Barron's: This morning Lehman’s Tim Luke mentioned weakness in Micron's image sensor business.
To me this is quite a natural result of Micron's inability to deliver high-quality 1.75um sensors, while 2.2um sensors are rapidly becoming a place of intense competition for 6-7 other companies. The best solution for Micron would be to sway the market to smaller pixels, but so far 1.75um pixel preformance is not there.
Another Barron's article cites Adam Benjamin, an analyst at Jefferies & Co., who expects disappointing news when OmniVision on Thursday reports its financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended January. Benjamin says the company is being hit by “severe” pricing pressure in VGA image sensors - and a slower than expected shift in the market away from VGA to higher margin megapixel sensors.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Varioptic Lens in Samsung Phone Soon
Mobileburn: Samsung has signed on to make use of the Varioptic lenses, and we might see a commercial release of a Varioptic equipped phone from Samsung as soon as Q3 of this year. Varioptic says that when purchased in volume, modules making use of their lens should cost about one third as much as traditional servo or coil based systems.
Optically, the Varioptic lens has a 20 diopter range of focus. The lens will work for normal cameraphone usage and for special situations that require very close focusing. The lens is capable of focusing as closely as 5cm.
One discussed point was the ability of Varioptic lens to withstand high G-force and low temperature situations. Varioptic claims that neither proved to be a problem for the lens. In particular, the lens does indeed slow down in cold temperatures, but that it still worked fast enough to keep ahead of the LCD displays used in mobile devices, which slow down greatly in cold.
Optically, the Varioptic lens has a 20 diopter range of focus. The lens will work for normal cameraphone usage and for special situations that require very close focusing. The lens is capable of focusing as closely as 5cm.
One discussed point was the ability of Varioptic lens to withstand high G-force and low temperature situations. Varioptic claims that neither proved to be a problem for the lens. In particular, the lens does indeed slow down in cold temperatures, but that it still worked fast enough to keep ahead of the LCD displays used in mobile devices, which slow down greatly in cold.
Samsung in Talks to Buy TransChip
Globes: Samsung has been negotiating to acquire CMOS imaging start-up TransChip for a sum reported to be as much as $100 million.
TransChip chairman and CEO Dr. Viktor Ariel founded the company in 1999. He was joined by former employees of IBM, Intel and Zoran. TransChip has been collaborating for years with Analog Devices, Intel, Ceva and other companies to jointly develop imaging processors for videos and mobile devices. Analog Devices founder and chairman Ray Stata and Qualcomm founder and chairman Prof. Andrew Viterbi both serve on TransChips’ board after investing in the company. Cadence made its first investment in the company four years ago.
TransChip chairman and CEO Dr. Viktor Ariel founded the company in 1999. He was joined by former employees of IBM, Intel and Zoran. TransChip has been collaborating for years with Analog Devices, Intel, Ceva and other companies to jointly develop imaging processors for videos and mobile devices. Analog Devices founder and chairman Ray Stata and Qualcomm founder and chairman Prof. Andrew Viterbi both serve on TransChips’ board after investing in the company. Cadence made its first investment in the company four years ago.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Fotonation's Embedded Software for Camera-Phones
Embedded software maker Fotonation announced two new products for camera-phones: Face Detection and Red-Eye Correction.
Face Tracker subroutine "uses a radically new approach" and "accurately follows faces in frontal or profile positions and can establish the correct image orientation automatically".
As Imaging Resource reports, Pentax uses Fotonation's Face Tracker software in its Optio A30 camera.
Face Tracker subroutine "uses a radically new approach" and "accurately follows faces in frontal or profile positions and can establish the correct image orientation automatically".
As Imaging Resource reports, Pentax uses Fotonation's Face Tracker software in its Optio A30 camera.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Micron 2nd Generation 1.75um Pixel Flyer
I was shown a flyer of Micron MT9M113 sensor which belongs to the 2nd generation 1.75um pixel family. This is 1.3MP 1/6" SOC integrating sensor with ISP and 68H11 microcontroller and MIPI interface.
Obviously, the most interesting part of the flyer is the 2nd generation 1.75um pixel data. The SNR is specified as >37db (Max), barely higher than 36db of the 1st generation. The DR is >60db for pixel only. Even assuming its full-well is about 7Ke, like the previous generation, 60db number translates to about 7e of noise, more in case of bigger full well.
Either Micron is very conservative when just saying "greater than 60db", or the new generation does not bring the much needed improvement in full well capacity and readout noise, or so it seems.
The flyer is dated by Feb. 1, 2007, that is pretty recent.
Obviously, the most interesting part of the flyer is the 2nd generation 1.75um pixel data. The SNR is specified as >37db (Max), barely higher than 36db of the 1st generation. The DR is >60db for pixel only. Even assuming its full-well is about 7Ke, like the previous generation, 60db number translates to about 7e of noise, more in case of bigger full well.
Either Micron is very conservative when just saying "greater than 60db", or the new generation does not bring the much needed improvement in full well capacity and readout noise, or so it seems.
The flyer is dated by Feb. 1, 2007, that is pretty recent.
Korean Imaging Companies Profiles
An interesting new blog "Korea Semiconductor" put together profiles of Pixelplus, Siliconfile, Corelogic and Mtekvision.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Micron Expands in Packaging?
EETimes interviewed Steve Appleton, Micron's CEO. Here is what he told on what links are missing from its image sensor line:
EE Times: Is there a missing piece in Micron's strategy?
Appleton: Yes, there is a missing piece. It's packaging. We do a lot of packaging as you know. We have a big assembly operation. But in an integrated model, we are missing parts of the packaging for the next-generation of applications. In particular, when you think how that translates to the imaging business, you think about wafer-level modules, lenses, and camera module integration. We have a lot of partners for that.
EE Times: So do you acquire a company or bring more expertise in house?
Appleton: We will do both. We will acquire companies that have expertise in the area. At the same time, we will also have to continue partnerships.
EE Times: Is there a missing piece in Micron's strategy?
Appleton: Yes, there is a missing piece. It's packaging. We do a lot of packaging as you know. We have a big assembly operation. But in an integrated model, we are missing parts of the packaging for the next-generation of applications. In particular, when you think how that translates to the imaging business, you think about wafer-level modules, lenses, and camera module integration. We have a lot of partners for that.
EE Times: So do you acquire a company or bring more expertise in house?
Appleton: We will do both. We will acquire companies that have expertise in the area. At the same time, we will also have to continue partnerships.
Toshiba 2.2um Pixel Reverse Engineering
Chipworks blog published an article Toshiba 3.33um and 2.2um pixels reverse engineering. 3.33um pixel is quite usual 2-way shared 4T pixel layout. The poly level picture of 2.2um pixel reveals some interesting things - see the picture below. Chipworks says:
"The more recent Toshiba 3.2 Megapixel CIS, featured a variation on this 5T layout, but with a surprising twist. From a circuit perspective, the structure is still the same, with pairs of pixels still sharing the T3, T4 and T5 transistors. However structurally there is a difference - additional polysilicon slabs have been placed in between adjacent pixels in a column. We believe they help electrically separate pixels that lie on a common diffusion – at a cost. The performance trade-off must have been considered because additional polysilicon structures generally reduce the fill factor (the amount of light reaching the photo-cathode versus that hitting the pixel) for the CIS pixel.
Additionally, there is an extra slab of polysilicon extended over the centre of the active area of the red pixels. This may reduce sensitivity to red light since it must pass through the poly slab (note that wavelengths shorter than red light have a higher absorption coefficient and will be less able to penetrate the silicon) but it would increase the RGB color separation of the pixels."
"The more recent Toshiba 3.2 Megapixel CIS, featured a variation on this 5T layout, but with a surprising twist. From a circuit perspective, the structure is still the same, with pairs of pixels still sharing the T3, T4 and T5 transistors. However structurally there is a difference - additional polysilicon slabs have been placed in between adjacent pixels in a column. We believe they help electrically separate pixels that lie on a common diffusion – at a cost. The performance trade-off must have been considered because additional polysilicon structures generally reduce the fill factor (the amount of light reaching the photo-cathode versus that hitting the pixel) for the CIS pixel.
Additionally, there is an extra slab of polysilicon extended over the centre of the active area of the red pixels. This may reduce sensitivity to red light since it must pass through the poly slab (note that wavelengths shorter than red light have a higher absorption coefficient and will be less able to penetrate the silicon) but it would increase the RGB color separation of the pixels."
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Pixim Sensor Awarded
Yahoo: Pixim proudly announces that cameras powered by its sensors won the top five rankings for best wide DR security cameras, out of a total of sixteen cameras tested by Protector Magazine, the physical security publication in Germany.
Customers shipping Pixim chipsets in their security camera products include: Baxall, CIEFFE, Dallmeier, EverFocus, Tyco Fire & Security, GE Security, General Solutions, Honeywell, Ikegami, JVC, Pelco, Siemens, Sunell, D-Max, GSP, Verint, Cohu Electronics, ChipER, deView, Eagle Technology, ioimage, FSAN, Lumenera, Pacific Communications, Nuvation, VTC, Videor Technical, Smartvue, DVTel, Mosaic, Intellicam Digital Security, LJD Digital Security, and Electronics Line USA.
Customers shipping Pixim chipsets in their security camera products include: Baxall, CIEFFE, Dallmeier, EverFocus, Tyco Fire & Security, GE Security, General Solutions, Honeywell, Ikegami, JVC, Pelco, Siemens, Sunell, D-Max, GSP, Verint, Cohu Electronics, ChipER, deView, Eagle Technology, ioimage, FSAN, Lumenera, Pacific Communications, Nuvation, VTC, Videor Technical, Smartvue, DVTel, Mosaic, Intellicam Digital Security, LJD Digital Security, and Electronics Line USA.
e2v goes with Tower
Business Wire: e2V, best known for its EMCCD, is going to use Tower Fab2 0.18um process to produce its CMOS SOC sensors. This deal will further enhance e2v’s position in key markets, such as medical and industrial imaging, growing at annual rates of 10-15%.
e2v and Tower are currently focusing on ten key development projects.
e2v and Tower are currently focusing on ten key development projects.
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