• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.555-562
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• 2007

In order to display Bayer input stream received from CMOS image sensor to the display device, image signal processing must be performed. That is, the hardware performing the image signal processing for Bayer data is called ISP(Image Signal Processor). We can see real image through ISP processing. ISP executes functionalities for gamma correction, interpolation, color space conversion, image effect, image scale, AWB, AE and AF. In this paper, we obtained the optimum algorithm through software verification of ISP module for CMOS camera image sensor and described using VHDL and verified in ModelSim6.0a simulator. Also we downloaded into Xilinx XCV-1000e for the designed ISP module and completed the board level verification using PCI interface.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2014.04a
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• pp.43-46
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• 2014

CMOS 이미지 센서는 모바일 디바이스, 특히 스마트 폰에 내장된 카메라에 가장 광범위하게 사용된다. 이러한 이미지 센서의 정상 동작을 검사하기 위해서는 불량화소 검출과 같은 테스트가 수행되어야 하며, 테스트를 위해서는 센서에 의해서 캡처된 이미지를 대상으로 이미지 처리를 할 수 있는 함수제공이 필수적이다. 이 논문에서는 CMOS 이미지 센서의 동작을 효율적이고 엄격하게 판단할 수 있는 자동 검사 시스템을 구축하고 이미지 센서로부터 캡처되는 이미지 데이터에 대해서 목적에 맞는 테스트를 수행 할 수 있도록 이미지 처리 함수를 구현하고 실험하였다.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.223-228
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• 2021

This work presents a low-power CMOS image sensor (CIS) with a multi-column-parallel (MCP) readout structure while focusing on improving its performance compared to previous works. A delta readout scheme that utilizes the image characteristics is optimized for the MCP readout structure. By simply alternating the MCP readout direction for each row selection, additional memory for the row-to-row delta readout is not required, resulting in a reduced area of occupation compared to the previous work. In addition, the bias current of a pre-amplifier in a successive approximate register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) changes according to the operating period to improve the power efficiency. The prototype CIS chip was fabricated using a 0.18-㎛ CMOS process. A 160 × 120 pixel array with 4.4 ㎛ pitch was implemented with a 10-bit SAR ADC. The prototype CIS demonstrated a frame rate of 120 fps with a total power consumption of 1.92 mW.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.1043-1051
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• 2007

The digital sun sensor calculates the incident sunlight angle using the sunlight image registered on a CMOS image sensor. In order to accomplish this, an exact center of the sunlight image has to be determined. Therefore, an accurate estimate of the centroid is the most important factor in digital sun sensor development. The most general method for determining the centroid is the thresholding method, and this method is also the simplest and easy to implement. Another centering algorithm often used is the image filtering method that utilizes image processing. The sun sensor accuracy using these methods, however, is quite susceptible to noise in the detected sunlight intensity. This is especially true in the thresholding method where the accuracy changes according to the threshold level. In this paper, a template method that uses the sunlight image model to determine the centroid of the sunlight image is suggested, and the performance has been compared and analyzed. The template method suggested, unlike the thresholding and image filtering method, has comparatively higher accuracy. In addition, it has the advantage of having consistent level of accuracy regardless of the noise level, which results in a higher reliability.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.105-109
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• 2015

This paper presents the results of an experimental analysis of the high-power laser (HPL)-induced damage to a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. Although the laser-induced damages to metallic materials have been sufficiently investigated, the damages to electric-optic imaging systems, which are very sensitive to HPLs, have not been studied in detail. In this study, we experimentally analyzed the HPL-induced damages to a CMOS image sensor. A near-infrared continuous-wave (CW) fiber laser was used as the laser source. The influences of the irradiance and irradiation time on the permanent damages to a CMOS image sensor, such as the color error and breakdown, were investigated. The experimental results showed that the color error occurred first, and then the breakdown occurred with an increase in the irradiance and irradiation time. In particular, these damages were more affected by the irradiance than the irradiation time.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2014

In this paper, we propose a block-based low-power complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS) with a simple pixel structure for power efficiency. This method, which uses an additional computation circuit, makes it possible to reduce the power consumption of the pixel array. In addition, the computation circuit for a block-based CIS is very flexible for various types of pixel structures. The proposed CIS was designed and fabricated using a standard CMOS 0.18 ${\mu}m$ process, and the performance of the fabricated chip was evaluated. From a resultant image, the proposed block-based CIS can calculate a differing contrast in the block and control the operating voltage of the unit blocks. Finally, we confirmed that the power consumption in the proposed CIS with a simple pixel structure can be reduced.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.270-274
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• 2006

A color filter array (CFA) helps a single electrical image sensor to recognize color images. The Red-Green-Blue (RGB) Bayer CFA is commonly used, but the amount of the light which arrives at the photodiode is attenuated with this CFA. Red-White-Blue (RWB) CFA increases the amount of the light which arrives at photodiode by using White (W) pixels instead of Green (G) pixels. However, white pixels are saturated earlier than red and blue pixels. The pseudo multiple capture scheme and the corresponding RWB CFA were proposed to overcome the early saturation problem of W pixels. The prototype CMOS image sensor (CIS) was fabricated with $0.35-{\mu}m$ CMOS process. The proposed CIS solves the early saturation problem of W pixels and increases the dynamic range.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.857-861
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• 2012

FPN (fixed-pattern-noise) mainly comes from the device or pattern mismatches in pixel and color filter, pixel photodiode leakage in CMOS image sensor. In this paper, optical stack module related pixel FPN was investigated and the classification of pixel FPN contribution with the individual optical module process was presented. The methodology and procedure would be helpful in reducing the greater pixel FPN and distinguishing the complex FPN sources with respect to various noise factors.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.615-622
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• 2009

Advances in wireless communication and hardware technology have made it possible to manufacture high-performance tiny sensor nodes. More recently, the availability of inexpensive CMOS cameras that are able to capture multimedia data from the environment has fostered the development of Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs). WMSN with the CMOS imaging sensor which is cheaper and consumes lower power than the CCD will not only enhance existing sensor network but also enable several new application such as multimedia surveillance sensor network, multimedia environment monitoring. This paper presents the design of a multimedia sensor network with the image sensor mote developed by us using the CMOS. Given new multimeida sensor network, the new image collecting protocol was tested and analyzed.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.102-106
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• 2005

A low dark current CMOS image sensor (CIS) pixel without any process modification is developed. Dark current is mainly generated at the interface region of shallow trench isolation (STI) structure. Proposed pixel reduces the dark current effectively by separating the STI region from the photodiode junction using simple layout modification. Test sensor array that has both proposed and conventional pixels is fabricated using 0.18 m CMOS process and the characteristics of the sensor are measured. The result shows that the dark current of the proposed pixel is 0.93fA/pixel that is two times lower than the conventional design.