August 2013 ~ engineering information technology

Sony Stacked Sensor Cross-Section

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Phil Garrou has published a cross-section of 13MP Sony IMX135 stacked sensor, presented by Dick James of Chipworks at Confab conference in June 2013. The wafers are stacked front-to-front. The pixel layer uses 90nm process, while the bottom image processor is made in 65nm process:

OpenElec with support for eGalax touch screen

Hi!

Lately I have tested OpenElec for Raspberry PI and found out that it is very very fast, very very small and also it has some great addons(wifi, bluetooth and more).
Speed/size features on an 512MB RaspberryPI:
- a complete boot is less than 25 seconds
- cpu is around 30% load
- memory used is 32%
- total system size is less than 300MB

Edit. You can download my build from here(contains eGalax module and XBMC patches).
Username is root and password is openelec. The touch screen calibration file should be put in /storage/touchscreen_axes_calib.

Next, I will guide you through the instructions for building(cross compile) latest OpenElec for Raspberry PI with touch screen support.
For this tutorial let's assume that you have a Linux machine where you will work.

1. Get the latest OpenElec.
git clone git://github.com/OpenELEC/OpenELEC.tv.git

2. Add kernel touch screen module support.
Open the file OpenELEC.tv/projects/RPI/linux/linux.arm.conf and search for "CONFIG_INPUT_TOUCHSCREEN". Replace the whole text line with the following lines:
CONFIG_INPUT_TOUCHSCREEN=y
CONFIG_TOUCHSCREEN_USB_COMPOSITE=y
CONFIG_TOUCHSCREEN_USB_EGALAX=y
~~3. Fix ppl version in OpenElec.~~
~~Open the file OpenELEC.tv/packages/toolchain/math/ppl/meta and change PKG_VERSION from "1.1pre9" to "1.1pre10"~~

~~4. Put touch screen calibration file into the system.~~
~~Navigate to folder OpenELEC.tv/projects/RPI/ and create the file usr/share/eGalaxCalibration/touchscreen_axes_calib. This file should have the following contents:~~
~~calib_x_d=-21;calib_x_fact=0.658097686;calib_y_d=-50;calib_y_fact=0.408626561;swap_axes=0;click_confines=8~~
~~To set up these values please visit this post(at section 4).~~
This step is not needed any more, because you can use the calibration addon to calibrate your screen.
Get the calibration addon from my Downloads folder and put it in /storage/.xbmc/addons/

5. Put XBMC 12.3 patch.
Get my latest patches from here and put them in the folder OpenELEC.tv/packages/mediacenter/xbmc/patches/

6. Build OpenElec.
Navigate to OpenElec folder and type:
PROJECT=RPi ARCH=arm make -j3
-j3 option is to use parallel build(if you have more than one cpu's set this number as nb_cpus+1). This option will speed up the build process.
The build process will take couple of hours, but you have to come back once(in the first 10 minutes) and press ENTER for the kernel touch screen modifications to be approved.

7. Install or Update your OpenElec card.
Go to OpenElec build instructions page for RPI and follow the "Install instructions" chapter.

Have fun!

Lumia 1020 Camera Reviewed

DPReview has tested Nokia Lumia 1020 camera and gives it high marks in almost every category, except the speed. Apparently, a 41MP image processing is too heavy for the limited smartphone resources. The low-light performance comparison is especially impressive:

Bloomberg on Sony Image Sensor Business

Bloomberg published a popular article on Sony image sensor business. Here are the main statements:

Sony has captured almost a third of the $7.6B image sensor market.
Sony’s revenue from the image sensors gained an estimated 30% last year.
About 80% of the imaging sensors Sony produces are sold outside the company, said Masahito Takeda, a spokesman for Sony.
Most of the 10.9B yen ($111M) operating profit last quarter from Sony’s device division was generated by image sensor sales, Deutsche Bank estimates.

The article also quotes interesting TSR market data:

Global shipments of the imaging sensor will probably grow to 3.14B units this year
Sensors made by Sony sold for an average of $7.30 each, almost four times the $1.93 that Samsung got for similar chips, based on 2012 unit sales and revenue estimates by TSR
Sony’s revenue from image sensors rose to $2.45B in 2012 from $1.89B a year earlier, garnering 32% of the global market
Omnivision ranked second with 14.4%, followed by Samsung at 12.9%.

Apple Acquires AlgoTrim

Rapidus.se reports that Apple has acquired AlgoTrim, a start-up from Malmö, southern Sweden. AlgoTrim develops advanced solutions for mobile devices within the fields of data compression, mobile imaging and video, and computer graphics. AlgoTrim provides several solutions for real-time video processing such as a lossless symmetric video codec and a software-only ISP. The company also provides more advanced imaging solutions such as super resolution and says it will soon offer other imaging solutions that will bring modern computational photography to mobile devices.

In February of 2013, all of AlgoTrims shares were acquired by the anonymous Delaware-based holding company Wedgwood Industries LCC. But according to solid information revealed to Rapidus, Apple is the real buyer behind the deal.

Rapudus also writes that 3 years ago Apple has acquired another Malmö-based startup, Polar Rose, used to deal with face recognition.

Omnivision Reports Quarterly Earnings

PR Newswire: Omnivision reports quarterly results for its last financial quarter ended on July 31, 2013. Revenues for the quarter were $373.7M, as compared to $336.2M in the previous quarter, and $258.1M a year ago. GAAP net income was $23.1M, as compared to $8.9M in the previous quarter, and $2.3M a year ago.

GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 17.4%, as compared to 17.5% for the previous quarter and 19.1% a year ago. The sequential decrease in gross margin reflected an increase in allowance for excess and obsolete inventories, partially offset by incremental production cost improvements. The company ended the period with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $240.5M, an increase of $28.2M from the previous quarter.

The Company expects revenues for the next quarter to be in the range of $375M to $410M.

"...we are excited to report strong sequential revenue growth in spite of a slowdown in the smartphone market during the second half of the quarter. Nonetheless, as competition intensified in response to the market slowdown, the forecasts for some of our products were negatively affected and we did not see a sequential improvement in gross margin," said Shaw Hong, CEO of OmniVision. "We continue to pursue cost reductions across our supply chain, and market diversifications into potential growth areas such as automotive."

Update: SeekingAlpha published Omnivision's earnings call transcript. One of the Q&As is about the competition in China:

Harsh Kumar - Stephens:

I would have expected given the scale that you would have a better cost of manufacturing sensors relative to the smaller Chinese competition or companies. So I'm a little surprised that that they are able to put pressure on your margins maybe you could just clarify for us how they are able to put pressure on your margins despite your scale?

Anson Chan, CFO:

We are not exactly saying that in some of the lower cost competitors in the market are putting pressure on the margin per se. Most of the margin issues for this quarter in particular based on the prepared remarks, it’s coming from increase in our own recording of excess charge for inventories, as suppose to ASP type pressure. Albeit the pressure is there, right. So I would have to say that that there is not so much pressure from in this low cost manufacturer, the cost a detriment to the gross margin.

Intel PerC Goes On

The Times of Israel: Intel CVP Mooly Eden presentated "Perceptual Computing" (Per-C) project progress in Israel last month. "Gestures, voice, and facial expressions — the natural things that God gave you — those are intuitive," said Eden, and it’s Intel’s aim to integrate those capabilities into computing experiences.

More than a dozen entrepreneurs showed off their Per-C programming skills at Intel Israel’s first Perceptual Computing Hackathon at Intel’s Haifa campus last month. Participants were given 48 hours to come up with a Per-C application that makes use of the Intel Per-C toolkit, incorporating use of the Creative 3D cameras distributed to each team along with voice commands via a microphone. Intel also plans a Perceptual Computing Challenge, a worldwide contest which will feature over 700 projects presented in San Francisco this September.

"People may not realize how close Intel is to this revolution, but some of the applications that were on display at the Hackathon are good examples of what we will soon see as everyday uses for this technology," an unnamed Intel spokesperson said. An official Intel's Youtube video shows some of these capabilities:

iniLabs Presents Smart Sensor Product

ExtremeTech: iniLabs, a spin-off from the Neuroinformatics Institute at the University of Zurich presents a DVS128 sensor that outputs only changes in pixel light intensity, rather than full frame by frame images like other sensors do. This event-based output technique allowed the startup company to create a fairly low power sensor which is still able to react on fast events. Under bright illumination, a timing precision of 1 μs and a latency of just 15 μs can be achieved.

The VS128 costs $2700, and it's quite unique as not that many smart sensors reached the standard product stage.

Ambarella Business Reviewed

NASDAQ.com posted a nice SeekingAlpha's overview of Ambarella business. The main danger for the company is too large and growing dependence on GoPro Hero3 sales, manufactured by Chicony, Taiwan:

Recently, the growth of Hero3 is slowing, affecting Ambarella too:

Almalence Shows its Super-Resolution Zoom Technology

Almalence implements a software-based super resolution zoom for Huawei’s Ascend P2 and Ascend P6 smartphones, SHARP’s new devices and several Korean and Taiwanese mobile phone makers. Almalence’s Super Resolution Zoom is a multi-frame technology, whith added benefit of noise reduction in low light conditions.

Huawei Ascend P2 is said be be the first device with super resolution zoom
on the market. These comparison photos were taken at MWC 2013
where P2 was presented. (Left: usual zoom; right: super resolution zoom)

“Spilled coins” (aka “Dead Leaves”) chart taken with Huawei P6 mobile phone
(illuminance: 150 lux). Normal 2x zoom vs Super Resolution 2x Zoom.
MTF30 measurement with ImaTest shows 1.9x effective resolution increase.

Images taken with Huawei P6 mobile phone under low light (20 Lux):
Normal 2x zoom versus Super Resolution 2x Zoom

Jazz Cerified as DoD's Category 1A Trusted Supplier

BusinessWire: Jazz Semiconductor, a fully owned U.S. subsidiary of TowerJazz Semiconductor, has announced the accreditation for trusted status of Jazz Semiconductor Trusted Foundry (JSTF). JSTF has been accredited as a Category 1A Trusted Supplier by the US Department of Defense (DoD) as a provider of trusted semiconductors in critical defense applications.

"Specific recent activities to further support our customers include a long-term lease extension and implementation of new technology focused on the aerospace and defense market, including CMOS image sensors and ROICs for IR sensors," stated Mike Scott, Director – TowerJazz Aerospace and Defense Business Unit.

German Consortium Develops Array Cameras

Pro-physik.de reports that Daimler AG, DResearch GmbH, Fraunhofer IOF, Jena, Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics IHP, Sick AG, Microelectronic Packaging GmbH, Sypro Optics GmbH and viimagic GmbH partner to develop a camera module technology based on insects compound eye. Specifically, the consortium intends to develop a HDR camera for industrial imaging, a camera for use in video security systems in public transport vehicles and automotive camera. Such cameras can also be used in consumer products, such as a mobile phone and video telephony cameras. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funds the project within the framework of the "Self-adapting intelligent Multiaperturkamera modules", or "SITARA".

A demonstrator of Multi-aperture camera with VGA
resolution and an optical height of 1.4mm. (Image: IOF)

Thanks to VB for the link!

Microsoft Releases New Kinect Details

Venture Beat, IDG quote Microsoft releasing more details about the new Kinect ToF camera in its presentation at Stanford University:

The new Kinect is based on Canesta technology
The ToF sensor resolution is 512 x 424, said to be much higher than in the previous generation Kinect
Ambient light is better suppressed than before
The camera has 70-degree FOV
Depth range is from 0.8m to 4.2m
Can detect objects as small as 2.5cm
The new sensor's latency is 20ms, said to be much shorter than in previous generation Kinect

Panasonic Invests in Pelican Imaging

PRNewswire: Pelican Imaging extends its recent Series C round with funding from Panasonic Corp. Pelican announced in May 2013 the first closing of its Series C funding with investors Qualcomm Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, Globespan Capital, Granite Ventures, InterWest and IQT.

"Pelican's array camera technology is extremely innovative; they're pioneering the next generation of video and image capture," said Patrick Suel, Venture Partner at Panasonic. "We think there are broad applications for depth-enabled imaging in many industries."

Pelican Imaging CEO and President Chris Pickett noted, "We're extremely pleased to add Panasonic to our investor group, which includes other industry leaders like Qualcomm and Nokia. Our relationship with Panasonic will provide further market leverage to bring Pelican's solutions to multiple market segments."

Pelican array camera provides depth information of the captured scene, allowing users to refocus after the fact, create 3D models, and perform "an unprecedented range of edits". At under 3mm thickness, Pelican's array camera is said to be about 50% of the thickness of the best-in-class camera modules shipping in mobile phones today (not clear what resolution is compared).

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Website(if avaliable): asqur.com

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Pages

Sony Stacked Sensor Cross-Section

OpenElec with support for eGalax touch screen

Lumia 1020 Camera Reviewed

Bloomberg on Sony Image Sensor Business

Apple Acquires AlgoTrim

Omnivision Reports Quarterly Earnings

Intel PerC Goes On

iniLabs Presents Smart Sensor Product

Ambarella Business Reviewed

Almalence Shows its Super-Resolution Zoom Technology

Jazz Cerified as DoD's Category 1A Trusted Supplier

German Consortium Develops Array Cameras

Microsoft Releases New Kinect Details

Panasonic Invests in Pelican Imaging

LIST OF PROJECT CENTERS IN TRICHY

LIST OF PROJECT CENTERS IN SALEM

LIST OF PROJECT CENTERS IN PONDICHERRY

LIST OF PROJECT CENTERS IN MADURAI

LIST OF PROJECT CENTERS IN COIMBATORE

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