Cambridge Mechatronics Announces First OIS Customer

Cambridge Mechatronics Ltd. (CML) announces that the first customer for its smart metal alloy (SMA) OIS actuators is Foxconn. In a separate announcement, CML names its manufacturing partner, Hutchinson Technology Inc. (HTI). CML and HTI have been developing OIS actuators in collaboration with Foxconn's camera division for over 18 months. Following design wins in May, smartphones with cameras built by Foxconn using SMA OIS actuators will reach the market in September this year.

In June, CML announced that it will be making its OIS actuators for 1/3" to 1/2.3" image sensors with up to 20MP resolution.

The OIS actuator is attached between the image sensor and AutoFocus actuator. The motion of the OIS actuator moves the lens relative to the image sensor, counteracting any shake measured by a gyroscope and thereby stabilizing the image. CML's OIS actuators force and motion are created by Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire - a smart material that provides huge force and strain when heated with an electric current. CML says it is able to make smaller and lower cost products than VCM manufacturers.

Workshop on CMOS Active Pixel Sensors for Particle Tracking

University of Bonn, Germany conducts Workshop on CMOS Active Pixel Sensors for Particle Tracking (CPIX14) on Sep. 15-17, 2014. Although the workshop is fully booked, the organizers offer a live broadcast over the Internet for the presenters who agree - the world's first for an image sensor event.

The workshop's agenda:

Technology and design I

• Overview Technology Offers
  Tomasz Hemperek (Universitaet Bonn (DE))
• Design and process development of CMOS image sensors with TowerJazz
  Renato Turchetta (STFC - Rutherford Appleton Lab. (GB))
• APSEL Deep n-well and Deep p-well CMOS Sensors with ST and TowerJazz Technologies
  Gianluca Traversi (University of Bergamo)

Technology and design II

• Deep n-well CMOS Sensors with 3D Integration of Global Foundries Wafers
  Valerio Re (INFN)
• DMAPS Design in XFAB Technology
  Tetsuichi Kishishita (University of Bonn)
• Development of DMAPS Sensors in ESPROS Technology
  Miroslav Havranek (Acad. of Sciences of the Czech Rep. (CZ))

Industrial technology offerings

• ESPROS technology
  Martin Popp (Espros Photonics)
• LFoundry Technology
  Gerhard Spitzelsperger (LFoundry)
• TowerJazz Technology
  Avi Strum (TowerJazz)

CMOS sensors: industry developments

• Design detail and performance of Fully Depleted Backside Illuminated CMOS Sensors
  Stefan Lauxtermann (Sensor Creations)
• AMS High Performance CIS Modules
  Ingrid JONAK-AUER (AMS)
• Rad-hard design in CMOS [image] sensors
  Bart Dierickx (Caeleste)
• Image Sensor Design and Technology Development at Fraunhofer IMS
  Sasha WEYERS (Fraunhofer IMS)

Technology and design III

• PERCIVAL: CMOS Image Sensors for Low Energy X-Ray Detection
  Iain Sedgwick (STFC)
• AMS Designs: CLICPix/CCPD/Mu3e
  Ivan Peric (Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg (DE))
• CCPD Design: from AMS to GF technology
  M. Patrick Pangaud (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR))

Technology and design IV

• Design of CMOS Pixels Sensor for the STAR Experiment
  Christine Hu (IPHC/IN2P3)
• STAR MAPS Developments and Experiences
  Leo Greiner (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
• Alice Designs: Mistral, Astral, Alpide
  Marc Winter (Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (FR))

Electron microscopy

• CMOS pixels for electron microscopy: requirements and R&D results at TEAM
  Marco Battaglia (University of California,Santa Cruz (US))
• Radiation hard MAPS developments for electron microscopy
  Peter Denes (LBNL)
• CMOS APS for TEM
  Nicola Carlo Guerrini (STFC - RAL)

3D integration and interconnection technologies

• MAPS are for amateurs, professionals do 3D
  Grzegorz Deptuch (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))
• Advances in Bonding technologies (chip to wafer and wafer to wafer)
  Ray Yarema (FNAL)

Technology and design V

• Experience with IBM 130 nm Process for Active CMOS Pixels
  Dario Gnani (LBNL)
• Fully depleted MAPS: Pegasus and Mimosa 33
  Maciej KACHEL (IPHC)
• SLAC Developments in CMOS Sensors
  Julie Segal (SLAC)

Technology and design VI

• X-ray image sensors for SACLA and future Ultimate Storage Ring Light Sources
  Nobukazu Teranishi (University of Hyogo)
• Lapis SOI Technology and Designs
  Yasuo Arai (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (JP))

Detector characterization and performance I

• Characterization of CCPDV3 HV-CMOS sensors capacitively coupled to CLICpix 65 nm CMOS readout ASICs
  Mathieu Benoit (CERN LCD)
• CMOS MAPS in Planar and 3D Technologies: TID Effects and Bulk Damage Study
  Lodovico Ratti (University of Pavia)
• Radiation Hardness of the Tower/Jazz 0.18 µm Imaging CMOS Process
  Michael Deveaux (Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Univ. (DE))

Detector characterization and performance II

• Design and Characterization of a High-Speed Multi-frame Hybrid CMOS Sensor
  John Porter (Sandia National Laboratories)
• ESPROS DMAPS: Results and Radiation Hardness
  Theresa Obermann (Universitaet Bonn (DE))

Mobileye IPO Values Company at $5.31B

Reuters: Mobileye's NYSE IPO on Aug. 1st values the vision-based ADAS company at about $5.31 billion, higher than planned. The company estimates that its products were installed in about 3.3M vehicles worldwide as of March 31, including BMW, Honda and Tesla Motors. By the end of 2014, it expects its technology to be available in 160 car models from 18 original equipment manufacturers worldwide.

Here is BMW TV story:



Update: The valuation has jumped to $7.86B in the first day of trade.

Imaging at Confab 2014

The Confab Conference held in June 2014 has few mentions about imaging. Subramani Kengeri, Global Foundry VP of Advanced Technology Architecture names 10 most important emerging applications, among them there are 5 imaging ones:

Novati presentation by its CEO David Anderson shows the company's BSI capability:

Movidius Announces its 2nd Gen Vision Processor

Marketwired: Movidius announces Myriad 2, the next generation of its vision processor unit (VPU) SoC. Compared to Myriad 1—which was introduced as part of Google’s Project Tango—the new chipset delivers 20x more processing efficiency in terms of computations per watt of power consumed. Myriad 2 comprises a larger and upgraded set of programmable processors as well as a new set of dedicated and configurable image and vision accelerators to power the next wave of computational cameras.

Its key features:

• Superior performance at ultra-low power: Myriad 2, implemented in TSMC 28HPM process, is capable of performance exceeding two trillion 16-bit operations per second while consuming an average of less than 500mW. It supports up to six full HD 60fps camera inputs simultaneously via 12 1.5Gbps MIPI lanes.
• Programmability: Myriad 2 is equipped with 12 programmable vision-specific vector processors to enable rapid innovation and to enable device manufacturers to differentiate using their proprietary software.
• Low latency processing: Given its highly parallelized data processing architecture and its new and highly efficient on-chip memory fabric, Myriad 2 can achieve high-performance processing with notably low latency. As an example, for the standard vision processing benchmark known as the Haar Cascade classification, Myriad 2 can calculate 50,000 multi-scale classifications per high-definition (HD) video frame in a mere seven milliseconds.
• Flexible usage for different applications: Myriad 2 operates either as a co-processor to the main application processor in a vision-enabled mobile device, or as a standalone processor in wearable or embedded applications.

TI Structured Light 3D Imaging Reference Kit

TI presents a reference design of structured light 3D camera based on its DLP projector:

Interview with Terry Gilton

Image Sensors Americas 2014 web site publishes an interview with Terry Gilton, Aptina VP of Advanced Technology. Few quotes:

Q: What are the major growth areas in the image sensor business in 2014/5?
A: Along with general market growth in the volume segments, there is a trend towards physically larger sensors to improve all around performance. While the pixel-count war is not dead, the top mobile OEMS have seen the light. Smaller pixels matter, but are being seen as enablers for unique features rather than just a way to use more power and memory, while larger pixels are getting the credit they deserve for image quality.

Q: Which advanced technologies do you think will have the greatest impact on the supply chain in the coming years?
A: Stacking of pure pixel arrays onto ASICS is going to be a very important change to the supply chain. Packaging of image sensors into camera modules is in an innovation phase now. Things like curved sensors will have an interesting impact on optical design, and could enable some changes in the module that will allow new technologies to flourish. Multi-chip solutions are going to become more popular, and advances in heat management are going to drive camera performance.

With pixel shrinks and the demand for greater performance, I believe that pixel level optics (color filters, micro lenses and pixel-scale light path engineering) is changing quickly. It used to be just spinning on some organics, but it is now much more complex and essential to the sensor's overall performance.