but the NIST study shows that some makers of inexpensive lasers cut corners.

Early developers disclosed few details about their 1550-nm lidars, so many observers assumed they used diode lasers. However, fiber lasers offer better beam quality and have other performance advantages. "As far as we know, everyone using 1550 nm for automotive lidar is using some form of fiber amplification" pumped at wavelengths below one micrometer, says Matthew Weed, director of technology strategy for Luminar Technologies (Orlando, FL). Luminar's fiber lidars amplify seed pulses from diode lasers."

The pumping laser leakage might be yet another possible explanation the image sensor damage case at CES.

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Sony has updated its semiconductor products web site with more modern look and, supposedly, better navigation. The new site features few video about Sony stacked global shutter technology:

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Rochester, NY, local TV station reports that ON Semi announced layoffs of 30 of its employees:

"A company spokesperson says it's shutting down space used to create certain image sensors, which are no longer in high demand in the tech industry.

“ON Semiconductor is committed to staying in in the New York area through recently announced partnerships,” said Michael Miller, general manager and director of operations at ON Semiconductor. “Our Rochester site will still support pixel design and modeling, device characterization and test engineering. In additional to these engineering functions, certain marketing functions for our Intelligent Sensing Group will remain onsite.”



Thanks to DG for the link!

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Correction: The IS is Information Services Division. This news does not have any relation to image sensor business.

Sony announces organizational and management changes in image sensor information services business. It appears that image sensors moved from Imaging & Sensing Solutions to Corporate IS Department. Also, the matrix R&D structure of Development Division #1 and #2 has been morphed into Application Technology Development, System and Platform Technology Development, and Fundamental Technology Research and Development organizations. No explanation for the re-org is given.

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IFNews quotes JP Morgan report forecasting 320M 3D sensing cameras in smartphones in 2020, 260M of them - in Apple iPhones:

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EETimes reporter Junko Yoshida publishes "ADAS: Key Trends on ‘Perception’" from Autosens Brussels held in mid-September 2019:

• At this year’s AutoSens in Brussels, assisted driving (ADAS), rather than autonomous vehicles (AV), was in sharper focus. Clearly the engineering community is no longer in denial. Many acknowledge that a big gap exists between what’s possible today and the eventual launch of commercial artificial intelligence-driven autonomous vehicles.
• Many vendors are adding more intelligence at the sensory node, by fusing different sensory data (RGB camera + NIR; RGB + SWIR; RGB + lidar; RGB + radar) right on the edge.
• Trieye claims it has found a way to design SWIR by using CMOS process technology. “That’s the breakthrough we made. Just like semiconductors, we are using CMOS for the high-volume manufacturing of SWIR cameras from Day 1,” said Avi Bakal, CEO and co-founder of Trieye.
• EE Times’ subsequent discussion with Trieye revealed that Outsight will be using Trieye’s SWIR camera. Outsight is promoting its sensor fusion box, scheduled for sampling in the first quarter of 2020.
• AEye is finishing the combined RGB and lidar system, automotive grade, embedded with AI in the next three to six months. The price will be “less than $1,000.”

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Yole Developpement publishes a webinar "Automotive Imaging on its Way to Sensing" with cars cameras multiplications starting to look quite similar to the smartphone market few years ago:

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MDPI publishes Valeo paper "Overview and Empirical Analysis of ISP Parameter Tuning for Visual Perception in Autonomous Driving" by Lucie Yahiaoui, Jonathan Horgan, Brian Deegan, Senthil Yogamani, Ciarán Hughes, and Patrick Denny.

"Image quality is a well understood concept for human viewing applications, particularly in the multimedia space, but increasingly in an automotive context as well. The rise in prominence of autonomous driving and computer vision brings to the fore research in the area of the impact of image quality in camera perception for tasks such as recognition, localization and reconstruction. While the definition of “image quality” for computer vision may be ill-defined, what is clear is that the configuration of the image signal processing pipeline is the key factor in controlling the image quality for computer vision. This paper is partly review and partly positional with demonstration of several preliminary results promising for future research. As such, we give an overview of what is an Image Signal Processor (ISP) pipeline, describe some typical automotive computer vision problems, and give a brief introduction to the impact of image signal processing parameters on the performance of computer vision, via some empirical results. This paper provides a discussion on the merits of automatically tuning the ISP parameters using computer vision performance indicators as a cost metric, and thus bypassing the need to explicitly define what “image quality” means for computer vision."


Alexis Lluis Gomez, Senior Manager of Image Quality, ARM, talks about automotive ISP optimization too in his Autosens Detroit presentation:



Manjunath Somayaji, Director of Imaging R&D, GEO Semiconductor, presents its view on ISP optimization:



On its side, Algolux says that ISP should be tightly integrated into the whole CV pipeline, rather than optimized as a separate block:

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TechInsights publishes a teardown report of the new Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max smartphone with some info on its cameras:

"We were excited during the September Apple Special Event to hear of 100% Focus Pixels for iPhone’s wide-angle camera. We expected this to coincide with full-chip dual photodiode phase detection autofocus (PDAF), however our initial findings show a familiar PDAF pattern comparable to that used for 2018 iPhone’s wide-angle camera. The analysis in progress will determine if Apple has indeed gone to dual PD as 100% Focus Pixels suggests. If true, it would be the first use of masked + dual PD PDAF we have documented."

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BusinessWire: MIPI Alliance announces enhancements to MIPI Camera Serial Interface-2 (MIPI CSI‑2), the most widely used camera specification in mobile and other markets.

MIPI CSI‑2 v3.0 introduces three key new features:

• Unified Serial Link (USL), for encapsulating connections between an image sensor module and application processor—This capability is crucial for reducing the number of wires needed in IoT, automotive and client products for productivity and content creation, such as all-in-one and notebook computers.
• Smart Region of Interest (SROI), for analyzing images, inferencing algorithms and making better deductions—This capability could enable machines on a factory floor, for example, to more quickly identify potential defects on a conveyor belt, or it could enable medical devices to more surely recognize anomalies such as tumors.
• RAW-24, for representing individual image pixels with 24-bit precision—This capability will enable machines to make decisions from superior quality images. An autonomous vehicle, for example, could decipher whether darkness on an image is a harmless shadow or a pothole in the roadway to be avoided.

“Innovation of MIPI CSI‑2 never stops; we aim to remain at the frontier of providing end-to-end imaging conduit solutions for emerging vision and real-time perception and decision making AI applications mapped to mobile, client, IoT, medical, drones and automotive (ADAS) product platforms,” said Haran Thanigasalam, MIPI Camera Working Group chair. “In fact, work is already well underway on the next version of MIPI CSI‑2, with a highly optimized ultra-low-power always-on sentinel conduit solution for enhanced machine awareness, data protection provisions for security, and functional safety, as well as MIPI A-PHY, a forthcoming longer reach physical layer specification.”

MIPI C-PHY v2.0 was recently released to support CSI‑2 v3.0 capabilities, including support for 6 Gsps over the standard channel and up to 8 Gsps over the short channel; RX equalization; fast BTA; medium channel lengths for IoT applications; and an in-band co