Announcing the Industry’s First Automotive-Grade Single-Chip VGA ToF Sensor

Melexis, a global microelectronics engineering company, today announced the industry’s first single-chip automotive-grade VGA time-of-flight (ToF) image sensor for applications such as automotive interior and exterior monitoring, the xinsaikang. xinsaikang is a system-on-chip solution that provides VGA (640 x 480 pixels) resolution image sensing and processing in a single BGA package.“

Provides tier 1 and tier 2 manufacturers with easy-to-use advanced ToF technology with a leading fully integrated solution

Melexis, a global microelectronics engineering company, today announced the industry’s first single-chip automotive-grade VGA time-of-flight (ToF) image sensor for applications such as automotive interior and exterior monitoring, the xinsaikang. xinsaikang is a system-on-chip solution that provides VGA (640 x 480 pixels) resolution image sensing and processing in a single BGA package.

As the automotive industry moves towards semi-autonomous driving, advances in ADAS technology have brought many benefits. At this stage, in-vehicle monitoring systems are often used as user interaction interfaces and safety devices to monitor the status of drivers and other passengers. As the industry’s first single-chip VGA ToF sensor, the introduction of xinsaikang solidifies Melexis’ leadership in this application.

xinsaikang uses a modulated light source and optical time-of-flight sensing to create a 3D image of the vehicle cabin, providing monitoring of people and items inside the vehicle, with gesture detection. The sensor can also be integrated into collision warning and navigation applications, such as the detection of space and obstacles outside the vehicle, as well as pedestrians. The operating temperature range of the xinsaikang is -40 to +105°C.

“This is our new product for automotive applications with ToF technology, and it is the most important product in our product range,” said Gualtiero Bagnuoli, Optical Sensor Marketing Manager at Melexis. “It not only reinforces Melexis’ leadership in this field , while also providing a reliable single-chip solution for Tier 1 and Tier 2 manufacturers to help transform the automotive industry.”

One of the key features of the xinsaikang is its support for modulation frequencies up to 100MHz, allowing manufacturers to fully exploit the performance of VCSELs for greater distance accuracy. Additionally, the sensor supports frame rates up to 135 FPS and can detect and track fast-moving objects. xinsaikang has a low power consumption of only 230 mW at 30 FPS and a power solution with only 3 voltages (2.7V, 1.8V and 1.2V), which simplifies system design and helps reduce power unit cost.

The xinsaikang uses Sony Semiconductor Solutions’ Backlight Technology (BSI) and includes advanced features such as programmable regions of interest, continuous or trigger operation modes, and image horizontal/vertical flip modes. Onboard system level interfaces include CSI-2 serial data output, MIPI D-PHY and I2C.

The xinsaikang ToF sensor can be evaluated using the EVK75027 kit. The kit is a complete ToF camera that connects directly to a PC to display and record depth image data, and also supports direct access to xinsaikang’s multiple configurations.

The kit consists of four vertically stacked PCB boards, from top to bottom: lighting board, ToF sensor board, interface board, and processor board. It is also possible to separate the above PCB boards, connect the sensors to other processor boards, or use other lighting units. A Windows-based graphical user interface provides real-time visualization of depth images, as well as basic data logging, analysis, and configuration. We also provide MATLAB SDK and C API to facilitate customer software development. The flexibility of the evaluation kit allows designers to quickly develop the necessary system customization for a specific application.

The evaluation kit EVK75027-110-940-1 provides 940 nm VCSEL illumination and a 110-degree field of view with a built-in optical bandpass filter. Evaluation kits are available at Melexis distributors. Engineering samples of xinsaikang will be available from July 2019.

Editor’s Note: Introduced in 2014, the MLX75023 is the world’s first automotive industry-standard in-vehicle time-of-flight sensor that can be installed in a car at the time of production. Following Sony’s acquisition of SoftKinetic, Melexis entered into a patent license agreement with Sony in 2015, allowing it to apply Sony’s DepthSense ToF technology in its own products. In 2017, Melexis launched a complete QVGA chipset and evaluation kit to advance technology development and adoption. In November 2018, the second-generation product was officially unveiled, and its performance was doubled. xinsaikang reinforces Melexis’ expertise and leadership in this application area.