Interpret the image processor behind the mainstream brand mobile phone camera

21ic news into the end of August, the mobile phone market has become very lively, there is a big battle for you to sing my debut - Meizu MX3 just released, Xiaomi 3, Sony Xperia Z1, Galaxy Note III, iPhone 5S / C, OPPO N1 continue to live Debut... Almost without exception, camera features have become one of the main functional appeals of these industry-focused star products. Today, with the increasing homogenization of smart phones, cameras have become one of the focal points for manufacturers to differentiate their products in product promotion. Anti-shake, high-speed continuous shooting, beauty... various functional features are eye-catching.

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The so-called layman is lively, the insider looks at the doorway, behind all kinds of propaganda rhetoric, is the competition of software and hardware technical strength. Mobile phone cameras are limited by size, and it is inevitable that the lens is small enough to fit the package of the mobile phone camera. This makes the image signal obtained by the image sensor difficult to be as good as a digital camera, so the image processor is a key function module of the digital camera function. (ISP) plays a "heavy role" in improving the quality of images captured by image sensors.

Among these "star" products, the Meizu MX3 mobile phone camera has publicly adopted the Fujitsu 4-channel ISP chip. Coincidentally, in the current popular models of many domestic and foreign brands, including Meizu MX2, Samsung Galaxy Note II and Galaxy ZOOM, as well as several mainstream mainstream mobile phone products of OPPO, we can also find Fujitsu ISP technology. To this end, the author recently interviewed Holmes Shen, head of image processing technology at Fujitsu Semiconductor Co., Ltd., and looked forward to the "those things" of the mobile phone camera ISP.

Analyze the technical genes of mainstream digital camera ISP Milbeaut

The Fujitsu digital camera ISP product family has been developed to the sixth generation based on its image processor Milbeaut technology, which began in 2000. As the core device of digital camera products, Milbeaut is a real "behind-the-scenes hero", its name is not known to most people, and it is difficult to find too many related introductions on the Internet. But the first data that Holmes throws makes people have to look at Milbeaut: "Milbeaut occupies more than 50% of the global digital camera ISP market. The world's leading digital camera manufacturers almost all cooperate with us, and there are also in SLR digital cameras. A lot of successful applications."

In recent years, high-pixel cameras have gradually become the mainstream configuration of mid- to high-end mobile phones, and independent ISPs have outstanding graphics processing capabilities, and began to replace the integrated ISP in the 5 million-pixel era. Such independent ISPs are beginning to enter the stage of mobile applications. Most smartphone vendors today tend to use dedicated ISPs because they deliver image quality and performance comparable to high-end digital cameras. Fujitsu Semiconductor has developed the Milbeaut Mobile ISP series for mobile camera applications based on its image processor Milbeaut, which is the leader in the digital camera market, and successfully replicated its leading technology in digital camera ISP chips to mobile camera applications. It is reported that Fujitsu's image processing LSI ensures a nearly 80% share in terminals equipped with Japanese-made cameras with more than 8 megapixels.

“In 2008, the third-generation Milbeaut Mobile ISP was the first to adopt a variety of features that were successfully applied in digital cameras, such as continuous autofocus for still image photography, face recognition,” Holmes pointed out, “The sixth generation of Milbeaut Mobile ISP MBG046 uses almost all camera functions, and also has high-definition video (1920x1080 pixels) continuous autofocus, and the market demand video processor." In the interview, Holmes's leading features of Milbeaut are as good as: "MBG046 basic functions Features include real-time conversion and correction of signals from sensors and output to the application processor. The ISP is optimized for the mobile camera system, enabling the application processor to directly display the received image data and store the data directly without modification..." According to Holmes's detailed introduction, the main features of Milbeaut Mobile ISP MBG046 can be summarized as follows:

High speed image processing. The MBG046 image processor performs basic image processing functions, enabling image processing of 24 frames per second, 8 MB per frame, and high-definition image processing of more than 30 frames per second. Almost all basic image processing functions are implemented in hardware, enabling high processing speeds and low power consumption. In addition, since the application processor is the next stage in the image processing flow of the mobile phone camera, if the data from the sensor cannot be converted in time and the calibration process is performed, for the application of the video, which is sensitive to the response speed, There is a problem with delay. The Milbeaut Mobile ISP realizes fast processing by transmitting image data processed by the image processor unit directly to the image output unit instead of performing various interpolation processing via SDRAM in the usual scheme, thereby eliminating the delay caused by signal conversion and correction processing. Time.

Superior noise cancellation. Since camera applications faced by Milbeaut Mobile ISP products are generally not possible with camera lenses that are comparable to digital cameras, it is important to ensure image quality is challenging, especially for image noise. Therefore, the MBG046 image processor uses a more powerful mechanism than digital cameras to ensure the elimination of luminance noise and color noise. To eliminate noise without reducing resolution, the latest technology is used in the MBG046 so that different noise cancellation methods can be used simultaneously to match image quality.

Optimized software configuration. Software processing is an important part of the camera system and is an integral part of hardware sequence control and "3A" (automatic white balance adjustment, auto exposure adjustment, auto focus adjustment) operations. In design, Fujitsu transfers tasks that involve complex processing, but the amount of computation is light, to software implementation, while processing image data with a large amount of computation is implemented by dedicated hardware. This configuration allows more CPU resources to be used for additional software image processing (motion compensation, face recognition, etc.), which allows the system to be more flexible and more resources for advanced processing performance.

Customized design services bring differential design opportunities

In addition to the technical characteristics of the chip, Holmes also emphasizes the value of Fujitsu's customized design services to meet customer needs. "Technical support is another aspect of Fujitsu's customers. We can help our customers to achieve market speed as soon as possible according to their definition of camera function and performance, combined with our professional Knowhow." Holmes pointed out, "For example, the newly released Meizu MX3. Mobile phones, at the stage of product definition, our technical support team of more than a dozen technical experts participated."

The Meizu MX3 release has won wide acclaim in the industry, especially its camera function uses four-channel Fujitsu ISP, which achieves many breakthrough performance designs under the same configuration - 20 continuous shooting, zero-latency camera technology, fourth generation white balance algorithm The Fujitsu four-channel ISP chip used in the MX3 is twice as fast as the traditional two-channel ISP. These unique features are behind a lot of design exploration and innovative exploration of key technologies, such as the Meizu publicity. The tens of thousands of optimizations were made for the fourth-generation white balance algorithm; the “zero-latency camera” technique cleverly picks out the best picture from the first 1/8 second at the moment of pressing the camera button, thus avoiding Shutter jitter.

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Three core competencies emphasized by Fujitsu: quality, ecosystem and technical support

Holmes also mentioned another custom design detail - in the MX3 camera solution, the Fujitsu engineering team designed the front 2 megapixel camera and the rear 8 megapixel camera to share the same ISP by working with the Meizu design team. This ensures the consistency of photo quality when taking pictures with the front and back cameras. Previously, many front-facing cameras used the built-in ISP of the sensor module to perform pre-shooting image processing, and the consistency of photos was often difficult to guarantee.

“In fact, such customized design services are carried out among many major customers. This kind of tailor-made design cooperation can help customers to make up for their shortcomings by borrowing our professional experience.” Holmes pointed out that “digital camera design involves a lot of The professional technical knowledge and IP, which is not only lacked by many mobile phone manufacturers, but also difficult for many ISP manufacturers, because behind this is a large amount of case and time technology accumulation." It is reported that Fujitsu is currently responsible for Milbeaut products. The engineering team consists of more than 150 people, most of whom have 8 or 9 years of R&D experience. “The mainland R&D team works with the customer's design team. Their rich experience can satisfy most of the customer's needs. For deeper technology customization needs, Fujitsu Japan's core team can participate in providing support,” Holmes said.

Future trends require more ISPs

Recently, some professional analysts believe that in 2014, the industry will launch 16 million pixel mobile phones. In 2015, mobile phones may have 2k and 4k requirements. Face recognition and gesture functions will soon become the standard for high-end mobile phones... except for higher pixels. The development trend puts higher demands on the main features of the camera module, such as higher frame rate, more prominent 3A performance, more challenging low-power design and so on.

"For smartphone applications, low-power features are a permanent topic," Holmes said. "How to use hardware and software optimization, even with unique process technologies to achieve low power consumption, is a challenge that ISP vendors must address." It is reported that the current average power consumption of the Fujitsu M10MO ISP at 1080P@30FPS is about 280mW, which is a very low level in the industry. "In the future, we may achieve lower power consumption with semiconductor processes of 40nm or even 20nm and below," Holmes said. In terms of low power consumption, Fujitsu has SuVolta's Deep Depletion Channel (DDC) technology license, which can further reduce chip power consumption by 15-20%. Fujitsu's latest MB86S22AA Milbeau image processor is the industry's first DDC-based chip that delivers approximately twice the processing performance compared to existing products while reducing power consumption by 30%.

"It is also worth noting that higher pixel image processing and 2K, 4K video will be very different from current image processing methods, which will require higher bandwidth, and cost and power consumption will be under great pressure. Both pose great challenges to the technical capabilities of image processor vendors," Holmes noted. According to Holmes, Fujitsu supports a number of leading new features of ISP products expected to be available by the end of this year or early next year, will support 16M@30FPS camera, H.264 video compression format, 1080P@60FPS video features and so on. And there will be new upgrades in the algorithm, including the adoption of new noise cancellation algorithms and new CI algorithms.

What are the outstanding features and performances of the upcoming Milbeaut Mobile ISP? What are the innovative ideas in circuit design and algorithms? What impact will it have on mobile phone cameras? For these questions, Holmes did not disclose more technical details, we will wait and see. .

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