Forza Compares CIS Foundries and Their Offerings

Forza Silicon's President & Co-Founder, Barmak Mansoorian, compares different image sensor foundries and processes in this video:

Event-based Vision Workshop Materials On-Line

It came to my attention that the International Workshop on Event-based Vision at ICRA'17 has been held on June 2, 2017 in Singapore. The workshop materials are kindly made available on-line, including pdf presentations and videos.

The Workshop organizers have also created a very good Github-hosted list of Event Based Vision Resources.

Chronocam, ETH Zurich, Samsung are among the presenters of event driven cameras:





ETH Zurich and University of Zurich also announces Misha Award for the achievements in Neuromorphic Imaging. The 2017 Award goes to "Event-based Vision for Automomous High Speed Robotics" work by Guillermo Gallego, Elias Muggler, Henry Rebecq, Timo HorstSchafer, and Davide Scaramuzza from University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Thanks to TD and GG for the info!

Isorg and FlexEnable Win Award for Flexible Image Sensor

ALA News: Isorg announces that its first large-sized high-resolution (500 dpi) flexible plastic fingerprint sensor, co-developed with FlexEnable (former Plastic Logic), won the 2017 Best of Sensors Expo - Silver Applications Award.

The high-resolution, ultra-thin, 500 dpi flexible image sensor (sensitive from visible to near infrared) has unique advantages in performance and compactness. Its ability to conform to three-dimensional shapes sets it apart from conventional image sensors. The device provides dual detection: fingerprinting as well as vein matching. Due to its large-area sensing and high-resolution image quality, the device is suited to biometric applications from fingerprint scanners and smartcards to mobile phones, where accuracy and robustness as well as cost-competiveness are key.

Designed on a large area (3” x 3.2”; 7.62 x 8.13cm) plastic substrate, the flexible image sensor is ultra-thin (300 microns), therefore remarkably lightweight, compact and highly resistant to shock. Central to the 500 dpi flexible image sensor is an Organic Photodiode (OPD), a printed structure developed by Isorg that converts light into current – responsible for capturing the fingerprint. Isorg also developed the readout electronics, the forensics quality processing software and the optics to enable seamless integration in products. FlexEnable, the leader in developing and industrializing flexible organic electronics, developed the Organic TFT backplane technology, an alternative to amorphous silicon. This partnership between the two companies began in Q4 2013.

Yole IR Imaging Forum

Yole Developpement 2nd IR Imaging Forum to be held on Sept. 7 in Shenzhen, China, publishes its agenda:

• Uncooled IR Imaging Market Perspectives
  Eric Mounier, Senior Analyst, Yole Développement
• State of the art of High End Thermal Image Sensors performances in mass production
  Sebastien Tinnes, Marketing Manager, ULIS
• The Status and Challenges of Thermal Imaging in Security Applications
  Guo Haixun, Product Director of Thermal Imaging, Hikvision
• Progress on low cost Thermopile Arrays for high volume applications – eg. office automation, person detection and thermal imaging
  Joerg Schieferdecker, CEO and Co-Founder, Heimann Sensors
• New ultra-compact infrared cameras with 500 nm spectral response for metal industry
  Torsten Czech, Head of Product Management, Optris
• Uncooled Infrared Imaging System for Forest Fire Detection and Monitoring
  Wang You, Uncooled Infrared Imaging Senior Expert, JIR Infrared
• Ion Beam Deposition of VOx films for uncooled bolometer and thermal sensor applications
  David I C Pearson, Ion Beam Senior Technologist, Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology
• Modern Assembly technology for Packaging of IR Microbolometers
  Alex Voronel, Director of Global Sales, SST Vacuum Reflow Systems
• Prospect of commercial chalcogenide glasses used for uncooled infrared imaging system
  Rongping Wang, Senior Fellow, The Australian National University
• MOEMS components with subwavelength structures for hyperspectral imaging
  Steffen Kurth, Department manager, Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS)

Image Sensors America Agenda

IS America conference to be held on October 12-13, 2017 in San Francisco has published its agenda:

• Keynote Presentation: Lifestyle Image Sensor Requirements
  Farhad Abed, Image quality engineer of GoPro
• Image Sensor Venture and M&A Activity: An Overview of Recent Deals, Trends, And Developments
  Rudy Berger, Managing Partner of Woodside Capital Partners
• Image Quality Oriented Sensor Characterization
  Zhenhua Lai, Imaging Optics System Engineer of Motorola Mobility
• A New Frontier in Optical Design: Segmented Optics Combined with Computational Imaging Algorithms
  Dmitry V. Shmunk, CTO of Almalence Inc
• IR Bolometer Technology
  Patrick Robert, Electronic Design Manager of ULIS
• Global Shutter vs. Rolling Shutter: Performance And Architecture Trade Off
  Abhay Rai, Director of product marketing of Sony Electronics
• Enhancing the Spectral Sensitivity of Standard Silicon-based Imaging Detectors
  Zoran Ninkov, Professor in the Center for Imaging Science (CIS) of Rochester Institute of Technology
• TDI Imaging Using CCD-in-CMOS Technology: An Optimal Solution for Earth Observation, Industrial Inspection and Life Sciences Applications
  Arye Lipman, Strategic Alliances Manager of Imec
• Semiconductor Sequencing Technology: A Scalable, Low-Cost Approach to Using Integrated CMSOS Sensor Arrays
  Brian Goldstein, Sr. Staff Engineer in Sensor Design Engineering in the Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing Division of Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Photon-to-Photon CMOS Imager: Optoelectronic 3D Integration
  Gaozhan Cai, Design team leader, focusing on designing custom CMOS image sensors of Caeleste
• Going Beyond 2x Optical Zoom In Dual Cameras: The Future of Dual Camera Technology
  Gal Shabtay, GM and VP R&D of Corephotonics
• Image Sensors for the Endoscopy Market: Customer Needs and Innovation Opportunities
  Dave Shafer, Managing Fellow of Intuitive Surgical
• Will Your Next Sensor Assist in Replacing Your Job?
  Yair Siegel, Director of Strategic Marketing of CEVA
• Enabling Always –On Machine Vision
  Evgeni Gousev, Senior Director of Qualcomm Technologies Inc.
• PanomorphEYE Human Sight Sensor For Artificial Intelligence Revolution
  Patrice Roulet, Director of Engineering and Co-Founder of Technology of Immervision
• High-Speed Imaging: Core Technologies and Devices Achieved
  Takashi Watanabe, Developer of log-type imagers and range image sensors of Brookman Technology, Inc.
• Tools and Processes Needed to De-risk the Design-In of Image Sensors
  Simon Che’Rose, Head of Engineering of FRAMOS
• Single Module Solution for Depth Mapping
  TBD
• Image Sensor Requirements for 3D Cameras
  Rich Hicks, Senior Camera and Imaging Technologist of Intel, Global Supply Management
• Laser Diode Solutions for 3D Depth Sensing LiDAR Systems
  Tomoko Ohtsuki, Product Line Manager, Lumentum
• A Comparison Of Depth Sensing Solutions For Image Sensors, LiDAR And Beyond
  Scott Johnson, Director of Technology Business Alignment of ON Semiconductor

ISSCC 2017 Plenary on High-Speed DNA Sequencing

High-Speed DNA Sequencing is an emerging application for image sensor and sister devices (such as ion sensors, pH sensors, etc.). The ion sensor part starts at about 15:00 time in this ISSCC 2017 plenary session video by Jonathan Rothberg, Yale University:

ICFO Graphene Image Sensor Video

Circuit Cellar publishes a nice interview with Stijn Goossens, one of ICFO developers of graphene image sensor announced in May:

Mobile Phone Food Analysis

Open-source Sensors journal publishes a paper "Smartphone-Based Food Diagnostic Technologies: A Review" by Giovanni Rateni, Paolo Dario, and Filippo Cavallo from BioRobotics Institute, Italy. Smartphone with image sensor turns to be quite a versatile platform:

CIS History Diagram

Techbriefs magazine publishes an article "CMOS, The Future of Image Sensor Technology" by Gareth Power, Marketing Manager, Teledyne e2v. The main trends in industrial and scientific sensors are said to be higher speeds and lower prices. There is also a diagram on image sensor companies spin-offs and mergers:

Some parts are not exactly correct here, like Avago has not been spun-off from Micron. Also, Far Eastern companies are not there, like no Toshiba-Sony, nor Siliconfile-Hynix, nor others. But as a first attempt to make such a diagram, it looks really nice.

Thanks to LH for the link!

Optimal Coding Functions for I-ToF Imaging

University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University publish a technical report "What Are Optimal Coding Functions for Time-of-Flight Imaging?" by Mohit Gupta, Andreas Velten, Shree Nayar, and Eric Breitach.

"Almost all current C-ToF systems use sinusoid or square coding functions, resulting in a limited depth resolution. In this paper, we present a mathematical framework for exploring and characterizing the space of C-ToF coding functions in a geometrically intuitive space. Using this framework, we design families of novel coding functions that are based on Hamiltonian cycles on hypercube graphs. Given a fixed total source power and acquisition time, the new Hamiltonian coding scheme can achieve up to an order of magnitude higher resolution as compared to the current state-of-the art methods, especially in low SNR settings."

The "geometrically intuitive hypercube graphs" look like this: