Automotive SoC excels in LED flicker mitigation for cameras

Omnivision has released its most advanced automotive SoC for surround view systems (SVS) and rear view cameras (RVC). The OX01E20 is pin to pin compatible with 1.3Mpixel designs and brings LED flicker mitigation (LFM) and 140db high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities to the company’s portfolio of automotive single chip image sensor and signal processors. 

The OX01E20 is claimed to provides the industry’s best imaging performance for SVS and RVC across a range of challenging lighting conditions. It also has the most compact form factor and lowest power consumption, said Omnivision. In a single 1/4-inch optical format package, the OX01E20 features a three micron image sensor, an advanced image signal processor (ISP) and full-featured distortion correction / perspective correction (DC / PC) and on-screen display (OSD). Designers can achieve a small form factor with “excellent low light performance, ultra-low power, and reduced cost, while also improving reliability by using only one PCB,” said Omnivision. 

The HDR and LFM performance applies over the automotive temperature range, added Omnivision.

The OX01E20 is built on Omnivision’s PureCel Plus architecture, which is renowned for its low light sensitivity and provides the industry’s best SNR (signal to noise ratio) performance, claimed the company. 

The OX01E20 is ASIL-B safety-compliant. It is sampling now and will be in mass production in June 2023. 

Omnivision is a fabless semiconductor organisation that develops advanced digital imaging, analogue and touch and display products for multiple applications and industries, including mobile phones, security and surveillance, automotive, computing, medical, and emerging applications. 

http://www.ovt.com 

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Marktech Optoelectronics introduces two InGaAs photodiode photodetectors

Optoelectronics designer and manufacturer, Marktech Optoelectronics has released  two indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) photodiode photodetectors with extended 2.6 micron wavelength responsivity cut offs.

The high speed 2.6 micron InGaAs PIN photodiodes have sensitivity wavelength ranges of 600 to 2,600nm with active area diameters of 1.0mm.

The MTPD2601T-100 InGaAs photodiode is packaged in a TO-46 hermetic metal can with a flat lens and the MTPD2601N-100 InGaAs component uses a TO-46 package with a domed lens. TO metal can packaging provides the highest protection against the ingress of vapour and moisture, said the company, which contributes to reliable, long lifetime InGaAs photodiode detectors.

The 2.6 micron InGaAs photodiode detectors in a TO metal can packages are available now through distributors Digikey Electronics and Mouser Electronics.

Marktech’s InGaAs photodiode manufacturing partner in Japan, Optrans, is recognised as producing some of the industry’s highest integrity visible through SWIR (short wave infra red) detectors.  

In addition to standard InGaAs detectors, Marktech can provide many additional services often required to rapidly move a project from the design to the finished product stage, such as detector and emitter selection, application and specification development, InGaAs photodiode customisation, package type selection and custom packages,electro-optical testing and troubleshooting, circuit and assembly design and build and supply of InGaAs photodiodes.

Standard offerings are 1.7 and 2.6 micron but Optrans can tailor the peak responsivity to wavelengths lower than 2.6 micron for applications with sufficiently high annual volumes. 

InGaAs PIN photodiodes are available in various package types such as hermetically sealed metal cans (TO-5, TO-18, and TO-39), ceramic SAW packages, pigtail cans, 3mm molded plastic through-hole (flat lens or dome ceramic), and Marktech’s latest enhanced SMD packaging system, the hermetic Atlas package. 

Custom-engineered packaging to OEM specifications are also available.

The high sensitivity of InGaAs detectors combined with low noise characteristics (high signal/noise ratio) in the NIR and SWIR wavelengths make InGaAs suitable for medical devices and wearables such as glucose monitoring (non-contact, optical), blood alcohol monitoring, exhaled breath gas analysis, urinalysis. In the field of spectrometry, they can be used for FTIR spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, tunable diode laser spectroscopy (TDLS), scanning or dispersive NIR spectrometry, non-dispersive infra red (NDIR) spectroscopy, electroluminescence and fluorescence spectrometry, emerging infra red spectroscopy methods, temperature and flame detection, infra red pyrometry or non-contact radiation thermometers, flame and spark detection and regulation, moisture detection and compositional sorting, moisture meters (spectrophotometric), precision agriculture, food sorting and food quality instruments, plastics sorting and recycling. 

For photonics test instrumentation, they can be used for coherent measurement systems, IR laser diode characterisation and monitoring, monitoring SWIR LEDs and illuminators, optical power meters, communication receivers in the O, L, and C bands, gas sensing, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and lidar.

Marktech also has capabilities to design and manufacture custom photodetectors to OEM specifications from prototype to production volumes. These include custom photodetector engineering and the manufacturing range includes custom InGaAs photodiodes (wafers, die, packaged InGaAs PDs, and assemblies). In addition, Marktech can co-package InGaAs photodiodes with emitters, filters, thermoelectric coolers (TECs), and transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs). 

InGaAs photodiodes from Optrans Japan and silicon photodiodes from Marktech’s Simi Valley plant are assembled in the same package to produce wide spectral band detectors – (SWIR/MIR to mid UVB). This technology makes hybrid InGaAs-silicon detectors with responsivities from 250 to 2,600nm feasible.

https://www.marktechopto.com

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Axiomtek bases fanless edge AI computer vision on Xilinx AI accelerator

The latest fanless, edge AI computer vision system from Axiomtek is based on the Xilinx AI accelerator. The RSC201 uses the Xilinx Kria K26 SoM AI accelerator to support the simultaneous execution of multiple algorithms through the built-in multi-node function. According to Axiomtek, it delivers superior AI computing performance with low latency over other mainstream models in the market. 

The RSC201 is compact with a wide operating temperature range. The 5G wireless connection empowers rapid data transmission between edge devices and data centres that improve the decision-making process in machine learning. Typical use cases for the RSC201 are traffic management, automated warehouse logistics, smart fence and autonomous guided vehicles / autonomous mobile robots (AGV / AMR).

The Xilinx Kria K26 SoM provides fast vision AI computing with native ROS 2 support for higher productivity in robotics and industrial automation. It also has 4Gbyte DDR4 system on-board memory and 16Gbyte eMMC. 

For expansion interfaces, the RSC201 supports one M.2 Key B 3052 slot and one SIM socket for seamless 5G communication. It also has an M.2 Key B 2242 slot for SSD storage. 

It also has extensive system I/O, with one 10 / 100 / 1000Mbits per second Ethernet LAN port, one DisplayPort 1.4, two USB 3.0 ports, one COM port, one CANbus for real-time communication among microcontrollers, one PMOD for peripheral modules connecting and 12 to 24V DC wide power input.

The rugged, fanless RSC201 can withstand a wide operating temperature range of -30 to +75 degrees C and has an IP40-rated extruded aluminium and heavy-duty steel housing to protect against dust and dirt. 

The RSC201 is compact and lightweight at only 1.5kg. 

It supports the Linux operating system.

The RSC201 is available for ordering now. 

http://www.axiomtek.com 

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Panasonic’s latest Grid-Eye has another angle for machine learning

The latest member of Panasonic Industry’s Grid-Eye sensor family has a 90 degree lens, delivering a wider field of view for tracking and monitoring applications.

It also reduces the number of sensors required to cover a given area to enable people counting and tracking applications, said Panasonic. The 64-pixel sensor appeals to privacy-conscious designers wanting to maximise use of space. Chetan Joshi, product manager at Panasonic Industry, said “Knowing where people are is the key to design a smart space. Today, different industries want to understand and optimise how their buildings are being used, especially the businesses in retail, hospitality and healthcare. Similarly, the lighting industry is increasingly moving towards providing personalised ambient lighting experiences”. He added that the pandemic has highlighted the importance of the management of regularly used, confined spaces, such as offices or public washroom facilities. Designers have always sought a balance between scalability and cost-effectiveness, Joshi said the Grid-Eye 90 sensor delivers on both. It joins the 60 degree version, an inexpensive infrared matrix sensor, typically used as an alternative to camera or wireless radar sensors in a smart kitchen, for example or to assess areas of a room to determine where to install smart air conditioning systems.

The 90 degree variant of Grid-Eye has a wide-angle lens which allows Grid-Eye to have a wider field of view (FoV) than the existing 36 and 60 degree models. System designers can capture the IR signature of a larger area, which means fewer sensors are required to cover a given area, reducing capital expenditure in people tracking / counting devices in indoor environments.

Panasonic Industry Europe is part of the Panasonic Group and provides automotive and industrial products and services in Europe.

The company’s portfolio covers key electronic components, devices and modules up to complete solutions and production equipment for manufacturing lines across a broad range of industries.

The Panasonic Group was founded in 1918 and develops technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, industry, communications and energy sectors worldwide.

http://industry.panasonic.eu

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