Moving Towards the Next Generation of Imaging Applications

A Perspective

Shri Sundaram, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.

Markets are Flattening for DSC, NBPC & Mobile Making it Hard to Sustain Growth…

Three primary markets are flatteningRevenue growth opportunities exist only outside these three marketsBut, the key players in the market will sustain profits…but…

Source: My estimates based on info from iSuppli, Gartner, In-Stat etc.

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Consolidation and Maturing of an industry will reduce the number of players

*HBR Dec 2002; M/S. Deans, Kroeger, Zeisel

CMOS Area Sensor Business (~ 10 years)

Players that are likely to survive will have clear strategy based on core strengthsThe product/technology offering by the survivors will likely look similar

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How Does a Player Defend the Position in a Mature Market?

Pixel Technology

Image Pipeline Module Packaging

Advanced Fabrication Technologies & Highly Integrated Manufacturing Facilities

Toshiba’s strategies to grow its core business in this rapidly maturing industry

Sensitivity, SNR, Crosstalk, Smaller Pixels

DSC Quality, Wide Dynamic Range Smallest form factor z, x & yEasy ManufacturingHigh Reliability

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Pixel Technology Advancements in geometry and sensitivity

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Image Pipeline advancements in image processing and interfaces

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

2007 2008 2009 2010Millions

Auto Focus/OZ

Digital Zoom

Fixed Focus

CSCM/WLCM

Packaging technologies are evolving for both high performance and manufacturability

Toshiba estimates

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While the Imaging Industry Moves Toward Consolidation and Slowed Growth, New Niche

Opportunities will Provide New Growth Opportunities

Niche / Emerging Markets

How do the opportunities manifest?

Revenue Upsides are possible from new applications

Most of the emerging applications – camera is used for data gathering !An Image is NOT the end product…

Source: My estimates based on info from iSuppli, Gartner, In-Stat etc.

1.1. GamingGaming2.2. Surveillance and SecuritySurveillance and Security3.3. Machine VisionMachine Vision4.4. Industrial CamerasIndustrial Cameras5.5. High Speed CamerasHigh Speed Cameras6.6. Telepresence, Video Telepresence, Video

TelephonyTelephony7.7. Medical Medical 8.8. AutomotiveAutomotive9.9. Others…Others…

Future Applications May Not Need High-Res Images for Image Identification

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VTrb2gl-14Google Tech Talks by Bob Fischer of Optics1 Inc.

“Motion is the cue that’s extremely important… probably would be able to tell what it is if you saw the car (PT Cruiser) driving across the 8x16…”

- Bob Fischer

Video is Important,Resolution Not so…

It Will Come Down to Architecture Definition

Source: http://electronicdesign.com/files/29/21483/fig_03.gifCover Feature on Video Analysis by Richard Quinnell in Electronic Design (7/23/09)

Traditional architectures place video analysis in a central location such as on a server or a digital video recorder, but analysis is now moving toward the edge with IP cameras offering built-in processing…

Image is no longer the end product. ..

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Another View of the System Partition

Image sensor from a leading supplier or from a specialty supplier

Traditionally a remote location, these functional blocks are moving closer to camera. Functions include Hough Space Transformation and instant pattern matching…

Remote

Image is the raw material for further analysis.

MOSTM-LB

TX49RISCCPUCore

GraphicDisplay Ctrl. & Accelerators

ADC

Mem Ctr

DMACtrl

DDR-SDRAM

Flash

FG

SEI,UARTAC

Link

I2C CAN 3ch

Timer

PWM

GPIO

With CAN interface, GPIO, ADC, Timers, and PWMs , the TX4961 can do the job of an MCU

Auxiliary audio output for sound effects and reinforcement

In-Vehicle CommunicationsCAN/MOST/Serial

Live video input from rearview / sideview cameras or DVD/Navi system

Full-size TFT Software-ReconfigurableInstrument Cluster

NAND Ctr

An Example of a Processor Residing Close to the Camera - TX4961 System from Toshiba

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Transformation Engine – One of the Functions Performed by a Processor Close to Camera

• A mapping LookUp Table (LUT) is loaded with coefficients that describe the transformation

• For each destination pixel, the LUT determines where the source pixel will come from (sub-pixel is supported)

• Simple and effective way to implement programmable non-linear coordinate transformations

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Rotation Engine – Another function!

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Scaling and Transformations in Action!

Once a frame is captured, it becomes graphics data that can be processed further by the graphics engines for real-time processing of video input

CROP SCALE

TRANSFORM

SSP/UART(2/3ch)

I/O Port (91pins)

I2C/I2S(1/1ch)

10bitA/D(8ch)

NANDF(2ch)/ CLCDC 16bit

WATCH DOGTIMER

RTC

16bit Timer(6ch) USB

(Device)

MemoryControllerSRAMSDR SDRAMDDR SDRAM

USBUSB(Host)(Host)

CLCDC 24bitCLCDC 24bit/ CMOS IF/ CMOS IF

LCDDAScaleRotationBlend

OFD

ARM926EJ-STM

CORE

Boot ROM

RAM

CG

DMAC

TouchScreen

SD HostController(1ch)

TX09TX09SeriesSeries

- ARM926EJ-STM Core- Embedded USB Device and USB Host functionARM is a registered trademark and ARM926EJ-S is a trademark of ARM Limited in the EU

and other countries.

Here’s Another Toshiba Processor (ARM® Core) That Can Reside Next to a Camera – TMPA900CM

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Summary

• Imaging industry revenue growth is likely to slow – driven by the semiconductor industry fundamentals– Volumes up; costs down; prices down

– Immutable Laws of Consolidation will guide the industry towards 3 to 4 leading image sensor suppliers with many smaller niche suppliers!

– Incremental technology trends – predictable

• Niche emerging markets will be dominated by applications such as medical, automotive, industrial/machine vision, surveillance, robotics…– Image Processing a key function – architectural shift from remote location to

co-location with camera

– There are emerging processor architectures to address these requirements!

– Go beyond image sensors – look for specialized processors that can process images and video feeds (perhaps real-time) @ a cost point you desire