Reuters: Baird expects Omnivision to supply a 5MP sensor for the rear camera and a 1MP sensor for the front camera of the iPad3. Baird also said Omnivision may supply sensors for an upcoming iPad mini.
The brokerage expects Sony to remain the rear-camera supplier of the iPhone5, but believes OmniVision could be a potential second supplier.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Omnivision, ST, Toshiba, Samsung, Sony Modules Reverse Engineered
Nantes, France-based SystemPlus Consulting published a number of camera module reverse engineering reports.
Nokia 2330 camera phone reverse engineering revealed that it uses two suppliers for its VGA camera module: ST with Heptagon wafer-scale optics and Toshiba with Anteryon wafer optics. Both ST and Toshiba sensors have 2.2um pixels and use 0.18um process.
Omnivision's OVM7692 VGA CameraCube report flyer shows its 1.75um pixel layout at the poly and diffusion level showing quite nice fill factor and no SEL transistor:
Another Omnivision's 1.75um pixel is used in 5MP OV5650 taken from iPhone 4. That one is using 0.11um BSI process.
iPhone 4S camera has also been reverse engineered and Sony's 8MP BSI IMX145 sensor identified, made in 90nm process. For both iPhone back and front cameras, Tong Hsing (former ImPac) was identified as ceramic packaging supplier and LG Innotek as the module vendor.
Samsung Galaxy S II 8MP camera uses Samsung's S5K3H2Y sensor based on 1.4um BSI pixels in 90nm process.
Sony Ericsson S006 camera-phone module features Sony-made 16MP array of 1.12um BSI pixels. The module uses piezoelectric AF and has quite densely packed optics:
Nokia 2330 camera phone reverse engineering revealed that it uses two suppliers for its VGA camera module: ST with Heptagon wafer-scale optics and Toshiba with Anteryon wafer optics. Both ST and Toshiba sensors have 2.2um pixels and use 0.18um process.
Omnivision's OVM7692 VGA CameraCube report flyer shows its 1.75um pixel layout at the poly and diffusion level showing quite nice fill factor and no SEL transistor:
Another Omnivision's 1.75um pixel is used in 5MP OV5650 taken from iPhone 4. That one is using 0.11um BSI process.
iPhone 4S camera has also been reverse engineered and Sony's 8MP BSI IMX145 sensor identified, made in 90nm process. For both iPhone back and front cameras, Tong Hsing (former ImPac) was identified as ceramic packaging supplier and LG Innotek as the module vendor.
Samsung Galaxy S II 8MP camera uses Samsung's S5K3H2Y sensor based on 1.4um BSI pixels in 90nm process.
Sony Ericsson S006 camera-phone module features Sony-made 16MP array of 1.12um BSI pixels. The module uses piezoelectric AF and has quite densely packed optics:
sCMOS in 2 min
Photonics Online published Youtube video of CIS1021 sCMOS sensor presentation by Fairchild Imaging - BAE systems:
Aptina Announces CSP Version of Native 1080p Sensor
Aptina announces the cost-effective 2.2um pixel AR0330CS sensor providing 3.2MP still image captures, and and HD video for consumer pocket digital video (DV), camcorder, web, sports action and video conferencing and other camera applications.
The only difference from AR0330 sensor announced a year ago appears to be a 6.28mm x 6.65mm CSP package and a slower frame rate of 30fps in 1080p mode, whereas the last year's sensor had ceramic package and was capable of 60fps at 1080p resolution.
The AR0330CS is currently sampling with mass production expected in Q2 CY2012.
The only difference from AR0330 sensor announced a year ago appears to be a 6.28mm x 6.65mm CSP package and a slower frame rate of 30fps in 1080p mode, whereas the last year's sensor had ceramic package and was capable of 60fps at 1080p resolution.
The AR0330CS is currently sampling with mass production expected in Q2 CY2012.
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Casio Depth Sensing
Casio depth sensing patent application US20120050713 describes quite a similar idea to Microsoft's et. al double helical proposal. Differently from Microsoft, Casio uses two projectors 121 and 122 with diffractive patterns 131 and 132:
The projectors light beams generate the distance-dependent rotating pattern similar of Microsoft's one:
The angle between the dots gives depth information to the sensor 140.
The projectors light beams generate the distance-dependent rotating pattern similar of Microsoft's one:
The angle between the dots gives depth information to the sensor 140.
Omnivision Stresses Sensors, Apple Splits Them
Omnivision's patent application US20120038014 proposes a stress film to passivate the backside surface:
"For a BSI CMOS image sensor, dark currents may be a particular problem. A typical BSI CMOS image sensor has dark current levels that are over 100 times greater than that of a front side illuminated sensor.
A BSI image sensor's backside surface stress may affect its dark current level. The present application discloses utilizing structures and methods to adjust the stress on a CMOS image sensor's backside silicon surface, thereby reducing the dark current effect by facilitating the movement of photo generated charge carriers away from the backside surface.
Stress on a backside silicon surface may be adjusted by forming a stress loaded layer on the surface. A stress loaded layer may include materials such as metal, organic compounds, inorganic compounds, or otherwise. For example, the stress loaded layer may include a silicon oxide (SiO2) film, a silicon nitride (SiNx) film, a silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) film, or a combination thereof."
Apple parent application US20120044328 proposes to split image sensor into three - one luminance sensor and two chrominance ones:
"Typically, the luminance portion of a color image may have a greater influence on the overall image resolution than the chrominance portion. This effect can be at least partially attributed to the structure of the human eye, which includes a higher density of rods for sensing luminance than cones for sensing color.
While an image sensing device that emphasizes luminance over chrominance generally does not perceptibly compromise the resolution of the produced image, color information can be lost if the luminance and chrominance sensors are connected to separate optical lens trains, and a “blind” region of the luminance sensor is offset from the “blind” region of the chrominance sensor. One example of such a blind region can occur due to a foreground object occluding a background object. Further, the same foreground object may create the blind region for both the chrominance and luminance sensors, or the chrominance blind region created by one object may not completely overlap the luminance blind region created by a second object. In such situations, color information may be lost for the “blind” regions of the chrominance sensor, thereby compromising the resolution of the composite color image."
So Apple proposes to use two chrominance sensors and the following processing flow:
"For a BSI CMOS image sensor, dark currents may be a particular problem. A typical BSI CMOS image sensor has dark current levels that are over 100 times greater than that of a front side illuminated sensor.
A BSI image sensor's backside surface stress may affect its dark current level. The present application discloses utilizing structures and methods to adjust the stress on a CMOS image sensor's backside silicon surface, thereby reducing the dark current effect by facilitating the movement of photo generated charge carriers away from the backside surface.
Stress on a backside silicon surface may be adjusted by forming a stress loaded layer on the surface. A stress loaded layer may include materials such as metal, organic compounds, inorganic compounds, or otherwise. For example, the stress loaded layer may include a silicon oxide (SiO2) film, a silicon nitride (SiNx) film, a silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) film, or a combination thereof."
Apple parent application US20120044328 proposes to split image sensor into three - one luminance sensor and two chrominance ones:
"Typically, the luminance portion of a color image may have a greater influence on the overall image resolution than the chrominance portion. This effect can be at least partially attributed to the structure of the human eye, which includes a higher density of rods for sensing luminance than cones for sensing color.
While an image sensing device that emphasizes luminance over chrominance generally does not perceptibly compromise the resolution of the produced image, color information can be lost if the luminance and chrominance sensors are connected to separate optical lens trains, and a “blind” region of the luminance sensor is offset from the “blind” region of the chrominance sensor. One example of such a blind region can occur due to a foreground object occluding a background object. Further, the same foreground object may create the blind region for both the chrominance and luminance sensors, or the chrominance blind region created by one object may not completely overlap the luminance blind region created by a second object. In such situations, color information may be lost for the “blind” regions of the chrominance sensor, thereby compromising the resolution of the composite color image."
So Apple proposes to use two chrominance sensors and the following processing flow:
Friday, March 02, 2012
Tessera DOC Gets into Mass Manufacturing Business
Business Wire, PR Newswire: Tessera subsidiary, DigitalOptics Corporation (DOC), acquires "certain assets" of Vista Point Technologies, a Tier One qualified camera module manufacturing business, from Flextronics.
DOC will pay approximately $23M in cash for "certain assets" of Flextronics's camera module business located in Zhuhai, China. The transaction, which is expected to close in Q3 2012, if not sooner, includes existing customer contracts and a lease to an approximately 135,000-square-foot facility. The transaction also includes an intellectual property assignment and license agreement, and a transition services agreement. DOC intends to offer employment to a portion of the existing work force of the Flextronics camera module business in Zhuhai, China. DOC anticipates that the business will have a capacity to manufacture approximately 50M camera module units per year.
Flextronics will retain a portion of Vista Point Technologies assets, but repurpose them and focus engineering talent toward "strengthening its ability to deliver manufacturing services".
"The Zhuhai Camera Module Business will allow us to drive rapid market introduction of DOC's next-generation technology in a manner that complements our existing collaborations with camera module makers. We believe our approach is the best way to address the requirements of Tier One OEM manufacturers, which require that camera modules be delivered through dual sourcing from high-volume manufacturing facilities," said Robert A. Young, Tessera CEO.
"This transaction is a critical step in our strategy of transforming DOC from an optical and image enhancement software and components business into a Tier One qualified, vertically integrated supplier of next-generation camera modules to the $9-billion market for mobile cameras," Young continued. "In parallel, we continue to have active discussions with multiple Tier One OEM manufacturers of mobile phones regarding our MEMS autofocus product, and remain on track to obtain a design win in the first half of 2012 and to begin high-volume manufacturing in the fourth quarter of 2012," said Young.
"These assets will enable DigitalOptics Corporation to significantly increase sales of the imaging technologies we've acquired and developed over the past five years. Our strategy is to combine our breakthrough autofocus solutions with our other proprietary technologies so that DOC will become a leading supplier of integrated camera modules in the mobile phone market," said Bob Roohparvar, president of DigitalOptics Corporation.
DOC has been developing its capacity to oversee the high-volume manufacturing operations required by mobile phone makers. DOC's steps in the past year have included hiring more than a dozen executives and managers who have experience in engineering scale-up as well as in manufacturing at similar facilities.
Thanks to SF for sending me the news!
DOC will pay approximately $23M in cash for "certain assets" of Flextronics's camera module business located in Zhuhai, China. The transaction, which is expected to close in Q3 2012, if not sooner, includes existing customer contracts and a lease to an approximately 135,000-square-foot facility. The transaction also includes an intellectual property assignment and license agreement, and a transition services agreement. DOC intends to offer employment to a portion of the existing work force of the Flextronics camera module business in Zhuhai, China. DOC anticipates that the business will have a capacity to manufacture approximately 50M camera module units per year.
Flextronics will retain a portion of Vista Point Technologies assets, but repurpose them and focus engineering talent toward "strengthening its ability to deliver manufacturing services".
"The Zhuhai Camera Module Business will allow us to drive rapid market introduction of DOC's next-generation technology in a manner that complements our existing collaborations with camera module makers. We believe our approach is the best way to address the requirements of Tier One OEM manufacturers, which require that camera modules be delivered through dual sourcing from high-volume manufacturing facilities," said Robert A. Young, Tessera CEO.
"This transaction is a critical step in our strategy of transforming DOC from an optical and image enhancement software and components business into a Tier One qualified, vertically integrated supplier of next-generation camera modules to the $9-billion market for mobile cameras," Young continued. "In parallel, we continue to have active discussions with multiple Tier One OEM manufacturers of mobile phones regarding our MEMS autofocus product, and remain on track to obtain a design win in the first half of 2012 and to begin high-volume manufacturing in the fourth quarter of 2012," said Young.
"These assets will enable DigitalOptics Corporation to significantly increase sales of the imaging technologies we've acquired and developed over the past five years. Our strategy is to combine our breakthrough autofocus solutions with our other proprietary technologies so that DOC will become a leading supplier of integrated camera modules in the mobile phone market," said Bob Roohparvar, president of DigitalOptics Corporation.
DOC has been developing its capacity to oversee the high-volume manufacturing operations required by mobile phone makers. DOC's steps in the past year have included hiring more than a dozen executives and managers who have experience in engineering scale-up as well as in manufacturing at similar facilities.
Thanks to SF for sending me the news!
Nemotek Presents Most Advanced VGA Wafer-Level Camera
Sensors Magazine: Morocco-based Nemotek Technologie debuts what it says the world's first two element wafer-level camera, Exiguus H12-A2. The Exiguus H12-A2 features high resolution and less than 0.5% overall distortion all in an 1/10-inch form factor.
The Exiguus H12-A2 is reflowable, and offers sophisticated camera functions, such as auto exposure control, auto white balance, black level calibration, noise reduction, flicker detection and avoidance, color correction and saturation and lens shading correction.
"Today we unveil the first camera that successfully incorporates a two element wafer-lens and is technically more complex while providing better resolution than any current wafer-level offering on the market to date," said Hatim Limati, VP of sales and marketing for Nemotek Technologie. "The Exiguus H12-A2 produces extraordinarily clear, sharp pictures which make it the perfect choice for a wide range of applications. With this new achievement, we are able to further showcase our position as the industry's leader in innovation and design."
In addition, Nemotek marks its debut into the High End VGA market with another new camera based on a 720P High End sensor.
Samples of Nemotek's Exiguus H12-A2 and its High End VGA camera are currently available.
The Exiguus H12-A2 is reflowable, and offers sophisticated camera functions, such as auto exposure control, auto white balance, black level calibration, noise reduction, flicker detection and avoidance, color correction and saturation and lens shading correction.
"Today we unveil the first camera that successfully incorporates a two element wafer-lens and is technically more complex while providing better resolution than any current wafer-level offering on the market to date," said Hatim Limati, VP of sales and marketing for Nemotek Technologie. "The Exiguus H12-A2 produces extraordinarily clear, sharp pictures which make it the perfect choice for a wide range of applications. With this new achievement, we are able to further showcase our position as the industry's leader in innovation and design."
In addition, Nemotek marks its debut into the High End VGA market with another new camera based on a 720P High End sensor.
Samples of Nemotek's Exiguus H12-A2 and its High End VGA camera are currently available.
Thursday, March 01, 2012
IC Insights: DSC Market Stable, Camera Phones Growing
IC Insights' report "IC Market Drivers" gives an outlook of DSC vs Camera Phone markets:
DSC unit shipments increased by a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of slightly more than 37% in the 2000-2005 period, but slowed to 9% per year between 2005 and 2010, and are projected to rise by merely 2.1% annually from 2010 through 2015.
DSC unit shipments increased by a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of slightly more than 37% in the 2000-2005 period, but slowed to 9% per year between 2005 and 2010, and are projected to rise by merely 2.1% annually from 2010 through 2015.
Eric Fossum Talks About Sensor Technology Trends
Image Sensors 2012 Conference published an interview with Eric Fossum answering on sensor technology questions. Some quotes:
Q: What new disruptive technologies do you see on the horizon?
A: Well of course my own pet project - Quanta Image Sensing (QIS)- could become a major disruption. I don't expect lightning to strike twice but as I like to say, you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket. Computational imaging is getting interesting but it might be a few years before Moore's Law catches up to the aspirations of computational imaging and enables its full potential. I think computational imaging combined with the QIS could become a major paradigm shift but it is still early in that game. I think use of non-silicon materials could be disruptive if any of them work out. But, silicon is an amazing material and manufacturing and noise issues with non-silicon materials are non-trivial. Meanwhile, the rate of continuous improvement is so large that emerging technologies have to mature rapidly to have enough compelling advantage that they can grab a toehold in the marketplace once they get there. To that end, even a few years of continuous improvement can look disruptive to the user community.
Q: What new disruptive technologies do you see on the horizon?
A: Well of course my own pet project - Quanta Image Sensing (QIS)- could become a major disruption. I don't expect lightning to strike twice but as I like to say, you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket. Computational imaging is getting interesting but it might be a few years before Moore's Law catches up to the aspirations of computational imaging and enables its full potential. I think computational imaging combined with the QIS could become a major paradigm shift but it is still early in that game. I think use of non-silicon materials could be disruptive if any of them work out. But, silicon is an amazing material and manufacturing and noise issues with non-silicon materials are non-trivial. Meanwhile, the rate of continuous improvement is so large that emerging technologies have to mature rapidly to have enough compelling advantage that they can grab a toehold in the marketplace once they get there. To that end, even a few years of continuous improvement can look disruptive to the user community.
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