Sony annnounced its fast 6.4MP 60fps sensor, first described a year ago on ISSCC 2006. The pixel pitch is 2.5um, quite good for a 0.18um process.
CX-News published a review article on the chip features and characteristics.
The chip seems to be in prototype stage, although design team says "all we had to do was to wait for mass production".
The IMX017 flyer is here.
Omnivision's Anti-Vibration Feature
It came to my attention that Omnivision's OV630 TrueFocus ISP also has "Anti-Vibration" feature. Announced in shadow of TrueFocus, "anti-vibration" got little or no attention in most articles. I'm wondering how similar is this to Sony's image stabilization DSP. Sounds improbable considering OV630 does not have external DRAM support and just 7.5fps speed of OV3632 sensor. If not, how does this "anti-vibration" work?
1.75um Pixel Comparison Update
1.75um pixel generation comparison is updated with Micron ISSCC'07 data:
In the paper Micron reports 6.1e/s dark current at 30C. This has been translated into 90e/s at 60C, assuming dark current is doubling every 7-8C.
Overall, after more than 2 years work on 1.75um pixel, Micron results do not impress. Micron's saturation level is the lowest of the class, while the dark current is the highest. In fact the initial pixel data that Micron announced in 2005 was much better.
But let's not forget that the ISSCC paper presents the first generation of 1.75um pixel. On 3GSM Micron just launched the 2nd generation. Hope this second iteration will have better spec. Looking back on 2.2um pixels, Micron dramatically changed its second generation pixel design and got a huge performance improvement in the recent 2.2um sensors. May be 1.75um pixel development will follow the same path.
| Micron ISSCC 2007 | Samsung IEDM 2006 | ST IEDM 2006 | |
| Full Well Saturation Charge | 7208e | >10Ke | 8Ke |
| Temporal Noise | 3.8e full imager | <10e | 3e pixel only |
| Dark Current at 60C | 90e (estimation) | <10e/s | 25e/s |
| Image Lag | No data, probably 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Metallization | Al | Cu | Cu |
In the paper Micron reports 6.1e/s dark current at 30C. This has been translated into 90e/s at 60C, assuming dark current is doubling every 7-8C.
Overall, after more than 2 years work on 1.75um pixel, Micron results do not impress. Micron's saturation level is the lowest of the class, while the dark current is the highest. In fact the initial pixel data that Micron announced in 2005 was much better.
But let's not forget that the ISSCC paper presents the first generation of 1.75um pixel. On 3GSM Micron just launched the 2nd generation. Hope this second iteration will have better spec. Looking back on 2.2um pixels, Micron dramatically changed its second generation pixel design and got a huge performance improvement in the recent 2.2um sensors. May be 1.75um pixel development will follow the same path.
SiliconHive and Magnachip
EETimes: Silicon Hive has agreed to supply its HiveFlex ISP 2200 processor to MagnaChip. MagnaChip has integrated the HiveFlex ISP 2200 processor into the MC531EA image sensor.
The processor provides ANSI-C programmability directly on to the image sensor, which can help address time to market and time in market pressures.
The processor provides ANSI-C programmability directly on to the image sensor, which can help address time to market and time in market pressures.
ESS Shuts Down Camera Phone Business
EETimes: It's official - ESS said it would cease operation of its camera phone business and pursue licensing of its image sensor technology and patents. The company said this action would reduce operating expenses by roughly $2 million per quarter.
ESS announced it would sell the camera phone line last September, when the firm cut 25 percent of its work force. Perhaps nobody was interested in buying it.
ESS announced it would sell the camera phone line last September, when the firm cut 25 percent of its work force. Perhaps nobody was interested in buying it.
Sharp's LCD Panel Combined with Image Sensor
Tech-On: Sharp unveiled a combo at the ISSCC 2007 - VGA LCD panel with embedded image sensor. Quite an interesting technology.
Micron 1.75um Pixel Paper on ISSCC'07
EETimes gives a few bits from Micron's ISSCC presentation a few days ago. The paper was presented by KB Cho, a senior VLSI design engineer from Micron's Imaging Design Center in Pasadena. The 8MP MT9E001 imager includes a low-noise signal readout chain, a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter, an internal phase-locked loop and a 12- bit parallel interface to output pixel data at up to 96 megapixels per second (Mp/s), according to the paper.
It uses top and bottom multiple channels with a double-data-rate analog signal readout at a rate of 96 Mp/s, which results in 15 frames per second (fps) at full resolution and 30 fps at VGA resolution. Operating power consumption of the chip in full resolution at 11 fps is less than 400mW. With dynamic power management, a reduction of more than 30 percent of total power is achieved by turning off analog blocks for a period of time.
The imager is fabricated in a standard 0.13-micron CMOS process. Cho said following the presentation that the design includes "more than two" metal layers, but declined to specify further.
"In my opinion, we outperform conventional CCD sensors with the same optical format," Cho said, citing low power consumption, high speed, higher signal-to-noise ratio and low-light sensitivity. "One of the strengths of this chip is that we have a high conversion gain. That gives us quite a high sensitivity."
A Micron spokeswoman said the MT9E001 is currently sampling and is expected to be in volume production late this quarter or early in the second quarter.
In 2006, roughly 79 percent of digital still cameras employed CCD image sensors, according to IC Insights. By 2009, the firm expects CMOS image sensors to surpass CCD image sensors in digital still camera market share.
It uses top and bottom multiple channels with a double-data-rate analog signal readout at a rate of 96 Mp/s, which results in 15 frames per second (fps) at full resolution and 30 fps at VGA resolution. Operating power consumption of the chip in full resolution at 11 fps is less than 400mW. With dynamic power management, a reduction of more than 30 percent of total power is achieved by turning off analog blocks for a period of time.
The imager is fabricated in a standard 0.13-micron CMOS process. Cho said following the presentation that the design includes "more than two" metal layers, but declined to specify further.
"In my opinion, we outperform conventional CCD sensors with the same optical format," Cho said, citing low power consumption, high speed, higher signal-to-noise ratio and low-light sensitivity. "One of the strengths of this chip is that we have a high conversion gain. That gives us quite a high sensitivity."
A Micron spokeswoman said the MT9E001 is currently sampling and is expected to be in volume production late this quarter or early in the second quarter.
In 2006, roughly 79 percent of digital still cameras employed CCD image sensors, according to IC Insights. By 2009, the firm expects CMOS image sensors to surpass CCD image sensors in digital still camera market share.
DxO DAF and Low-Light Demo
Imaging Resource has a year old PMA 2006 video interview with Nicolas Touchard, the Vice President of DxO labs, about their new DxO Digital Optics Technology. Nicolas promises to dramatically improve the performance of cameraphones in lowlight situations because DxO-specific lens can have larger aperture. He describes digital auto focusing feature as well.
The video ends with a nice demo of DxO technology.
Now, a year later, we see that DxO approach starts to bear first fruits.
The video ends with a nice demo of DxO technology.
Now, a year later, we see that DxO approach starts to bear first fruits.
Magnachip DAF is Based on DxO Technology
Imaging Resource: The previously announced Magniachip MC531EA Digital Auto-Focus (DAF) Extended Depth-of-Field (EDoF) Priority features are based on DxO Labs technology.
Yet Another Tessera Shellcase Article
Tessera seems to spend a lot off efforts to rise awarness of its Shellcase packaging. This time Electronic Design publishes an article about the new genaration RT package.
RT is the new generation CSP package with following improvements:
RT is the new generation CSP package with following improvements:
- RT family employs a thin polymer on one side of the chip—instead of the previous two-sided glass sandwich.
- 0.5-mm package profile, compared to the 0.9 mm of the old OC family.
- Package height (excluding the BGA) is about 400 µm, ±25 µm.
- Scribe-line widths are reduced from 260 and 250 µm down to 100 µm.
- Bnnd pad sizes dropped from 150 by 50 µm to 70 by 50 µm.
- Bond pad pitch was reduced from 350 to 180 µm.
Sony to Keep Investing into Image Sensors Manufacturing
EETimes: In line with the modern trend of IDMs "dis-integration", Sony announces plans to become fab-lite. Sony has about 60 percent market share in the CCD imager market and is now reinforcing CMOS sensors as well. 150 engineers were shifted to the imager section from audio/video sections to boost the development.
Tech-On reports that despite the cuts among semiconductor businesses, Sony will focus its capital on image sensors including CCD and CMOS sensors.
Tech-On reports that despite the cuts among semiconductor businesses, Sony will focus its capital on image sensors including CCD and CMOS sensors.
Micron 1.75um Pixel Generations
EETimes writes that the newly announced 1.75um mobile phone sensors use a second iteration of Micron's 1.75-micron pixels, while 8-Megapixel DSC image sensors announced last year were designed in the first version of the 1.75um pixel technology.
"We expect the first phones that use these sensors to be shipping in the fourth quarter this year," said Sandor Barna, senior director for strategy and planning at Micron's Imaging division.
"We expect the first phones that use these sensors to be shipping in the fourth quarter this year," said Sandor Barna, senior director for strategy and planning at Micron's Imaging division.
Varioptic in The Register
The Register: Varioptic marketing manager Philippe Ruffin told El Reg: "It's much more reliable than mechanical alternatives. It can focus on a shorter distance - to about 5cm - and it's much faster [to focus] than a mechanical lens. On an ordinary module it will work at 800ms but we can tune that to 500ms."
Ruffin said the company's factory in Shanghai has capacity to produce 100,000 lenses a month and its plant in Lyon another 25,000. He said the company expects to take a large share of autofocus camera phones - usually above three megapixels, but also expects it as a way for handset makers to improve two-megapixel or lower-resolution devices.
"The next big story you will hear from us will be a handset deal," he said.
Ruffin said the company's factory in Shanghai has capacity to produce 100,000 lenses a month and its plant in Lyon another 25,000. He said the company expects to take a large share of autofocus camera phones - usually above three megapixels, but also expects it as a way for handset makers to improve two-megapixel or lower-resolution devices.
"The next big story you will hear from us will be a handset deal," he said.
Omnivision 1/10" VGA Sensor
Yahoo: Omnivision unveiled a 1/10 inch VGA CameraChip sensor, the OV7680 using a 2.2-micron pixel size. The unique non-linear micro lens shift technology featured in the OV7680 permits a reduction in the distance between the sensor and the lens, reducing the height of the camera module to just 3.0 mm without compromising image quality or camera performance. It enables a module size of just 4.5 x 4.5 x 3.0 mm, dimensions that allow for a single element plastic lens design.
CMP Sites, Digitimes on 3GSM Sensor Announcements
CMP sites EETimes and PlanetAnalog review the digital AF solutions announces on 3GSM, presenting it as a new big exciting technology.
Digitimes reviewes Magnachip, Omnivision and Micron sensor announcements. Nothing significant to cite from there, except, may be, iSupply forecast:
"According to iSuppli, revenues from shipments of image sensors for handsets will grow to US$5.9 billion by 2010, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.4%, up from US$1.7 billion in 2005. Unit shipments of image sensors to handsets will grow to 1.2 billion by 2010, increasing at a CAGR of 19.7%, up from 484 million units in 2005.
However, the market research firm stated that the average camera phone will not reach the four to five megapixel level range until 2010."
Digitimes reviewes Magnachip, Omnivision and Micron sensor announcements. Nothing significant to cite from there, except, may be, iSupply forecast:
"According to iSuppli, revenues from shipments of image sensors for handsets will grow to US$5.9 billion by 2010, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.4%, up from US$1.7 billion in 2005. Unit shipments of image sensors to handsets will grow to 1.2 billion by 2010, increasing at a CAGR of 19.7%, up from 484 million units in 2005.
However, the market research firm stated that the average camera phone will not reach the four to five megapixel level range until 2010."
Tessera History
SeekingAlpha: The company has been around for a long, long time. Its investors had to be very patient for many years of painful grinding when literally nothing happened. Meanwhile, Tessera’s technology innovations managed to get patented. At the time, no one paid attention to esoteric chip packaging techniques like chip-scale and multi-chip.
And then the miniaturization wave hit the electronics industry. Every cell phone was suddenly infringing on Tessera’s patents, and had to pay them royalty fees. An important patent infringement suit won against Samsung in late 2004 shot the stock up $20. And since then, money has kept rolling in.
Today, Tessera runs a fat gross margin business that ranges between 80%-95%. Their primary business is licensing of technology for chip-scale and multi-chip packaging for miniaturization in electronic products. Most semiconductor chips that are utilized in various electronics products, including digital audio players, digital cameras, personal computers, personal digital assistants, video game consoles, and mobile phones have something to do with Tessera’s patents. In terms of royalties, Tessera receives an estimated 6 cents to 14 cents on each cell phone handset, between 5 cents and 15 cents on each video camera, and 30 cents or more on each computer.
In the last two years, Tessera has made several acquisitions: Shellcase, Digital Optics, and Eyesquad.
Shellcase is the world’s leading provider of commercially available wafer level image sensor packaging technology. Shellcase’s broad technology portfolio includes wafer-level packaging for image sensors and other devices. The world’s largest cellular phone manufacturers utilize image sensors packaged in Shellcase technology for cellular phones that integrate highly reliable, miniaturized digital cameras. Packaging for Image Sensors and MEMS Devices is forecasted to become a 7.3 Billion Unit Market by 2009. Tessera bought Shellcase for $33 Million.
Tessera acquired Digital Optics last July for $59.5 million. Digital Optics develops and designs micro-optical technologies. Micro-optics is the use of microscopic structures to shape and influence light. The Digital Optics team and key technology will be components in Tessera’s development of low-cost, miniaturized imaging solutions for high-volume consumer optics applications, such as camera phones, next-generation DVD players and automotive applications. According to the most recent forecast from market research firm Techno Systems Research [TSR], the market for camera phones will increase to approximately 825 million units in 2009, representing a 21 percent compounded annual growth rate from 2005.
Recently, Tessera also bought Eyesquad, a Tel Aviv, Israel company that designs digital auto-focus and optical zoom products for cameras in camera phones and other products. The purchase price was $18 million in cash, and it strengthens Tessera’s position in the camera phone market.
To summarize Tessera’s strategy, it has been systematically rolling-up important technology modules that are essential in the growing hyper-integration and miniaturization trends around consumer electronics.
Their primary business model of technology licensing is a highly profitable model, and if they can continue to roll-up more of the components of electronics miniaturization (e.g. audio, memory, imaging, even computing), there is no reason for the company to not continue growing systematically.
And then the miniaturization wave hit the electronics industry. Every cell phone was suddenly infringing on Tessera’s patents, and had to pay them royalty fees. An important patent infringement suit won against Samsung in late 2004 shot the stock up $20. And since then, money has kept rolling in.
Today, Tessera runs a fat gross margin business that ranges between 80%-95%. Their primary business is licensing of technology for chip-scale and multi-chip packaging for miniaturization in electronic products. Most semiconductor chips that are utilized in various electronics products, including digital audio players, digital cameras, personal computers, personal digital assistants, video game consoles, and mobile phones have something to do with Tessera’s patents. In terms of royalties, Tessera receives an estimated 6 cents to 14 cents on each cell phone handset, between 5 cents and 15 cents on each video camera, and 30 cents or more on each computer.
In the last two years, Tessera has made several acquisitions: Shellcase, Digital Optics, and Eyesquad.
Shellcase is the world’s leading provider of commercially available wafer level image sensor packaging technology. Shellcase’s broad technology portfolio includes wafer-level packaging for image sensors and other devices. The world’s largest cellular phone manufacturers utilize image sensors packaged in Shellcase technology for cellular phones that integrate highly reliable, miniaturized digital cameras. Packaging for Image Sensors and MEMS Devices is forecasted to become a 7.3 Billion Unit Market by 2009. Tessera bought Shellcase for $33 Million.
Tessera acquired Digital Optics last July for $59.5 million. Digital Optics develops and designs micro-optical technologies. Micro-optics is the use of microscopic structures to shape and influence light. The Digital Optics team and key technology will be components in Tessera’s development of low-cost, miniaturized imaging solutions for high-volume consumer optics applications, such as camera phones, next-generation DVD players and automotive applications. According to the most recent forecast from market research firm Techno Systems Research [TSR], the market for camera phones will increase to approximately 825 million units in 2009, representing a 21 percent compounded annual growth rate from 2005.
Recently, Tessera also bought Eyesquad, a Tel Aviv, Israel company that designs digital auto-focus and optical zoom products for cameras in camera phones and other products. The purchase price was $18 million in cash, and it strengthens Tessera’s position in the camera phone market.
To summarize Tessera’s strategy, it has been systematically rolling-up important technology modules that are essential in the growing hyper-integration and miniaturization trends around consumer electronics.
Their primary business model of technology licensing is a highly profitable model, and if they can continue to roll-up more of the components of electronics miniaturization (e.g. audio, memory, imaging, even computing), there is no reason for the company to not continue growing systematically.
Thomson Xensium Sensor
As a break of cellular imagers bonanza, Thomson introduces Grass Valley Xensium, a new high performance CMOS sensor. The native high definition sensor has an array of 2.4 million pixels.
The claim is that Xensium offers a wider dynamic range, lower power consumption and improved signal-to-noise performance when compared to current CCD and CMOS imagers. It was developed by Grass Valley engineers in collaboration with colleagues at Thomson Technology's Silicon Components division and within a European Union Medea+ programme.
The 2/3-inch 1920 x 1080 active pixel Xensium HD sensor, supporting 1080p, 1080i and 720p high definition natively, will first be used in production models of the Grass Valley Infinity Digital Media Camcorder , and the Xensium line of imagers will become a standard in future generation Grass Valley camera products across a broad range of applications.
The claim is that Xensium offers a wider dynamic range, lower power consumption and improved signal-to-noise performance when compared to current CCD and CMOS imagers. It was developed by Grass Valley engineers in collaboration with colleagues at Thomson Technology's Silicon Components division and within a European Union Medea+ programme.
The 2/3-inch 1920 x 1080 active pixel Xensium HD sensor, supporting 1080p, 1080i and 720p high definition natively, will first be used in production models of the Grass Valley Infinity Digital Media Camcorder , and the Xensium line of imagers will become a standard in future generation Grass Valley camera products across a broad range of applications.
Magnachip Digital AF (DAF) Module
The auto-focus technologies parade is going on on 3GSM. Magnachip launches industry's first single-chip Digital Auto-Focus (DAF) solution.
Sys-Con Media: Magnachip announced the launch of Imaging System on a Chip (SoC) incorporating a digital auto-focus engine.
The MC531EA is a 1/3.2" optical format 3.2 mega-pixel (2048 x 1536) CMOS sensor with integrated image processing, a high speed 48-way SIMD processor which requires no external memory and can run enhanced depth of field (EDoF) and digital auto-focus (DAF) algorithms. The MC531EA makes use of MagnaChip's 2.2um pixel. The MC521EA also features an on-board ARM7TDMI core that can be programmed with different algorithms for auto-function control, such as auto white balance with color temperature detection and tonal mapping, and auto exposure with scene dependent compensation.
"The features we have incorporated into the MC531EA single chip solution are normally found in 3 chip solutions in digital still cameras," said Jason Hartlove, Senior Vice President of the Imaging Solutions Division. "While 3 mega-pixel cameras are leading edge for handset implementations, designs today require expensive multi-chip solutions with large, power hungry moving actuators which attempt to mimic the functionality of Digital Still Cameras (DSCs). MagnaChip, has gone beyond the DSC capabilities by integrating support for new technologies such as digital auto-focus, all within a single chip solution that does not require any external components. This eliminates the need for an actuator, making it easier for manufacturers to create small form factor, mechanically robust solutions with a lower total system cost."
Samples of the MC531EA will be available in February. No production timing is announced.
Sys-Con Media: Magnachip announced the launch of Imaging System on a Chip (SoC) incorporating a digital auto-focus engine.
The MC531EA is a 1/3.2" optical format 3.2 mega-pixel (2048 x 1536) CMOS sensor with integrated image processing, a high speed 48-way SIMD processor which requires no external memory and can run enhanced depth of field (EDoF) and digital auto-focus (DAF) algorithms. The MC531EA makes use of MagnaChip's 2.2um pixel. The MC521EA also features an on-board ARM7TDMI core that can be programmed with different algorithms for auto-function control, such as auto white balance with color temperature detection and tonal mapping, and auto exposure with scene dependent compensation.
"The features we have incorporated into the MC531EA single chip solution are normally found in 3 chip solutions in digital still cameras," said Jason Hartlove, Senior Vice President of the Imaging Solutions Division. "While 3 mega-pixel cameras are leading edge for handset implementations, designs today require expensive multi-chip solutions with large, power hungry moving actuators which attempt to mimic the functionality of Digital Still Cameras (DSCs). MagnaChip, has gone beyond the DSC capabilities by integrating support for new technologies such as digital auto-focus, all within a single chip solution that does not require any external components. This eliminates the need for an actuator, making it easier for manufacturers to create small form factor, mechanically robust solutions with a lower total system cost."
Samples of the MC531EA will be available in February. No production timing is announced.
ST Licenses DxO Digital Optics
To complete a day of AF announcements, there is another one from DxO Labs and ST:
"DxO Labs today announces a licensing agreement and a strategic cooperation with STMicroelectronics to develop and bring to market breakthrough imaging sensors and camera modules featuring DxO Digital Optics, a revolutionary embedded imaging technology.
A new generation of STMicroelectronics imaging modules will feature full auto-focus functionality without any motor or moving parts, enabling DxO Digital Optics fixed lens optics to deliver sharp images from a very short distance to infinity. The resulting products will initially target the high-end mobile imaging market (3 and 5 Mpix camera modules).
DxO Digital Optics Digital Auto-Focus Extended Depth-of-Field Priority (or DxO Digital Optics DAF EDoF Priority) is just one of the implementations enabled by DxO Digital Optics technology which is based on a unique co-design of optics and image signal processing. For cameraphone vendors, this digital auto-focus solution is a more efficient alternative to traditional mechanical actuator-based auto-focus. It acts instantaneously, drastically shrinks module size, significantly reduces power consumption, and contributes to substantial cost reductions while providing better image quality even in very low light conditions.
One of the hot features long sought by cameraphone vendors is Extended Depth-of-Field (EDoF). Unlike traditional actuator-based auto-focus which tends to deliver limited depth of field, DxO Digital Optics DAF EDoF Priority provides a uniformly sharp image from the foreground to the background.
“Extending the depth of field of fixed focus high resolution camera modules while preserving image quality and keeping costs down is the dream of our industry. DxO Labs, with DxO Digital Optics, has definitely the right technology to achieve this goal,” says Philippe Quinio, STMicroelectronics' Imaging Division Marketing Director.
“We are very pleased to work with STMicroelectronics on DxO Digital Optics auto-focus-enabled products,” adds Jerome Meniere, CEO of DxO Labs. “Recognized by the industry for their mastery of the entire embedded imaging chain, from silicon sensors to fully tested modules, STMicroelectronics is a great partner with whom to bring such advanced full camera module solutions to market.”
"DxO Labs today announces a licensing agreement and a strategic cooperation with STMicroelectronics to develop and bring to market breakthrough imaging sensors and camera modules featuring DxO Digital Optics, a revolutionary embedded imaging technology.
A new generation of STMicroelectronics imaging modules will feature full auto-focus functionality without any motor or moving parts, enabling DxO Digital Optics fixed lens optics to deliver sharp images from a very short distance to infinity. The resulting products will initially target the high-end mobile imaging market (3 and 5 Mpix camera modules).
DxO Digital Optics Digital Auto-Focus Extended Depth-of-Field Priority (or DxO Digital Optics DAF EDoF Priority) is just one of the implementations enabled by DxO Digital Optics technology which is based on a unique co-design of optics and image signal processing. For cameraphone vendors, this digital auto-focus solution is a more efficient alternative to traditional mechanical actuator-based auto-focus. It acts instantaneously, drastically shrinks module size, significantly reduces power consumption, and contributes to substantial cost reductions while providing better image quality even in very low light conditions.
One of the hot features long sought by cameraphone vendors is Extended Depth-of-Field (EDoF). Unlike traditional actuator-based auto-focus which tends to deliver limited depth of field, DxO Digital Optics DAF EDoF Priority provides a uniformly sharp image from the foreground to the background.
“Extending the depth of field of fixed focus high resolution camera modules while preserving image quality and keeping costs down is the dream of our industry. DxO Labs, with DxO Digital Optics, has definitely the right technology to achieve this goal,” says Philippe Quinio, STMicroelectronics' Imaging Division Marketing Director.
“We are very pleased to work with STMicroelectronics on DxO Digital Optics auto-focus-enabled products,” adds Jerome Meniere, CEO of DxO Labs. “Recognized by the industry for their mastery of the entire embedded imaging chain, from silicon sensors to fully tested modules, STMicroelectronics is a great partner with whom to bring such advanced full camera module solutions to market.”
More about Omnivision Truefocus
Omnivision put much more Truefocus info on its site. It comes out that Truefocus is 2-chip solution, having a companion ISP OV630.
The ISP has a non-standard 1.3V supply for its core logic, meaning it uses either overdriven 0.13um process, or some low-voltage flavour of 0.15um. It supports up to 3MP resolution, which explains why 5MP module uses a more conventional AF. The power consumption is 200mA in active mode.
The ISP has a non-standard 1.3V supply for its core logic, meaning it uses either overdriven 0.13um process, or some low-voltage flavour of 0.15um. It supports up to 3MP resolution, which explains why 5MP module uses a more conventional AF. The power consumption is 200mA in active mode.
Siimpel Shows Its First Product
Eric Fossum of Siimpel published an announcement in dpreview forum:
"I am happy to announce that we have presented our first paper on the MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical system) autofocus camera module for camera phones. It is for 1/3" format, nominally 2 or 3 megapixel sensors.
Among other things, handset manufacturers require that the camera in the handset survive dozens of drops directly onto concrete from waist or shoulder height. Try that with your DSC, esp. when there are moving parts inside. We are currently meeting shock levels exceeding 5000 Gs.
Also, the whole camera has to cost the camera manufacturer about $10-$15 to make, including sensor, lens AF actuator, housing, etc.
It also has to be fairly robust to manufacturing tolerances since millions per month need to be reliably manufactured. We are currently in pre-production of the MEMS component at the "low" rate of 10,000 units per day. We expect to see it in a tier 1 handset in Q4'07.
The linked paper has a lot of technical information in it. I am quite pleased with the 2Mpix imaging performance. While it is hardly a DSLR, we welcome your comments and thoughts.
At http://www.siimpel.com you can find me under "management" and the paper under "news"."
The direct link to the paper is here.
"I am happy to announce that we have presented our first paper on the MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical system) autofocus camera module for camera phones. It is for 1/3" format, nominally 2 or 3 megapixel sensors.
Among other things, handset manufacturers require that the camera in the handset survive dozens of drops directly onto concrete from waist or shoulder height. Try that with your DSC, esp. when there are moving parts inside. We are currently meeting shock levels exceeding 5000 Gs.
Also, the whole camera has to cost the camera manufacturer about $10-$15 to make, including sensor, lens AF actuator, housing, etc.
It also has to be fairly robust to manufacturing tolerances since millions per month need to be reliably manufactured. We are currently in pre-production of the MEMS component at the "low" rate of 10,000 units per day. We expect to see it in a tier 1 handset in Q4'07.
The linked paper has a lot of technical information in it. I am quite pleased with the 2Mpix imaging performance. While it is hardly a DSLR, we welcome your comments and thoughts.
At http://www.siimpel.com you can find me under "management" and the paper under "news"."
The direct link to the paper is here.
Omnivision Truefocus Camera Module Launched?
Omnivision launched its first product incorporating waveform-coding based Truefocus. Well, sort of launched, as there is neither a part number nor a production schedule announced.
Yahoo: OmniVision is demonstrating the 3-megapixel TrueFocus camera this week at its booth at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
From a manufacturer and system designer's point of view, transitioning to TrueFocus cameras is simple and straightforward. TrueFocus modules are smaller than the AF modules that are currently available. In TrueFocus systems, the mechanics found in classical AF systems move to silicon and thus become subject to Moore's Law. Wavefront Coded lenses can be formed in plastic at a cost comparable to classical lenses, and will be offered through major lens manufacturers. Replacing mechanical parts with lenses that do not require focusing during assembly simplifies sourcing and manufacturing by combining high quality optical systems with relaxed manufacturing tolerances. With no moving parts, a TrueFocus module requires less power, and performs more reliably in extreme temperatures.
Wavefront Coding was invented by the founders of CDM Optics and is protected by numerous U.S. and foreign patents dating from 1995. A Wavefront Coded system differs from a classical digital imaging system in two fundamental ways. First, the light traveling through a Wavefront Coded lens system is not focused on a specific focal plane. Instead, the specially designed lens system defocuses the light from each point in the field of view, regardless of its distance from the camera, and creates an intermediate unfocussed image. Another way to describe this effect is to say that the special Wavefront Coded lens system changes the path of each light ray such that the light deviates from the path that it would take when passing through a classical lens. The modification of the direction of the light as it passes through the lens system is referred to as "encoding."
The second difference found in a Wavefront Coded system, referred to as "decoding," arises when the intermediate unfocussed image is restored by digital processing. The intermediate image from the sensor is processed to produce an image that is as sharp and clear as a conventional image, but has the important non-classical property that the depth of field (or depth of focus) is much greater than that produced by a conventional lens system using an equivalent aperture or 'f' stop number.
Simultaneously Omnivision announced a 5MP AF camera module, this time with part number and in mass production, but with no mention of Truefocus:
Yahoo: The OV5623 CameraChip sensor at the heart of the 5 megapixel module has an optical format of just 1/2.5 inches and a 2592 x 1944 image array with digital image stabilization capability. A 10-bit A/D converter enables the OV5623 to operate at 7.5 frames per second (fps) in full resolution or 60 fps at a 864 x 648 resolution for enhanced video viewing on a TV screen.
The OV5623 is built using OmniVision's proprietary OmniPixel2(TM) technology manufactured using 0.13-micron CMOS process technology. The OV5623 design incorporates OmniVision's zero-gap micro-lens structures, improving the overall sensitivity of the device. In addition, the sensor's improved quantum efficiency optimizes image performance by further increasing full well capacity.
Yahoo: OmniVision is demonstrating the 3-megapixel TrueFocus camera this week at its booth at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
From a manufacturer and system designer's point of view, transitioning to TrueFocus cameras is simple and straightforward. TrueFocus modules are smaller than the AF modules that are currently available. In TrueFocus systems, the mechanics found in classical AF systems move to silicon and thus become subject to Moore's Law. Wavefront Coded lenses can be formed in plastic at a cost comparable to classical lenses, and will be offered through major lens manufacturers. Replacing mechanical parts with lenses that do not require focusing during assembly simplifies sourcing and manufacturing by combining high quality optical systems with relaxed manufacturing tolerances. With no moving parts, a TrueFocus module requires less power, and performs more reliably in extreme temperatures.
Wavefront Coding was invented by the founders of CDM Optics and is protected by numerous U.S. and foreign patents dating from 1995. A Wavefront Coded system differs from a classical digital imaging system in two fundamental ways. First, the light traveling through a Wavefront Coded lens system is not focused on a specific focal plane. Instead, the specially designed lens system defocuses the light from each point in the field of view, regardless of its distance from the camera, and creates an intermediate unfocussed image. Another way to describe this effect is to say that the special Wavefront Coded lens system changes the path of each light ray such that the light deviates from the path that it would take when passing through a classical lens. The modification of the direction of the light as it passes through the lens system is referred to as "encoding."
The second difference found in a Wavefront Coded system, referred to as "decoding," arises when the intermediate unfocussed image is restored by digital processing. The intermediate image from the sensor is processed to produce an image that is as sharp and clear as a conventional image, but has the important non-classical property that the depth of field (or depth of focus) is much greater than that produced by a conventional lens system using an equivalent aperture or 'f' stop number.
Simultaneously Omnivision announced a 5MP AF camera module, this time with part number and in mass production, but with no mention of Truefocus:
Yahoo: The OV5623 CameraChip sensor at the heart of the 5 megapixel module has an optical format of just 1/2.5 inches and a 2592 x 1944 image array with digital image stabilization capability. A 10-bit A/D converter enables the OV5623 to operate at 7.5 frames per second (fps) in full resolution or 60 fps at a 864 x 648 resolution for enhanced video viewing on a TV screen.
The OV5623 is built using OmniVision's proprietary OmniPixel2(TM) technology manufactured using 0.13-micron CMOS process technology. The OV5623 design incorporates OmniVision's zero-gap micro-lens structures, improving the overall sensitivity of the device. In addition, the sensor's improved quantum efficiency optimizes image performance by further increasing full well capacity.
Micron Mobile Sensor Announcements
Yahoo: At the 3GSM World Congress today, Micron Technology, Inc. introduced a new line-up of image sensors for camera phones. The new camera phone sensors were developed using a tiny 1.75-micron pixel design and range in resolution from 5-, 3- and 1.3-megapixel:
General customer sampling for the 5- and 3-megapixel sensors is planned for the second quarter 2007 and the 1.3-megapixel sensor is expected to sample in late first quarter 2007. Mass production is expected summer 2007.
Digitimes: Micron's wireless & mobile product of imaging group director, Vern Klein said the company is currently discussing the use of the sensors with 15-17 handset vendors, including the top-five ranked handset vendors worldwide. Shipments to handset ODMs and OEMs, including Taiwan-based makers, is also expected.
End products that incorporate the new image sensors are expected to hit the market in 2008, Klein added.
- The 5-megapixel (product number MT9P012) fits into a 1/3.2-inch optical format and captures video at 60 frames per second (fps) at 720p and 30 fps at 1080p for high-definition video capture.
- The 3-megapixel (product number MT9T013) fits into the standard camera phone 1/4-inch optical format and captures VGA video at 30 fps.
- The 1.3-megapixel (product number MT9M113) is a completely integrated camera system on chip and fits into an ultra-tiny 1/11-inch optical format. This sensor also captures VGA video at 30 fps.
General customer sampling for the 5- and 3-megapixel sensors is planned for the second quarter 2007 and the 1.3-megapixel sensor is expected to sample in late first quarter 2007. Mass production is expected summer 2007.
Digitimes: Micron's wireless & mobile product of imaging group director, Vern Klein said the company is currently discussing the use of the sensors with 15-17 handset vendors, including the top-five ranked handset vendors worldwide. Shipments to handset ODMs and OEMs, including Taiwan-based makers, is also expected.
End products that incorporate the new image sensors are expected to hit the market in 2008, Klein added.
Tessera Packaging Offering
Advanced Imaging Pro: "We've taken Shellcase's existing technologies and evolved it into a thinner package, almost halving it from about 900 µm to 500 µm," said Mitch Reifel, Tessera's manager of business development. "This is a key concern in the image module industry, because smaller is better - just like everything else in the electronics industry."
And with this latest generation, the material set and design rules are all done at the wafer level. "We've narrowed the streets [width between the dies] from about 230 µm to 100 µm to yield more net die per wafer," Reifel said. "The material set was also changed, which should lower costs by roughly 10%."
Another significant change made was the improvement of the moisture sensitivity reliability from JEDEC MSL 2 to MSL 1. This allows the technology to be used in other applications, such as harsh automotive ones, which tend to have much higher reliability standards than the consumer imaging market.
"Essentially, we've made the package smaller, increased its reliability and made it less expensive, because these are all driving factors within the semiconductor packaging industry," Reifel said.
All this seems to be an extension of Shellcase products. Now I wonder how Digital Optics Corp.'s technology is related to these packages. So far Tessera has kept mum on this.
Mitch Reifel is a long time image sensors industry veteran. He was one of the founders of YMedia startup trying to offer the smallest pixels of the time (3um pixels in 2000). Then he worked for Amkor, while simultaniously publishing YMedia blog devoted to image sensors industry. He shut down his excellent blog at about the same time he joined Tessera in Nov. 2005.
And with this latest generation, the material set and design rules are all done at the wafer level. "We've narrowed the streets [width between the dies] from about 230 µm to 100 µm to yield more net die per wafer," Reifel said. "The material set was also changed, which should lower costs by roughly 10%."
Another significant change made was the improvement of the moisture sensitivity reliability from JEDEC MSL 2 to MSL 1. This allows the technology to be used in other applications, such as harsh automotive ones, which tend to have much higher reliability standards than the consumer imaging market.
"Essentially, we've made the package smaller, increased its reliability and made it less expensive, because these are all driving factors within the semiconductor packaging industry," Reifel said.
All this seems to be an extension of Shellcase products. Now I wonder how Digital Optics Corp.'s technology is related to these packages. So far Tessera has kept mum on this.
Mitch Reifel is a long time image sensors industry veteran. He was one of the founders of YMedia startup trying to offer the smallest pixels of the time (3um pixels in 2000). Then he worked for Amkor, while simultaniously publishing YMedia blog devoted to image sensors industry. He shut down his excellent blog at about the same time he joined Tessera in Nov. 2005.
Tower and Forza Setting Up Design Center in Israel
Globes: Forza and Tower are teaming to set up a center designing specialist chips which will operate out of Tower’s center in Migdal Hae’emek.
CNET, ZDNET On Noise and Resolution
ZDNET and CNET write that the small pixel size translated into higher resolution is not what consumers really need.
In fact, they built their claims on the wrong base. What consumer really needs is lower price. Everybody expects digital camera price to come down well below $100. Low price means smaller imager chips, that is smaller pixels.
Now the market logic becomes quite simple. If $50 camera has 5MP resolution, what is the resolution of $200 camera?
Probably the best solution would be to mimic a video camera market, where the sensor size is one of the major marketing claims. So everybody percieves a camera with 1/1.5" sensor as being better than a camera with 1/6" imager. But even in video world there is a place for mess. For example, how consumer percepts 3CCD camera with 3 1/6" sensors vs single 1/4" CCD? Also, megapixel claims seems to penetrate camcorder world too.
CNET also put an interesting comparison between Panasonic FZ50 noise processed and unprocessed images.
In fact, they built their claims on the wrong base. What consumer really needs is lower price. Everybody expects digital camera price to come down well below $100. Low price means smaller imager chips, that is smaller pixels.
Now the market logic becomes quite simple. If $50 camera has 5MP resolution, what is the resolution of $200 camera?
Probably the best solution would be to mimic a video camera market, where the sensor size is one of the major marketing claims. So everybody percieves a camera with 1/1.5" sensor as being better than a camera with 1/6" imager. But even in video world there is a place for mess. For example, how consumer percepts 3CCD camera with 3 1/6" sensors vs single 1/4" CCD? Also, megapixel claims seems to penetrate camcorder world too.
CNET also put an interesting comparison between Panasonic FZ50 noise processed and unprocessed images.
ST Announces 2MP Camera Module
ST announced VS6724 2MP camera module. It uses 2.2um pixel generation.
SNR is quite low 35db, while DR is quite respectable 61db. The sensor is very fast - 30fps at full resolution.
The interface is 8b parallel - a departure from ST-Nokia SMIA standard.
The press release mentions that the sensor will be manufactured at the company’s leading-edge facilities in France, initially at Crolles and later on, also at Rousset. Samples of the VS6724 are available now, with volume production planned during the first quarter of 2007.
SNR is quite low 35db, while DR is quite respectable 61db. The sensor is very fast - 30fps at full resolution.
The interface is 8b parallel - a departure from ST-Nokia SMIA standard.
The press release mentions that the sensor will be manufactured at the company’s leading-edge facilities in France, initially at Crolles and later on, also at Rousset. Samples of the VS6724 are available now, with volume production planned during the first quarter of 2007.
Forza Expands Partnership with Tower
Businesswire: Forza Silicon and Tower Semiconductor have announced that they are expanding their relationship to design and produce mixed signal and image sensor chips utilizing Tower’s process and design technology capabilities.
Forza Silicon designs custom CMOS image sensors, which comprises Tower’s Advanced Photo Diode (APD) pixel IP, and utilizes its Fab2, 0.18-micron process technology.
“We are pleased with Forza Silicon’s track record of successfully utilizing Tower’s pixel IP to create and ramp to production innovative, state-of-the-art products for a variety of applications,” said Dr. Avi Strum, general manager of CIS and NVM product lines at Tower. “Forza Silicon’s proven ability to work closely with a customer on an idea, collaborate on a design, and follow through to volume production is critical to deliver advanced solutions.”
So now Forza has close relations in CIS design with both Tower and IBM.
Forza Silicon designs custom CMOS image sensors, which comprises Tower’s Advanced Photo Diode (APD) pixel IP, and utilizes its Fab2, 0.18-micron process technology.
“We are pleased with Forza Silicon’s track record of successfully utilizing Tower’s pixel IP to create and ramp to production innovative, state-of-the-art products for a variety of applications,” said Dr. Avi Strum, general manager of CIS and NVM product lines at Tower. “Forza Silicon’s proven ability to work closely with a customer on an idea, collaborate on a design, and follow through to volume production is critical to deliver advanced solutions.”
So now Forza has close relations in CIS design with both Tower and IBM.
New Solution of Wires Corrosion Problem in Sony CCD
Tech-On: Matsushita engineers spent some time investigating their arch-rival Sony CCD problems. To solve these problems Sony has stopped using ultraviolet cured resin containing iodine to bond CCD packages since the defect was discovered.
What Matsushita found is that the corrosion was closely related not only to iodine but also fluorine, which becomes alienated from ultraviolet cured resin, and bonding condition of the wire-bonded area.
So the ultraviolet cured resin containing iodine can possibly be used to bond CCD packages with its reliability undamaged, if a right kind of ultraviolet cured resin, from which fluorine does not become estranged, is chosen and intensity of wire bonding is enhanced.
What Matsushita found is that the corrosion was closely related not only to iodine but also fluorine, which becomes alienated from ultraviolet cured resin, and bonding condition of the wire-bonded area.
So the ultraviolet cured resin containing iodine can possibly be used to bond CCD packages with its reliability undamaged, if a right kind of ultraviolet cured resin, from which fluorine does not become estranged, is chosen and intensity of wire bonding is enhanced.
Magnachip 2.2um Pixel Announced, Finally
Magnachip announced samples of 2.2um pixel sensors. Significantly lagging in pixel size race, the company tried to compensate it by packing more features onto the sensor.
2MP MC521EA sensor integrates MIPI and GPIO interface and ARM7TDMI core, while 1.3MP MC511EA offers a singe 2.8V supply. GPIO interface can be used for AF function control.
Also it includes an interesting "one time programmable, non-volatile memory enabling unique module serialization and calibration".
Jason Hartlove, Senior Vice President of?the Imaging Solutions Division said,“The EA series products feature our third generation image processing architecture, which includes positional lens vignetting correction, multi-zone evaluative automatic exposure control, noise adaptive edge enhancement and many other advanced features normally seen only in advanced digital still cameras. In addition, the low noise 12-bit analog to digital converter architecture and excellent low light sensitivity make these products ideal for video applications and those requiring high quality imaging in low ambient light levels.”
It looks like Jason is trying to replicate his previous Avago market strategy. While managing Avago imaging business he tried to compensate pixel technology deficiency by integration of advanced high-end image processing functions. This had somewhat mixed results. We will see if Jason's approach works better on Maganchip soil.
2MP MC521EA sensor integrates MIPI and GPIO interface and ARM7TDMI core, while 1.3MP MC511EA offers a singe 2.8V supply. GPIO interface can be used for AF function control.
Also it includes an interesting "one time programmable, non-volatile memory enabling unique module serialization and calibration".
Jason Hartlove, Senior Vice President of?the Imaging Solutions Division said,“The EA series products feature our third generation image processing architecture, which includes positional lens vignetting correction, multi-zone evaluative automatic exposure control, noise adaptive edge enhancement and many other advanced features normally seen only in advanced digital still cameras. In addition, the low noise 12-bit analog to digital converter architecture and excellent low light sensitivity make these products ideal for video applications and those requiring high quality imaging in low ambient light levels.”
It looks like Jason is trying to replicate his previous Avago market strategy. While managing Avago imaging business he tried to compensate pixel technology deficiency by integration of advanced high-end image processing functions. This had somewhat mixed results. We will see if Jason's approach works better on Maganchip soil.
Eyesquad Joins Tessera
Many report about the new Tessera aquisition, but the most informative article on Eyesquad technology is published by Electronics Weekly:
The key to Eyesquad’s autofocus technology is that it uses non-mechanical techniques. “The technology is designed to open up new, high volume market opportunities,” said Tessera.
According to Bruce McWilliams, Tessera’s chairman and CEO: “Eyesquad’s proprietary lens design and image processing technologies make it possible for all objects from 10 cm to infinity to be brought into focus automatically and simultaneously.”
The absence of moving parts means the technique can provide size, cost, reliability and power advantages over existing mechanical technologies for focus and zoom. “This is particularly important for small form factor, high voltme electronics such as camera phones,” said McWilliams.
The key to Eyesquad’s autofocus technology is that it uses non-mechanical techniques. “The technology is designed to open up new, high volume market opportunities,” said Tessera.
According to Bruce McWilliams, Tessera’s chairman and CEO: “Eyesquad’s proprietary lens design and image processing technologies make it possible for all objects from 10 cm to infinity to be brought into focus automatically and simultaneously.”
The absence of moving parts means the technique can provide size, cost, reliability and power advantages over existing mechanical technologies for focus and zoom. “This is particularly important for small form factor, high voltme electronics such as camera phones,” said McWilliams.
Siliconfile Looks for a New Direction?
Recently it came to my attention that Siliconfile has submitted a slew of patent applications on 3-D stacked image sensors, Si-Ge-based sensors and sensors with protruding photodiodes. These new ideas are quite a departure from its current offerings.
It looks like the company is in search for a new product or market. Indeed, it's hard to compete in the mainstream these days. Even though Siliconfile has quite a strong portfolio now, it might find it difficult to remain competitive in the pixel size race.
It looks like the company is in search for a new product or market. Indeed, it's hard to compete in the mainstream these days. Even though Siliconfile has quite a strong portfolio now, it might find it difficult to remain competitive in the pixel size race.
Dongbu Pixel Innovations
Electronic Design published an article about Dongbu pixel improvement ideas. Most of them are quite common in the industry, but it's funny to see that everybody and his mother in law think alike.
Folded Lens Promise
Physorg.com: Researchers at UC San Diego have built an ultrathin digital camera by folding up the telephoto lens. This technology may yield lightweight, ultrathin, high resolution miniature cameras for unmanned surveillance aircraft, cell phones and infrared night vision applications.
"This type of miniature camera is very promising for applications where you want high resolution images and a short exposure time. This describes what cell phone cameras want to be when they grow up," said Joseph Ford, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Jacobs School who leads the camera project within UCSD's Photonic Systems Integration Lab.
Instead of bending and focusing light as it passes through a series of separate mirrors and lenses, the new folded system bends and focuses light while it is reflected back and forth inside a single 5 millimeter thick optical crystal. The light is focused as if it were moving through a traditional lens system that is at least seven times thicker.
On a disk of calcium fluoride – a transparent optical crystal – the engineers cut a series of concentric, reflective surfaces that bend and focus the light as it is bounced to a facing flat reflector. The two round surfaces with 60 millimeter diameters are separated by 5 millimeters of transparent calcium fluoride.
This kind of lens folding has not been widely implemented as a means to slim cameras down, but recent advances in the mechanical machining process of "diamond turning" are changing that. The engineers used a diamond tip to cut all the reflective surfaces onto a single calcium fluoride disk.
"You mount the optic once and the diamond machining tool cuts all the optical surfaces without having to adjust the setup," explained Eric Tremblay, the first author on an Applied Optics paper published February 1, 2007, and an electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. candidate at UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering. Not having to realign the optic during the machining of the reflective surfaces reduced an important source of error and helped make folding a viable approach for camera slimming.
"This type of miniature camera is very promising for applications where you want high resolution images and a short exposure time. This describes what cell phone cameras want to be when they grow up," said Joseph Ford, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Jacobs School who leads the camera project within UCSD's Photonic Systems Integration Lab.
Instead of bending and focusing light as it passes through a series of separate mirrors and lenses, the new folded system bends and focuses light while it is reflected back and forth inside a single 5 millimeter thick optical crystal. The light is focused as if it were moving through a traditional lens system that is at least seven times thicker.
On a disk of calcium fluoride – a transparent optical crystal – the engineers cut a series of concentric, reflective surfaces that bend and focus the light as it is bounced to a facing flat reflector. The two round surfaces with 60 millimeter diameters are separated by 5 millimeters of transparent calcium fluoride.
This kind of lens folding has not been widely implemented as a means to slim cameras down, but recent advances in the mechanical machining process of "diamond turning" are changing that. The engineers used a diamond tip to cut all the reflective surfaces onto a single calcium fluoride disk.
"You mount the optic once and the diamond machining tool cuts all the optical surfaces without having to adjust the setup," explained Eric Tremblay, the first author on an Applied Optics paper published February 1, 2007, and an electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. candidate at UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering. Not having to realign the optic during the machining of the reflective surfaces reduced an important source of error and helped make folding a viable approach for camera slimming.
Varioptic Becomes Camera-Module Vendor
Virtual Press Office: In a surprising move Varioptic announces the launch of the first liquid lens auto focus camera module - AFCM MI285. So now Varioptic becomes a camera-module supplier.
It has been developed using Varioptic's latest auto focus 7.75mm liquid lens - Arctic 416 - allowing one of the smallest footprints (8.5 mm) for a 2MP camera module.
The AFCM MI285 camera module is manufactured by "one of Varioptic leading Asian partners", and the Arctic 416 lenses are manufactured in Wuxi (China) by Creative Sensor Inc. It's offered at $16 at volumes of 50,000 units.
John Barber, Vice President of Business Development at Varioptic said: "Although Varioptic remains focused on developing and producing liquid lenses, we saw this opportunity with one of our partners as too good to miss. Our AFCM MI285 is a stepping stone to the first camera phone using a liquid lens. We are already working with a number of handset companies to achieve this and should be announcing the first camera phone in the coming months."
It has been developed using Varioptic's latest auto focus 7.75mm liquid lens - Arctic 416 - allowing one of the smallest footprints (8.5 mm) for a 2MP camera module.
The AFCM MI285 camera module is manufactured by "one of Varioptic leading Asian partners", and the Arctic 416 lenses are manufactured in Wuxi (China) by Creative Sensor Inc. It's offered at $16 at volumes of 50,000 units.
John Barber, Vice President of Business Development at Varioptic said: "Although Varioptic remains focused on developing and producing liquid lenses, we saw this opportunity with one of our partners as too good to miss. Our AFCM MI285 is a stepping stone to the first camera phone using a liquid lens. We are already working with a number of handset companies to achieve this and should be announcing the first camera phone in the coming months."
XinTec, TSMC and Omnivision
Digitimes: With all the recent XinTec investing-divesting news, there is an interesting data on XinTek CSP package market shares:
"OmniVision orders accounted for 71% of XinTec's revenues in 2005, and about 30% of the world's cameraphones adopt image sensors packaged by XinTec, according to industry sources."
"OmniVision orders accounted for 71% of XinTec's revenues in 2005, and about 30% of the world's cameraphones adopt image sensors packaged by XinTec, according to industry sources."
Pentax Engineers About Camera Design
Pentax engineers are usually more open talking about technical problems than their collegues from other companies. OK1000 Pentax blog translated an interview about K10D DSLR design and decision process at Pentax.
A few cuts from the interview showing problems with camera board design:
"It doesn’t take long to produce an acceptable level of quality images at the base sensitivity (ISO 100), however, as the sensitivity increases step by step, at some point, terrible images will be produced. The real effort starts from this point, trying to pin point possible reasons, mainly by trial and error, often having to make new Cbs (circuit boards). At the same time, firmware is developing along and each group has to closely coordinate in order to slowly improve image quality. Fine tuning can only commence after this point.
The frequency of designing new circuit boards might be hardest hurdle in the whole K10D project.
Homogeneous noise across the whole image could often be permitted, but countermeasures against localized noise is difficult to achieve.
Of course, each case is closely analyzed and dealt with, but there are a number of cases of localized noise and it is really time consuming to solve these. Changing Cb’s is one measure, but that has to be repeated many times.
We were fully aware that we were going to face very critical eyes on the noise issue because of increased resolution. In addition, the base sensitivity of the sensor was lower, which made tuning to the acceptable level for production very difficult.
Recent Cbs might look at one piece, but there are actually layers to this and a slight change in wiring alone significantly changes how noise appears. In a digicam, DDR2 memory that functions at a very high frequency and many other parts all produce radio waves. A TV tuner portion of a videocard for PC, for example, is tightly shielded in order to avoid the interference between the digital circuit and analog circuit. If noise enters before signal’s digitization, the digital image output would almost be unusable. When increasing the gain for sensitivity, at ISO1600 for example (4 stops over base sensitivity), just a slight voltage variation in the order of a few milli-volts will impose a huge impact on image quality.
Separating grounding circuits is one way, but it is not simply a matter of separation. Sometimes, good results could be obtained by a larger grounding area. This is another area requiring the trial and error method."
Some other design trade-offs and considerations of DSLR image sensor customers make this interview worth reading.
A few cuts from the interview showing problems with camera board design:
"It doesn’t take long to produce an acceptable level of quality images at the base sensitivity (ISO 100), however, as the sensitivity increases step by step, at some point, terrible images will be produced. The real effort starts from this point, trying to pin point possible reasons, mainly by trial and error, often having to make new Cbs (circuit boards). At the same time, firmware is developing along and each group has to closely coordinate in order to slowly improve image quality. Fine tuning can only commence after this point.
The frequency of designing new circuit boards might be hardest hurdle in the whole K10D project.
Homogeneous noise across the whole image could often be permitted, but countermeasures against localized noise is difficult to achieve.
Of course, each case is closely analyzed and dealt with, but there are a number of cases of localized noise and it is really time consuming to solve these. Changing Cb’s is one measure, but that has to be repeated many times.
We were fully aware that we were going to face very critical eyes on the noise issue because of increased resolution. In addition, the base sensitivity of the sensor was lower, which made tuning to the acceptable level for production very difficult.
Recent Cbs might look at one piece, but there are actually layers to this and a slight change in wiring alone significantly changes how noise appears. In a digicam, DDR2 memory that functions at a very high frequency and many other parts all produce radio waves. A TV tuner portion of a videocard for PC, for example, is tightly shielded in order to avoid the interference between the digital circuit and analog circuit. If noise enters before signal’s digitization, the digital image output would almost be unusable. When increasing the gain for sensitivity, at ISO1600 for example (4 stops over base sensitivity), just a slight voltage variation in the order of a few milli-volts will impose a huge impact on image quality.
Separating grounding circuits is one way, but it is not simply a matter of separation. Sometimes, good results could be obtained by a larger grounding area. This is another area requiring the trial and error method."
Some other design trade-offs and considerations of DSLR image sensor customers make this interview worth reading.
Acutelogic Image Processing Solutions
Acutelogic is yet another embedded image processing software vendor. It has quite a complete set of image processing routines, covering wide set of applications. Canon,Fujifilm, Pentax, Samsung are all among its clients.
What sets Acutelogic apart of others is a still image stabilization subroutine:
"Image stabilizer software for still images and video--Being a pure software implementation, this application requires no additional hardware such as gyro-sensors. Our still image stabilizer results not only in reduced blur but improved noise characteristics when used in low-light conditions."
Sounds like they are solving the holy grail of digital imaging. I'm wondering if it's a similar idea to Sony 60fps sensor stabilization? Or it's like Stanford's Abbas El-Gamal solution squeezed into OMAP footprint in some magical manner?
What sets Acutelogic apart of others is a still image stabilization subroutine:
"Image stabilizer software for still images and video--Being a pure software implementation, this application requires no additional hardware such as gyro-sensors. Our still image stabilizer results not only in reduced blur but improved noise characteristics when used in low-light conditions."
Sounds like they are solving the holy grail of digital imaging. I'm wondering if it's a similar idea to Sony 60fps sensor stabilization? Or it's like Stanford's Abbas El-Gamal solution squeezed into OMAP footprint in some magical manner?
Varioptic and Creative Sensors Go in Mass Production
SourceWire: As announced in August 2006, Creative Sensor set up the production line for liquid lenses with the support of Varioptic. The manufacturing capacity in Wuxi, China is now at 100,000 liquid lenses per month and will be increased to 1 million units per month by the end of 2007.
Production includes Varioptic’s new 7.75-mm lenses, Arctic 416, aimed at camera phones, as well as the previously introduced devices, Arctic 320, for use in webcams, barcode readers and medical equipment.
Production includes Varioptic’s new 7.75-mm lenses, Arctic 416, aimed at camera phones, as well as the previously introduced devices, Arctic 320, for use in webcams, barcode readers and medical equipment.
Photron High-Speed Sensor
Photron has announced world's fastest Mega-pixel video camera, having over 5,000fps at mega pixel resolution. Its brand new CMOS sensor provides 12b pixel depth and is capable of reduced resolution operation as fast as 150,000 fps.
5,000fps at megapixel resolution frame translates to about 200ns per row, depending on the image format. Even considering 2-sided readout of few rows in parallel, the speed is very impressive.
Most probably the sensor was developed in cooperation with Alexima.
5,000fps at megapixel resolution frame translates to about 200ns per row, depending on the image format. Even considering 2-sided readout of few rows in parallel, the speed is very impressive.
Most probably the sensor was developed in cooperation with Alexima.
BeSang Image Sensor Promise
BeSang start-up company (Portland, OR) promises new "high quantum efficient image sensor" based on its "3D Enabling Technology". From the first sight its chip stacking technique is quite similar to ZyCube.
The company was founded by Sang-Yun Lee, who used to work for Samsung, Motorola and IDT. It looks like BeSang does not have institutional investors, as of yet.
The company was founded by Sang-Yun Lee, who used to work for Samsung, Motorola and IDT. It looks like BeSang does not have institutional investors, as of yet.
ST Talking About 32nm CIS Process
EETimes: In the report about changing Crolles facility charter, ST CEO Carlo Bozotti mentioned image sensors as 32nm process extention to be developed in Crolles.
I wonder what pixel size ST gets in that process? 0.6um with full well of 1000e-?
I wonder what pixel size ST gets in that process? 0.6um with full well of 1000e-?
ZyCube and Oki Team on Image Sensor Packaging
EETimes: ZyCube and Oki Electric combine their technologies to offer chip-sized packaging technology for both CMOS and CCD image sensors.
ZyCube 3D CSP will compete with Tessera-Shellcase CSP. Oki seems to be the early adaptor of this package, just like Sanyo was for Shellcase at the time.
On paper ZyCube package looks extremely attractive, albeit a little complex. But the real question is can it compete on price and yield?
ZyCube 3D CSP will compete with Tessera-Shellcase CSP. Oki seems to be the early adaptor of this package, just like Sanyo was for Shellcase at the time.
On paper ZyCube package looks extremely attractive, albeit a little complex. But the real question is can it compete on price and yield?
ProMOS to make Image Sensors in China
EETimes: ProMOS said it will invest $360 million in the 200mm wafer fab in the city of Chongqing that will produce CMOS image sensors, among other ICs. State-controlled banks will lend another $360 million, while the Chongqing government will put up about $200 million to build the fab, and then lease it to ProMOS. If things go well, ProMOS will eventually buy the facility.
The clean room should be finished by the end of this year. Mass production will begin in the second quarter of 2008. The planned capacity is 60,000 wafers per month. ProMOS will buy new equipment for the first 20,000 wafers, and then transfer used equipment from a fab in Taiwan for the rest. Initially, ProMOS will use 0.25 micron design rules and then migrate to more advanced technology as the fab reaches full capacity by 2009.
Digitimes presents a slightly different ProMOS fab schedule: ProMOS first 8-inch fab in China at Chongqing will have pilot runs slated to start during the end of the year and volume production slated for the first quarter of 2008.
The clean room should be finished by the end of this year. Mass production will begin in the second quarter of 2008. The planned capacity is 60,000 wafers per month. ProMOS will buy new equipment for the first 20,000 wafers, and then transfer used equipment from a fab in Taiwan for the rest. Initially, ProMOS will use 0.25 micron design rules and then migrate to more advanced technology as the fab reaches full capacity by 2009.
Digitimes presents a slightly different ProMOS fab schedule: ProMOS first 8-inch fab in China at Chongqing will have pilot runs slated to start during the end of the year and volume production slated for the first quarter of 2008.
Micron Security Presentation
ESMChina put out Micron's presentation of products for security market. My favorite number in it is 82.1 patents per 1K employees per year, which puts Micron into leadership position. Sounds quite funny. I can think of this number expressed as 82.1 Kilo-patents per 1 Mega-employee or as 82.1 milli-patent per employee. In Kilo-patents it looks bigger.
Fairchild Imaging CCD-CMOS Hybrid
PRWeb: Fairchild Imaging announced an interesting CCD-CMOS hybrid sensor. The company says:
"The novel hybrid image sensor combines the best of both CCD and CMOS technologies: the high image quality, low dark current and high fill-factor of a CCD with the high speed, low-noise and low power of a CMOS readout. The 1.3 megapixel hybrid sensor delivers extreme low-light imaging performance at video and supra-video frame rates."
To me this sounds like a regular 4T pixel sensor, may be fabricated on CCD fab in CCD-compatible process. Personally, I'm sceptical about Fairchild Imaging capabilities to deliver a real breakthrough here.
Update Feb 4, 2007: Fairchild Imaging published a paper on the hybrid imager approach. It's quite an exotic imager having CCD combined with column-parallel CMOS readout attached on indium bumps. The chip was developed under US Army contract. Quite an expensive technology, even for military.
"The novel hybrid image sensor combines the best of both CCD and CMOS technologies: the high image quality, low dark current and high fill-factor of a CCD with the high speed, low-noise and low power of a CMOS readout. The 1.3 megapixel hybrid sensor delivers extreme low-light imaging performance at video and supra-video frame rates."
To me this sounds like a regular 4T pixel sensor, may be fabricated on CCD fab in CCD-compatible process. Personally, I'm sceptical about Fairchild Imaging capabilities to deliver a real breakthrough here.
Update Feb 4, 2007: Fairchild Imaging published a paper on the hybrid imager approach. It's quite an exotic imager having CCD combined with column-parallel CMOS readout attached on indium bumps. The chip was developed under US Army contract. Quite an expensive technology, even for military.
Sharp Announces 1.75um-Pixel CCD
Tech-On: Sharp announced a 8MP CCD with 1.75um pixel pitch, which is claimed to be the industry's smallest in class. Sample shipment is slated for the end of January 2007 and volume production and shipment are for April 2007.
Lyra Research Cameras Forecast
Lyra Research published its digital camera market forecast up to 2010.
According to the forecast worldwide digital camera shipments rose 21 percent in 2006 to approximately 98 million units. This sizeable growth occurred despite household penetration of greater than 50 percent in Japan, the United States, and leading nations in Western Europe, and in spite of multimegapixel camera phones becoming commonplace in Asia and Europe. Lyra's forecast now projects worldwide digital camera shipments to exceed 130 million units in 2010 for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 10 percent.
Sales in 2006 showed that consumers' appetite for digital cameras has not been abated by the spread of camera phones or by existing digital cameras in the household," comments Steve Hoffenberg, Lyra's director of consumer imaging research. "Current digital camera users upgraded in droves to new models offered by every major manufacturer, lured by image-stabilization features, broader zoom lens ratios, and higher-resolution sensors. While the upgrading activity will eventually taper off, it shows little signs of vanishing through the end of the decade, as camera makers continue to pack more value into their products."
According to the forecast worldwide digital camera shipments rose 21 percent in 2006 to approximately 98 million units. This sizeable growth occurred despite household penetration of greater than 50 percent in Japan, the United States, and leading nations in Western Europe, and in spite of multimegapixel camera phones becoming commonplace in Asia and Europe. Lyra's forecast now projects worldwide digital camera shipments to exceed 130 million units in 2010 for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 10 percent.
Sales in 2006 showed that consumers' appetite for digital cameras has not been abated by the spread of camera phones or by existing digital cameras in the household," comments Steve Hoffenberg, Lyra's director of consumer imaging research. "Current digital camera users upgraded in droves to new models offered by every major manufacturer, lured by image-stabilization features, broader zoom lens ratios, and higher-resolution sensors. While the upgrading activity will eventually taper off, it shows little signs of vanishing through the end of the decade, as camera makers continue to pack more value into their products."
Omnivision Stock is Downgraded Again
Yahoo-Finance: J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster wrote in a note to investors: "OmniVision is locked in price-based competition in the low-margin VGA segment of the CMOS sector space . . . and is unable to differentiate, absent the introduction of WFC (Wavefront Coding) or a lower cost next generation chip set."
Heriot Watt Wavefront Coding Research
It just came to my attention that Andy Harvey from UK Heriot Watt University made a lot of work on the fashionable wavefront coding technology.
Sony Enhances On-Line 60fps Sensor Demo
Sony significantly enhanced its on-line 60fps sensor flash presentations. It seems the time of high-speed consumer cameras is close.
More Chinese Fabs Offering CIS Process
It sounds like more fabs in China are offering CIS foundry services.
One is HeJian, having 0.18um CIS Process now and 0.13um Al CIS pilot production starting mid-2007.
The other is Hua Yue Microelectronics. A little is known about this one, other that it offers foundry services.
They join another two CIS-capable fabs in China: SMIC and Grace Semiconductor.
One is HeJian, having 0.18um CIS Process now and 0.13um Al CIS pilot production starting mid-2007.
The other is Hua Yue Microelectronics. A little is known about this one, other that it offers foundry services.
They join another two CIS-capable fabs in China: SMIC and Grace Semiconductor.
Magnachip Al vs Cu Backend Comparison
A year-old Magnachip paper comparing optical properties of Al an Cu backend pixels just came to my attention. Not really fair comparison as the metal stack hight is almost same in their simulation. It shows what happens if one does not remove SiC or SiN barrier layers in Cu process - quite predictable result.
Synopsys Pixel Simulation Flow
Laser Focus World published an article about Synopsys tools for pixel simulation.
Lumerical Microlens Simulator
I've just noticed that Canadian company Lumerical offers an optical microlens FDTD simulator. It seems to be in use by ST, looking on a footnote. Breault Research has 3um pixel microlens simple simulation examples using Lumerical FDTD. They also published a paper about it.
There is a competing FDTD simulator by OptiWave, incidentally also Canadian company. Stanford students use it for pixel simulations, as described in the paper.
Anybody can share an opinion on these simulators, good or bad? How they compare with TOCCATA by Link Research or Sentaurus by Synopsys?
There is a competing FDTD simulator by OptiWave, incidentally also Canadian company. Stanford students use it for pixel simulations, as described in the paper.
Anybody can share an opinion on these simulators, good or bad? How they compare with TOCCATA by Link Research or Sentaurus by Synopsys?
EDN on Image Sensors
EDN published an article on consumer image sensors problems:
"For a given sensor size—and hence price range—increasing the pixel count means decreasing the active area of the photodiode, and hence lowering the sensitivity and/or the signal-to-noise ratio. Already in the 6-megapixel range, sensitivity has been reduced enough to seriously compromise image quality at low light levels.
One possible solution comes from Toshiba, which is working on a way to get more light to the active area. Today the individual microlenses that are bonded onto the surface of the image-sensor array are circular—so the lens doesn't collect light from the whole rectangular area of the pixel cell, only from a circular area that fits inside the rectangle. Toshiba researchers are working on a rectangular microlens that would cover the entire pixel area, substantially increasing light-gathering efficiency."
Well, Micron has these high-quality microlens for years. Toshiba is catching up here.
"Toshiba is also working on the system-architecture problem. In many cell-phone handset designs today, even the pixel-level post-processing to remove noise and bias from the raw CMOS sensor data is done on the handset's baseband or applications processor. But, according to Toshiba vice president Andrew Burt, while that solution is attractive to platform developers for cost reasons, it is losing its appeal with handset manufacturers, who find that the design team that created the sensor should remain in control of the pixel-level processing. This is tending not only to put the pixel-level signal-processing hardware back on the sensor die, but also to enlarge the definition of what needs to happen at the pixel level. "As resolutions approach 5 to 8 megapixels, we see image-processing applications migrating onto the pixel processor," Burt said."
I think this is another way to say that sensor's raw data is so bad that it's a shame to show it to anybody without at least basic fixes on the sensor itself.
Then EDN says about video camera sensor problems:
"At least one insider sees video cameras heading down the same road. Cameras are moving to true HD: 1080-line, progressive-scan imaging. That means the consumer is going to be looking at the output of a handheld camera on an HD screen in high resolution. The consumer is not going to be happy.
Part of the problem is refresh rate. "Hollywood can make movies at 24 frames per second," observes Didier LeGall, executive vice president at Ambarella. "But they have professional cinematographers and specifications written right into the script about how fast a pan or zoom will be, how a camera will track, how fast the hero will run across the scene, and so on.
A novice recording HD sequences with a handheld camera, swinging it around, zooming in and out, is going to create flicker and motion artifacts at anything like a 24 fps refresh rate. That is one of the reasons the industry is moving rapidly toward 120 Hz."
"For a given sensor size—and hence price range—increasing the pixel count means decreasing the active area of the photodiode, and hence lowering the sensitivity and/or the signal-to-noise ratio. Already in the 6-megapixel range, sensitivity has been reduced enough to seriously compromise image quality at low light levels.
One possible solution comes from Toshiba, which is working on a way to get more light to the active area. Today the individual microlenses that are bonded onto the surface of the image-sensor array are circular—so the lens doesn't collect light from the whole rectangular area of the pixel cell, only from a circular area that fits inside the rectangle. Toshiba researchers are working on a rectangular microlens that would cover the entire pixel area, substantially increasing light-gathering efficiency."
Well, Micron has these high-quality microlens for years. Toshiba is catching up here.
"Toshiba is also working on the system-architecture problem. In many cell-phone handset designs today, even the pixel-level post-processing to remove noise and bias from the raw CMOS sensor data is done on the handset's baseband or applications processor. But, according to Toshiba vice president Andrew Burt, while that solution is attractive to platform developers for cost reasons, it is losing its appeal with handset manufacturers, who find that the design team that created the sensor should remain in control of the pixel-level processing. This is tending not only to put the pixel-level signal-processing hardware back on the sensor die, but also to enlarge the definition of what needs to happen at the pixel level. "As resolutions approach 5 to 8 megapixels, we see image-processing applications migrating onto the pixel processor," Burt said."
I think this is another way to say that sensor's raw data is so bad that it's a shame to show it to anybody without at least basic fixes on the sensor itself.
Then EDN says about video camera sensor problems:
"At least one insider sees video cameras heading down the same road. Cameras are moving to true HD: 1080-line, progressive-scan imaging. That means the consumer is going to be looking at the output of a handheld camera on an HD screen in high resolution. The consumer is not going to be happy.
Part of the problem is refresh rate. "Hollywood can make movies at 24 frames per second," observes Didier LeGall, executive vice president at Ambarella. "But they have professional cinematographers and specifications written right into the script about how fast a pan or zoom will be, how a camera will track, how fast the hero will run across the scene, and so on.
A novice recording HD sequences with a handheld camera, swinging it around, zooming in and out, is going to create flicker and motion artifacts at anything like a 24 fps refresh rate. That is one of the reasons the industry is moving rapidly toward 120 Hz."
Apple iPhone Guessing Game
Who's supplying components for iPhone? The speculations are filling the web. Investors.com writes on 2MP image sensor supplier:
"Mosesmann and other analysts say Apple apparently has chosen a Micron image sensor for the iPhone's 2-megapixel camera. Companies that make chips for i- Phone will get a real plum in sales. Apple expects to ship as many as 10 million iPhones a year by 2008."
Sounds like a good guess to me.
"Mosesmann and other analysts say Apple apparently has chosen a Micron image sensor for the iPhone's 2-megapixel camera. Companies that make chips for i- Phone will get a real plum in sales. Apple expects to ship as many as 10 million iPhones a year by 2008."
Sounds like a good guess to me.
More on ProMOS Image Sensors Venture
Digitimes: With regard to speculation that ProMOS Technologies may work with Cypress Semiconductor for CMOS image sensor (CIS) production, ML Chen, chairman of ProMOS, said he would not deny the speculation, but further details will not be announced until after more discussions.
According to ProMOS, it plans to start the new business with US$10 million in capital, and ProMOS will hold 100% of the new entity. Nevertheless, the maker is not ruling out introducing other strategic partners while ProMOS will remain the major shareholder of the company, Chen said.
ProMOS announced on January 11 that its Fab 2 (a 12-inch fab) will start producing CIS. Chen said the fab will be the first choice of the new design company for CIS production and the fab will also compete for orders from other companies. The fab will use 0.11-micron technology, more advanced than the 0.18-micron now used for CIS production.
The fab can produce CIS chips of three megapixel and will focus on high-end CIS, while its entry-level CIS will be taken care by an 8-inch fab in China, the company said.
Although ProMOS will remain focused on DRAM, the maker still needs another revenue driver and CIS is an appropriate choice, Chen said, adding that this is why ProMOS has chosen to ally with a major IDM in the US.
Besides making CIS, Fab 2 will continue manufacturing memory for consumer electronics, ProMOS said.
According to ProMOS, it plans to start the new business with US$10 million in capital, and ProMOS will hold 100% of the new entity. Nevertheless, the maker is not ruling out introducing other strategic partners while ProMOS will remain the major shareholder of the company, Chen said.
ProMOS announced on January 11 that its Fab 2 (a 12-inch fab) will start producing CIS. Chen said the fab will be the first choice of the new design company for CIS production and the fab will also compete for orders from other companies. The fab will use 0.11-micron technology, more advanced than the 0.18-micron now used for CIS production.
The fab can produce CIS chips of three megapixel and will focus on high-end CIS, while its entry-level CIS will be taken care by an 8-inch fab in China, the company said.
Although ProMOS will remain focused on DRAM, the maker still needs another revenue driver and CIS is an appropriate choice, Chen said, adding that this is why ProMOS has chosen to ally with a major IDM in the US.
Besides making CIS, Fab 2 will continue manufacturing memory for consumer electronics, ProMOS said.
Again about Micron's Bracknell Center Expansion
This time from Electronicsweekly:
"The size of the development team in Bracknell has doubled in size in the last 12 months and now totals 64 people.
According to David Burrows, head of the Bracknell development centre, further expansion of the project design teams will see the headcount grow to around 90 people by the middle of the year.
According to Burrows, the intention now is to develop sensor products for specific emerging markets.
"One reason we are growing the design team here is to support these new markets, such as rear-view mirror sensors in cars and a medical application which could include a swallowable device,” said Burrows.
The design centre is home to two product design groups working on sensors and camera-on-a-chip devices. It also creates semiconductor IP for use in a range of Micron products.
Burrows believes the experienced engineers he requires will be available in the UK, but he also expects to look worldwide for hard-to-find skills such as analogue design.
The US firm has had a development team in the UK since the late 1990s, originally involved in memory and logic product development. In the past three years it has built up expertise in CMOS imager technology and timing circuits."
"The size of the development team in Bracknell has doubled in size in the last 12 months and now totals 64 people.
According to David Burrows, head of the Bracknell development centre, further expansion of the project design teams will see the headcount grow to around 90 people by the middle of the year.
According to Burrows, the intention now is to develop sensor products for specific emerging markets.
"One reason we are growing the design team here is to support these new markets, such as rear-view mirror sensors in cars and a medical application which could include a swallowable device,” said Burrows.
The design centre is home to two product design groups working on sensors and camera-on-a-chip devices. It also creates semiconductor IP for use in a range of Micron products.
Burrows believes the experienced engineers he requires will be available in the UK, but he also expects to look worldwide for hard-to-find skills such as analogue design.
The US firm has had a development team in the UK since the late 1990s, originally involved in memory and logic product development. In the past three years it has built up expertise in CMOS imager technology and timing circuits."
Winbond Invested in Emerging Memory & Logic Solution, Inc. (EMLSI)
Not really the news, but in November 2006 Winbond announced that it has invested US$15.7M in Emerging Memory & Logic Solution, Inc. (EMLSI), a Korean company. EMLSI devotes itself to CMOS image sensor development, among other things.
Siliconfile Bits of Info
Solid State Technology puts a few bits of information about Korean Siliconfile. It's a rare appearence, as Siliconfile usually keeps low profile in press, despite quite impressive market success on Far East.
"Based in South Korea, it has specialized in the development and marketing of CMOS image sensors since its founding in 2002. As the first Korean fabless company to export CIS devices to Japan in 2004, SiliconFile reports that its CIS devices have been designed into more than 70 handset models manufactured in Japan and in the Asia-Pacific region.
SiliconFile cites strategic relationships it developed with Samsung and Dongbu, both located in South Korea, as essential ingredients to establishing a foundation for success. With all parties in close proximity and sharing the same business culture, SiliconFile believes it achieved an economic efficiency that is difficult to quantify with numbers."
"Based in South Korea, it has specialized in the development and marketing of CMOS image sensors since its founding in 2002. As the first Korean fabless company to export CIS devices to Japan in 2004, SiliconFile reports that its CIS devices have been designed into more than 70 handset models manufactured in Japan and in the Asia-Pacific region.
SiliconFile cites strategic relationships it developed with Samsung and Dongbu, both located in South Korea, as essential ingredients to establishing a foundation for success. With all parties in close proximity and sharing the same business culture, SiliconFile believes it achieved an economic efficiency that is difficult to quantify with numbers."
ProMOS Sets Up Image Sensor Entity, Possibly with Cypress
Digitimes: ProMOS Technologies announced that it will establish a design company focused on CMOS image sensors. Since the memory maker said it is open to investments from other vendors, industry players have been speculating that potential investment may come from Cypress Semiconductor.
According to ProMOS, it plans to start the new business with US$10 million in capital, and ProMOS will hold 100% of the new entity. Saying that the market is big enough for handset-use high-resolution CMOS image sensors, company executives also mentioned that ProMOS will partner with US-based IDM on related developments. Based on this, market sources again associated the establishment of the new company with Cypress.
In response, ProMOS noted that the company and its partner are already involved in production process development. According to ProMOS, it has not yet determined where to manufacture CMOS image sensors for the new design house, adding that first-phase production will start at Taiwan fabs.
EETimes has another version of the same story. It tells that ProMOS Technologies is getting into the CMOS image sensor business, investing $10 million in a Silicon Valley start-up that will initially target low-density sensors for mobile phones.
Like Micron Technology, ProMOS is looking to leverage its older DRAM production facilities to make the sensors, which will likely be in the 1.3 megapixel range. The first products will probably roll out in 2008, but few other details were available, including the name of the company.
According to ProMOS, it plans to start the new business with US$10 million in capital, and ProMOS will hold 100% of the new entity. Saying that the market is big enough for handset-use high-resolution CMOS image sensors, company executives also mentioned that ProMOS will partner with US-based IDM on related developments. Based on this, market sources again associated the establishment of the new company with Cypress.
In response, ProMOS noted that the company and its partner are already involved in production process development. According to ProMOS, it has not yet determined where to manufacture CMOS image sensors for the new design house, adding that first-phase production will start at Taiwan fabs.
EETimes has another version of the same story. It tells that ProMOS Technologies is getting into the CMOS image sensor business, investing $10 million in a Silicon Valley start-up that will initially target low-density sensors for mobile phones.
Like Micron Technology, ProMOS is looking to leverage its older DRAM production facilities to make the sensors, which will likely be in the 1.3 megapixel range. The first products will probably roll out in 2008, but few other details were available, including the name of the company.
Planet82 CES Info
Planet82 invested a lot into its booth construction on CES 2007 (link to picture):
It also put together a nice press kit with "SMPD Technology Presentation". About the only interesting thing in this presentation is SMPD pixel diagram:
Other than small pixel size, it seems to be proud by a very small fill factor - quite opposite to what others are doing. Anybody can explain this?
My guess is it actually collects light from a bigger area, but then transfer the photocharge into a small site to improve conversion factor. Now they call this small site an "aperture" to emphasize their uniqueness.
It also put together a nice press kit with "SMPD Technology Presentation". About the only interesting thing in this presentation is SMPD pixel diagram:
Other than small pixel size, it seems to be proud by a very small fill factor - quite opposite to what others are doing. Anybody can explain this?
My guess is it actually collects light from a bigger area, but then transfer the photocharge into a small site to improve conversion factor. Now they call this small site an "aperture" to emphasize their uniqueness.
InSilica's New Image Processor
Techtree: InSilica announced its next generation image processor INS-3510. The ISP brings full 3- and 5-megapixel DSC class capabilities to lower cost mobile phones with features previously not available such as advanced adaptive tone mapping, and full auto-functions.
Using programmable architecture, additional features like special effects can be included to facilitate further customization of phones. The company believes that the new image processor with optimized firmware and tuning for all primary image sensor providers will enable handsets to use multiple sources in sensors.
Using programmable architecture, additional features like special effects can be included to facilitate further customization of phones. The company believes that the new image processor with optimized firmware and tuning for all primary image sensor providers will enable handsets to use multiple sources in sensors.
Robert W. Baird on Omnivision
The parade of negative investment opinions on Omnivision goes on: Notable Calls cites Baird with plenty of negatives, following their checks that suggest 2007 could prove to be a very difficult year for the company.
Omnivision's gross margin is set to fall significantly over the next few quarters, in firm's view. Their checks indicate TSMC's gross margin on sales to Omnivision are approximately 40%, and estimate there should a 20% differential between Omnivision's gross margin and that of a fabbed competitor such as Micron. At 20% gross margin, Omnivision would lose money.
Per firm's checks, pricing is dismal: as low as $0.70 for VGA sensors, $2.50 for VGA modules. Omnivision no longer benefits from the tight supply environment of 2006, and excess capacity should bring pricing further down in 2007.
Samsung is now the second-largest supplier of CMOS image sensors. For 2007, Samsung is targeting the lower end of the mobile phone market - Omnivision's last stronghold. Micron's recent acquisition of Avago Technologies represents further bad news for Omnivision, as it will enable Micron to target sub-1mp CMOS image sensor markets which the company so far had ignored - targeting two-third of Omnivision's current revenues.
Omnivision missed two product cycles (1.3mp and 2mp) and is not gaining meaningful traction at 2 and 3mp resolutions, per firm's checks. WaveFront Coding Technology does not work and is currently experiencing "serious technology issues," per firm's checks.
Yahoo-Finance quotes Notable Calls article too.
I'm wondering where is Omnivision's Howard Rhodes with his magical abilities in pixel design?
Omnivision's gross margin is set to fall significantly over the next few quarters, in firm's view. Their checks indicate TSMC's gross margin on sales to Omnivision are approximately 40%, and estimate there should a 20% differential between Omnivision's gross margin and that of a fabbed competitor such as Micron. At 20% gross margin, Omnivision would lose money.
Per firm's checks, pricing is dismal: as low as $0.70 for VGA sensors, $2.50 for VGA modules. Omnivision no longer benefits from the tight supply environment of 2006, and excess capacity should bring pricing further down in 2007.
Samsung is now the second-largest supplier of CMOS image sensors. For 2007, Samsung is targeting the lower end of the mobile phone market - Omnivision's last stronghold. Micron's recent acquisition of Avago Technologies represents further bad news for Omnivision, as it will enable Micron to target sub-1mp CMOS image sensor markets which the company so far had ignored - targeting two-third of Omnivision's current revenues.
Omnivision missed two product cycles (1.3mp and 2mp) and is not gaining meaningful traction at 2 and 3mp resolutions, per firm's checks. WaveFront Coding Technology does not work and is currently experiencing "serious technology issues," per firm's checks.
Yahoo-Finance quotes Notable Calls article too.
I'm wondering where is Omnivision's Howard Rhodes with his magical abilities in pixel design?
Planet82 on CES 2007
About: Photography site reports that Planet82 presents a 2Mp 'Single Carrier Modulation Photo Detector' SMPD color sensor. Last year it demonstrated VGA black and white sensor. Many in the industry were sceptical about its ability to produce high-quality color images. Now we'll see what Planet82 sensor can deliver in color.
The site also mentions that the first applications for this are likely to be in CCTV, but camera phones and digital cameras are likely to follow. However, it may take some years to scale up the SMPD sensor to a suitable size for high-resolution imaging, the site states. Probably they mean small pixel size, as 2MP sensor is already quite useful in camera phones in terms of pure resolution.
The site also mentions that the first applications for this are likely to be in CCTV, but camera phones and digital cameras are likely to follow. However, it may take some years to scale up the SMPD sensor to a suitable size for high-resolution imaging, the site states. Probably they mean small pixel size, as 2MP sensor is already quite useful in camera phones in terms of pure resolution.
WR Hambrecht on Omnivision
WR Hambrecht started coverage on Omnivision with the following analysis:
"OmniVision has likely lost its leadership position in the CMOS image sensor market in CY:06E largely due to continued design losses at leading camera phone OEMs for its 1.3 megapixel (MP) and above image sensors. We believe the company is still trying to recover from its product miss-steps in late CY:04 with its 1.3MP and again in late CY:05 with its 2MP OmniPixel2. We believe that in order to regain market share, OmniVision will need to compete on price, resulting in Y/Y ASP declines of roughly 30+% in FY:07E and +15% in FY:08E, compared to the overall CMOS image sensor market ASP Y/Y declines of 14% Y/Y in CY:06E and less than 5% Y/Y in CY:07E."
"OmniVision has likely lost its leadership position in the CMOS image sensor market in CY:06E largely due to continued design losses at leading camera phone OEMs for its 1.3 megapixel (MP) and above image sensors. We believe the company is still trying to recover from its product miss-steps in late CY:04 with its 1.3MP and again in late CY:05 with its 2MP OmniPixel2. We believe that in order to regain market share, OmniVision will need to compete on price, resulting in Y/Y ASP declines of roughly 30+% in FY:07E and +15% in FY:08E, compared to the overall CMOS image sensor market ASP Y/Y declines of 14% Y/Y in CY:06E and less than 5% Y/Y in CY:07E."
Sony Sensor Joke
The web is full of jokes just about anything, except image sensors. Now this deficiency has been filled. Somebody managed to combine black holes with image sensors (link). A so-so joke, but I'm not aware of any competition in this area.
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