OMNIVISION advanced cameras debut at AutoSens Brussels 2022

OMNIVISION will demonstrate a seamless upgrade from standard (SD) to high-definition (HD) resolution cameras and showcase multiple HD automotive cameras streaming over the Ethernet.  

“OMNIVISION is committed to partnerships and working with the automotive ecosystem to develop new solutions to enhance camera resolution, design flexibility, and ultimately improved safety in cars,” said Andy Hanvey, Director of Automotive Marketing, OMNIVISION. “We are thrilled to provide the first live demonstrations of new in-cabin and exterior camera upgrades resulting from our partnerships with Analog Devices and Marvell.” 

Andy adds, “With Analog Devices, we have worked to provide automotive OEMs a seamless upgrade from standard to high-definition resolution cameras. In addition, as the industry moves to the software defined vehicle era, we have partnered with Marvell to enable multiple high-resolution cameras to stream data over the Ethernet. These upgrades have been developed to ensure low cost and minimal engineering time for our customers.” 

Upgrade to HD resolution cameras

OMNIVISION has partnered with Analog Devices (ADI) to provide a camera system that allows automotive OEMs to upgrade from SD to HD resolution while maintaining performance and the lowest system cost.

The solution features OMNIVISION’s OX01F10 1.3MP SoC coupled with ADI’s C2B Car Camera Bus (C2B) link technology for entry level HD rear-view (RVC) and surround-view (SVS) cameras and e-mirrors. 

“Combining ADI’s C2B and the OX01F10 SoC enables automotive OEMs an optimised camera performance while utilising a low-cost and flexible UTP cable harness,” said Paul Slattery, Strategic Marketing, ADI.

ADI’s C2B is an automotive HD camera link technology with indistinguishable performance to low-voltage differential signalling (LVDS) interfaces. C2B enables HD performance over a low-cost unshielded twisted pair cable harness. A high-speed backchannel allows manufacturers to optimise camera performance in real time, a step improvement over national television standards committee (NTSC) cameras.

OMNIVISION’s OX01F10 SoC integrates a 3-micron-pixel image sensor and advanced image signal processor in a single ¼-inch optical format package, enabled by the PureCel®Plus technology.

The SoC enables designers to achieve a small form factor with excellent low-light performance, low power and reduced cost while improving reliability by using only one printed circuit board. 

Integrating HD cameras into the software-defined vehicle

OMNIVISION has partnered with Marvell to demonstrate its OX03F10 and OAX4000 with multi-gigabit Ethernet camera bridge, the Marvell Brightlane 88QB5224, allowing each camera to stream data over Ethernet.

The combined solutions allow camera video that would otherwise be transported via point-to-point protocol (P2PP) to be encapsulated over Ethernet, thereby integrating cameras into the Ethernet-based in-vehicle network (IVN).

The solutions work with both interior and exterior cameras and are ideal for SVS and other applications in which numerous cameras are utilised and the output of those cameras is used, or could be used, by multiple subsystems or zones.

“Ethernet is the foundation of the software-defined vehicle. By using this Ethernet camera bridge from our Brightlane automotive portfolio to connect cameras to the zonal Ethernet switch, the cameras are integrated into the end-to-end, in-vehicle network,” said Amir Bar-Niv, vice president marketing of Marvell’s automotive business unit. “Standard Ethernet features such as security, switching, and synchronisation are now available to the camera system, and a simple software update is all that’s required when porting the system from one automobile model to another. Shorter runs to the zonal switches reduce the cable cost and weight, as well.”

Both solutions are available.