Photobit Develops Micro-Power, Micro-DotCMOS Image Sensor

PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 7 -- Photobit Corp. plans to unveil the details of a micro-power, micro-dot size sensor at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco. Photobit says that the camera-on-a-chip uses only 48 mW of power at its core, enabling it to run on a watch battery. The company expects applications for the sensor, which was co-designed by Photobit chairman and chief scientist Eric R. Fossum and senior research scientist Alexander Krymski, to include both defense and commercial markets.
This sensor moves us closer to the realization of the 'Dick Tracy' video watch because of its ability to run on a watch battery and its tiny footprint, said Sabrina Kemeny, CEO of Photobit. The device's array size (quarter common intermediate format, or QCIF) of 176 H x 144 V, or 25,300 pixels, allows for a silicon die size of 2-mm square. The digital chip employs Photobit's active-pixel technology, combining camera signal-processing functions on one piece of silicon to provide full-frame 8-bit monochrome video at 20 frames per second on 1.2 volts of power. Photobit developed the sensor under a Small Business Innovative Research program contract for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.