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Companies Genealogy

This is a very preliminary list of the image sensor companies genealogy. Please feel free to add or correct mistakes in comments.

Notation:
-sp> spin-off
-aq> acquisition
[company_name]-> founders origin, no formal inheritance

USA:
JPL-sp>'95 Photobit-aq>'01 Micron-sp>'08 Aptina-aq>’14 ON Semi
Kodak-sp>Truesense Imaging-aq>ON Semi
[Motorola]->'95 Omnivision-aq>'18 Will Semiconductor, China
CDM Optics-aq>'05 Omnivision-aq>'18 Will Semiconductor, China
[National Semi]->Pixelcam-aq>'01 Zoran->'03 image sensor group shut down
Photon Vision Systems-aq>'02 Panavision SVI->'12 Dynamax
MIT-sp>SmalCamera-aq>Cypress-aq>Sensata-aq>Melexis
Rockwell-sp>Conexant-sp>Pictos-aq>ESS->shut down
Rockwell-sp>Altasens-aq>Olympus-aq>JVC-Kenwood->image sensor group shut down
[Photobit]->Forza Silicon
[Rockwell]->Biomorphic->shut down
PerkinElmer-sp>Excelitas
Tessera->Xperi
Ziptronix-aq>Tessera->Xperi
Tezzaron-aq>Tessera->Xperi
Rambus
'06 Newport Media->'10 shut down
'99 Y-Media->'01 shut down
TI->remains in ToF sensors only
Motorola Semiconductor->image sensor group shut down
RCA-sp>Sarnoff-aq>Dialog->Digital Imaging Systems->shut down
Bell Labs->image sensor group shut down
HP-sp>Avago-aq>Micron-sp>Aptina-aq>ON Semi
Canesta-aq>Microsoft
University of Toronto-sp>Invisage
[Smalcamera, Stanford University]->Ubixum
e-Phocus
Direct Electron
SiOnyx
Noble Peak->shut down, assets bought by Infrared Laboratories of Tucson in 2010
Tektronix CCD group-sp>SITe->'97 shut down
ADVIS->Signal Sciences->shut down
[Photobit]->Alexima
[Photobit]->Alexima->Luxima
Valley Oak Semi-aq>IR Labs
Fairchild Imaging-aq>Lockheed Martin-aq>BAE-sp>Fairchild Imaging-aq>BAE
Stanford University-sp>Pixel Devices-aq>HP-sp>Avago-aq>Micron-sp>Aptina-aq>ON Semi
Stanford University-sp>Lytro
Pelican Imaging-aq>Tessera/Photonation
Intel
Stanford University-sp>'98 Pixim-aq>'12 Sony
Silicon Video->shut down
Teledyne
R3Logic->shut down
Banpil
Aerojet->Amain->shut down
Brandywine Photonics
[Reticon]->'98 Peripheral Imaging-aq>'05 Fextronics-aq>AMI Semi-aq>ON Semi
Black Forest-aq>Luminar
National Semiconductor-sp>Foveon-aq>Sigma
Imaging Devices Inc.->shut down
'11 Anitoa
National Semiconductor->image sensor group shut down
Ball Aerospace and Technologies
[CIDTEC-PVS]->Town Line Technologies
Polaroid->image sensor group shut down
CIDTEC – General Electric (70s)-sp> CIDTEC (July ’87 spun off)->Thermo CIDTEC Inc. (‘94)
Raytheon
FLIR
Varian-sp>Varex
'03 inSilica-aq>'10 Aptina-aq>ON Semi
'11 inSilixa
Atmel-aq>e2v-aq>Teledyne
ImagerLabs
[JPL]->Tangent Technologies
Dartmouth -sp>'17 Gigajot Technology
[Reticon]>'07 X-Scan Imaging
Xerox PARC-sp> dPix
IBM->closed CCD manufacturing in 80s->restarted CCD products in '98->closed CCD manufacturing in 00s

Canada:
DALSA-aq>Teledyne
[Reticon,Foveon]->'04 Lumiense Photonics
[Reticon,Foveon]->'16 Imagica Technology
Easy Zapper->Intrigue Technologies-aq>Logitech
University of Calgary-sp>Freepix

Belgium & Holland:
KULeuven/ESAT-sp>imec-sp>Fillfactory-aq>Cypress-aq>ON Semi
Philips-aq>DALSA-aq>Teledyne
[Fillfactory]->CMOSIS-aq>ams
Vrije University-sp>Optrima->Softkinetic-Optrima->Softkinetik-aq>Sony
[Fillfactory]->Caeleste
[Philips]->Harvest Imaging
Aphesa
Xenics
Melexis

France:
CEA-LETI
CEA-LETI-sp>Sofradir
CEA-LETI-sp>Sofradir-sp>ULIS
CEA-LETI-sp>ISORG
Chronocam
New Imaging Technology
ST Microelectronics
[Atmel-e2v]->Pyxalis
DxO (ISP group)-aq>Sony
CNES
Thomson-CSF -sp>'97 Trixell (Thales/Philips/Siemens JV)

UK:
University of Edinburgh-sp>VLSI Vision-aq>ST
Dexela-aq>PerkinElmer-aq>Varex
Marconi-aq>GEC-sp>e2v-aq>Teledyne
Plessey (old)->’68 Integrated Photomatrix Limited (IPL) -> shutdown
Plessey (new)->image sensor shutdown
Plastic Logic->FlexEnable
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)-sp>VivaMOS
Lincoln University-sp>ISDI (Image Sensor Design & Innovation)
Cambridge CMOS Sensors-aq>ams

Singapore:
Heptagon-aq>ams
Candela Microsystems->shut down
CelePixel Technology-aq>Hillhouse Technology, moved to China

Luxemburg:
IEE SA

Finland:
Pixpolar
Nokia-sp>Emberion

Sweden:
Linkoping University-sp>’85 Integrated Vision Products (IVP)->’03 SICK

Norway:
Integrated Detector Electronics AS (IDEAS)

Switzerland:
CSEM-sp>Mesa Imaging-aq>Heptagon
University of Zurich-sp>Inilabs
University of Zurich-sp>Insightness
University of Zurich-sp>Inivation
EPFL-sp>Fastree3D
CSEM-sp>'01 PhotonFocus
ActLight
CSEM
EM Microelectronic (a part of Swatch Group)
CSEM-sp>Snap-aq>Analog Devices
[CSEM]->ESPROS
CSEM-sp>'01 Heptagon-aq>ams
[ETH Zurich]->Heliotis

Portugal:
[CSEM+PhotonFocus]->'04 Awaiba-aq>CMOSIS-aq>ams

Spain:
Sevilla University-sp>'04 Anafocus-aq>'14 e2v-aq>'16 Teledyne
[STFC+Broadcom]->'17 Imasenic

Italy:
Trento University-sp>FBK
Neuricam
Politecnico di Milano-sp>'04 Micro Photon Devices
Eye-Tech

Germany:
Thomson-sp>Viimagic
PMD-aq>ifm
Infineon
IC-Haus
BASF-sp>Trinamix
Fraunhofer-sp>Tridicam-aq>Hamamatsu
Dialog-sp>Digital Imaging Systems(DIS)->shut down
Fraunhofer IMS
ZMD->shut down

Korea:
Planet82->shut down
[LG Semi]->CI Sensor->SETi->Nice SETi->shut down
MaruLSI
Mtekvision->Clairpixel
Samsung
LG Semi + Hyundai Semi->Hynix-sp>Magnachip->image sensor group shut down
[LG Semi]->Pixelplus
[LG Semi]->Siliconfile-aq>Hynix
Hynix
Rayence-aq>GE
[Magnachip]->LG Security->image sensor group shut down
[Magnachip, Aptina]->LG Innotek
Emerging Memory & Logic Solutions->shut down

 Japan:
Shizuoka University-sp>Brainvision
Shizuoka University-sp>Brookman
ENG->shut down
Rosnes
Curious Technology
Sony
Toshiba-aq>Sony
Fujitsu->image sensor group shut down
Fujifilm
Sharp
Panasonic
Canon
Olympus
Mitsubishi->Renesas
Sanyo->image sensor group shut down
NHK
Hitachi->image sensor group shut down
Hamamatsu Photonics
NEC->Renesas
Oki Electric-sp>LAPIS Semi-aq>Rohm
Shimadzu
Brillnics

Taiwan:
Pixart
Primesensor
[Biomorphic]->Himax Imaging
Liteon
IC-Media-aq>Magnachip->image sensor group shut down
[IC-Media]->CMOX->shut down
ElecVision->Shut down
Century Semiconductor->shut down
Cevit IS->shut down
Powertip->shut down
[Omnivision & Powerchip JV]->Silicon Optronics
Taiwan Advanced Sensors Corporation (TASC)->Alcor Micro->shut down
TransVision->shut down
Vision Integration Technology (ViTi)->shut down
Brillnics
CMOS Sensor

China:
MicrOne->shut down
BYD
Brigates
Galaxycore
Superpix-aq>'18 Will Semiconductor
[Omnivision]->Cista
[Aptina]->Smartsens
[CMOSIS]->GPixel
National Space Organization(NSPO)
Smartsens

Israel:
Advasense-aq>Pixim-aq>Sony
Transchip-aq>Samsung
Rafael-sp>SCD
LinX-aq>Apple
Tel Aviv University-sp>Unispectral
nanoX->shut down
Technion-sp>InVision Biometrics-aq>Intel
Rafael-sp>3DV-aq>Microsoft->group shut down
Pixcan
Hebrew University-sp>TriEye
Medigus
Emza Vision-aq>Himax
Trueimaging->shut down
Shellcase-aq>Tessera->group shut down
Eyesquad-aq>Tessera->group shut down
Dblur-aq>Tessera->group shut down
Analog Value
Optigo-aq>Elta->image sensor group shut down
[Transchip]->Newsight Imaging
Nano Retina

Turkey:
METU-sp>Mikro-Tasarım
CMOS Vision->shut down
METU-sp>PiKSELiM
METU-sp>Mikrosens

18 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 30, 2017 at 11:22 PM

    CMOS Vision is Turkey, not Luxemburg
    CMOSIS and Caeleste both originate at FillFactory
    Not sure if Softkinetik is an acquisition of Oprima, it may just be an additional shareholder or a change of name
    I think a part of ZMD has been acquired

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vladimir KoifmanJuly 31, 2017 at 7:51 AM

      Thanks, added.

      Optrima and Softkinetic were essentially combined by their investors. For some time after that, their name was Softkinetic-Optrima. Then, the name has been changed to Softkinetic. I was not sure how to present them in a compact way in the table.

      Delete
  2. Dave GilblomJuly 31, 2017 at 12:19 AM

    Vlad,

    Some additions:

    USA
    [Reticon]>'98 Peripheral Imaging aq-> AMI Semiconductor aq->'07 ON Semiconductor
    [Reticon]>'07 X-Scan Imaging
    Xerox PARC sp-> dPix

    Canada
    [Reticon,Foveon]>'16 Imagica Technology
    [Reticon,Foveon]>'04 Lumiense Photonics


    Taiwan
    CMOS Sensor

    France
    Thomson-CSF sp->'97 Trixell (Thales/Philips/Siemens JV)

    There are a few more medical image sensor companies. I'll track them down.

    Dave

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vladimir KoifmanJuly 31, 2017 at 7:54 AM

      Thank you, Dave.

      Regarding Peripheral Imaging, it was in the table, stating that the image sensor group has been shut down shortly after the acquisition by AMI. Have they survived till ON Semi acquisition?

      Delete
    2. AnonymousAugust 2, 2017 at 2:19 AM

      Vlad,

      ON still has the some of the products listed - http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions/parametrics.do?id=2213.

      However, there is a correction - PI was bought by Flextronics and then sold to AMI.

      Regards, Dave

      Delete
    3. Vladimir KoifmanAugust 2, 2017 at 7:27 AM

      Thank you, Dave. I've added this.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJuly 31, 2017 at 9:19 AM

    thanks for this impressive list! Wasnt Heptagon bought by ams recently?
    http://hptg.com/2017/01/24/heptagon-now-member-ams-group/

    ReplyDelete
  4. logischdedeJuly 31, 2017 at 2:58 PM

    if you want to go graphical in a semi-automatic fashion like in this example:
    https://github.com/AlexanderStohr/tizen-history/blob/master/tizen-history.pdf
    then you might do a similar description as in the related source scripts. the main extra efforts besides adapting your syntax a tiny little bit would probably be the need for addition of time stamps for each of the fork and merge point.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJuly 31, 2017 at 9:05 PM

    I'm from the image processing community. This blog seems to be mainly about image sensors not their processing. I was wondering if you can direct me to a more appropriate forum for my field. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vladimir KoifmanJuly 31, 2017 at 10:01 PM

      Image processing is a very wide and diverse field. Personally, I like and read Nuit Blanche blog:

      http://nuit-blanche.blogspot.com/

      Delete
  6. Martin WänyAugust 7, 2017 at 12:56 PM

    Thank's for the over view. Nice work! Few additional inputs here:
    Photonfocus was spun off from CSEM in 2001. Same year Heptagon was spun of from CSEM too. To certain extent also ESPROS has CSEM origins. AWAIBA was incorporated 2004.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vladimir KoifmanAugust 7, 2017 at 11:47 PM

      Thank you for the info, Martin. Added to the list.

      Delete
  7. BartJune 9, 2019 at 8:11 PM

    Hi Vladimir. For completeness: the image sensor activity of Imec originated in KULeuven, dept. ESAT. Imec is in fact a spin-off of KULeuven. I also worked at KUL/ESAT before Imec was created.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJune 19, 2019 at 12:29 AM

    Tridicam acquired by Hamamatsu? Can anyone please share a reference? I haven't seen that in the press. I thought Hamamatsu would use Shizuoka University for supplying of their ToF technology.

    ReplyDelete
  9. ParadiseMarch 12, 2022 at 1:11 AM

    Invisage was bought by Apple 2017

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousApril 2, 2024 at 10:28 AM

    RED NIKON Update please

    ReplyDelete

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