FEBRUARY 19--Atmel Corporation (San Jose, CA; www.atmel.com) has introduced its ultracompact CMOS camera module, called Eye-On-Si, for mobile-phone and PDA applications. Eye-On-Si is the first product of a complete CMOS Imaging product family that includes CIF, VGA, and megapixel sensors. They will be introduced throughout 2003 and will address specific other markets such as dual mode camera, camcorder, digital still camera, PC camera, and toys.
Atmel says the demand is growing for lower-cost, small-form-factor sensors that offer high image quality. Drawing on its expertise in imaging, the company offers an image quality sensor that enjoys advantages of CMOS technology in size, power consumption, and cost.
Eye-On-Si is a turnkey imaging solution, a complete digital camera in less than 0.5 cm³. It includes a single chip (sensor and image processor), a lens, a flexible cable, and all necessary peripheral components. Eye-On-Si is built a proprietary Atmel package, it measures 9.5 x 9.5 x 4.95 mm. It is a 1/7-in. optical format CMOS camera chip with 352 x 288 pixels. The module features low power consumption and operates with a single 2.5-V power supply within a frequency range from 3 to 80 MHz, thanks to its on-chip PLL circuitry.
The on-chip image processing is based on Atmel's AVR technology. Most of the on-chip functions such as auto white balance, auto exposure control, color correction, flicker detection, and correction are programmable through a two-wire serial interface. Eye-On-Si offers the flexibility to adjust most of the image to meet color fidelity requirements under various environmental conditions.
