Jiweiwang News At present, 3D sensing has become an important upgrade trend for products in many fields such as consumer electronics, automobiles, security, and industry. Currently, the main way to implement this technology in the industry is dual. There are three categories: visual vision, ToF (time of flight), and structured light. Among them, the development of structured light and ToF solutions is inseparable from the blessing of micro ToF sensors.
As these 3D sensing technologies cover more areas, the market demand for micro ToF sensors continues to increase.
Multiple fields support the development of 3D technology
In the field of consumer electronics represented by mobile phones, micro ToF sensors have long been used in face recognition functions.
Not only that, thanks to the huge leap in transmission rate of terminal products in the 5G era, micro ToF sensors also have more possibilities. We are in many fields such as home, security, vehicle, logistics, industry, etc. In all fields, the application of micro ToF sensors can be seen.
Let’s take the mobile phone market as an example. When the iPhone , thereby achieving the purpose of assisting focus and saving energy.
At the same time, as the face recognition function becomes popular on major brands of smartphones, the penetration rate of micro ToF sensors in the consumer electronics market has also increased significantly.
Looking back at 2014, a major international first-tier manufacturer launched the first micro ToF sensor, and subsequently derived many products of the same series. So far, the annual shipment volume of this series of sensors has exceeded 100 million.
Different from front-facing face recognition application scenarios, in mobile phone rear cameras, when using micro-ToF sensors for laser focusing, a detection distance of more than 3m is required, and dtof technology itself is more suitable Suitable for longer distance ranging scenarios that require high ranging accuracy. Therefore, the industry has gradually formed an upgrading trend of using dtof technology in miniature ToF sensors.
Highlighting the four major product advantages
Guangwei Technology is a high-tech enterprise that simultaneously masters chip research and development, process manufacturing and imaging algorithms in the field of 3D vision. It is headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China , and has R&D centers in Shanghai and Oregon, USA. At present, the number of R&D personnel in the company accounts for more than 75% of the total number of employees.
Although it has only been established for 5 years, the company has a deep foundation in research in the field of ToF technology. It is the first team in China to develop TOF 3D chip technology, from chip design, process, algorithm to system. We have rich experience in the entire integration process.
Jiwei.com learned that thanks to its control of market trends, Optical Micro Technology launched the country’s first single-point TOF micro sensor in 2020 and successfully mass-produced it in October of that year. . In addition, the company will also launch a performance upgraded version of DTOF single-point sensor in 2021.
It is reported that the new generation of DTOF single-point sensor integrates a vcsel that meets human eye safety class 1, a DTOF sensor, micro lenses and optical components. Its advantages are reflected in the following four aspects.
1. Integrated multi-pixel single-photon SPAD (single-photon avalanche diode), combined with optical filters, can adapt to ranging in outdoor and outdoor strong light environments;
2. Built-in High-precision and high-speed TDC (time-to-digital converter), the ranging is more accurate, and the ranging error can still be less than 5% even when measuring 4m;
3. The integrated microcontroller can process single Photon counting (TCSPC, statistical histogram) and related algorithms;
4. Based on the histogram principle, it can detect multiple targets and suppress the effects of cover dirt, fingerprints, stains, etc.
Device structure:
In addition, this dToF single-point ranging sensor can also achieve multi-pixel resolution and 940nm photosensitive band, with a ranging frequency of 60Hz. In terms of application scenarios, It has also expanded from mobile phones to projectors, smart homes, smart glasses, security, logistics, industry and other fields.
Jiwei.com learned that in the dToF field, the dToF single-point sensor independently developed by Guangwei Technology has recently completed the research and development of engineering samples. It is believed that this sensor will enter the finished product sample delivery soon. stage.
Comprehensive technical layout
As mentioned above, although the overall dToF market size is expected to achieve greater growth in the future, the vast majority of terminal manufacturers have not given up on iToF. Layout; on the contrary, iToF solutions are still required in some scenarios, which also means that iToF is still one of the indispensable mainstream solutions in the 3D sensing market.
From this point of view, only by mastering two technologies at the same time can we gain greater development space in the field of 3D perception. As early as its establishment, Optical Microelectronics Technology conducted technical pre-research on ToF, and the pre-research direction included two technical routes: iToF and dToF.
In addition to making breakthrough progress in dToF, the company completed internal testing of the first iToF area array sensor with QVGA resolution as early as 2017. At the end of 2020, Optics Technology’s iToF area array sensor was officially launched. Launched, many projects have entered the evaluation and testing stage.
With its unique optical technology, Optical Micro Technology can improve the infrared performance of ToF sensors to a greater extent. In addition to its research and development capabilities, Optical Micro Technology also has process, algorithm, etc. compared to many companies. advantages.
Thanks to maintaining a good partnership with the wafer factory, Optical Micro Technology has achieved independent research and development and in-depth customization in the process. Based on the 8-inch process, it can be compatible with the CIS process to the greatest extent and has a cost advantage. And from the underlying process and device level, combined with unique optical technology, TOF chip performance is fully optimized.
It is worth mentioning that Guangwei Technology also provides supporting 3D image algorithms for ToF chips, so as to obtain better 3D depth processing data.
Based on the above, since the Sino-US trade friction has not stopped, the impact on the industrial chain has also continued, resulting in major changes in the current international environment and production capacity supply and demand. Faced with these complex and unpredictable impacts, only companies that take into account all strengths can seek greater development opportunities.
(Proofreading/Fan Rong)