| Type | Privately Held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California , China, Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, India, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States |
| Key people | Dave E. Orton, CEO Bob Gove, President & Chief Technology Officer Joe Passerello, Chief Financial Officer |
| Products | CMOS image sensors, Image processors |
| Employees | 700+ Worldwide |
| Website | www.aptina.com |
Aptina Imaging Corporation ("Aptina") provides CMOS imaging technologies and solutions that enable high-quality imaging. Aptina's products can be found in mobile phones, digital, and video cameras, notebook computers, surveillance cameras, and medical, automotive and industrial applications, as well as videoconferencing, barcode scanners, toys and gaming products.[1]
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Like many Silicon Valley high-technology companies, both the history of imaging technology and that of Aptina can be traced back to several industry giants. In 1969, Dr s. Willard Boyle and George Smith developed the charge-coupled-device (CCD) while they were both researchers in the Semiconductor Components Division at Bell Laboratories.[2] Boyle and Smith's invention sparked a digital imaging revolution.
In the 1990s, Dr. Eric Fossum conducted research at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) that made CMOS image sensors practical for space applications due to their advantages over CCDs including lower power consumption and less susceptibility to radiation damage in space.[3] This research led to the development of CMOS active pixel sensors that included many on-chip functions, allowing for more portability, lower power consumption, and complete miniature imaging systems. Dr. Fossum and several of his JPL co-workers took this technology from the research lab and formed Photobit Corporation.[4]
Photobit was the first company to commercialize CMOS image sensors and it found design wins with manufacturers like Logitech for its QuickCam Express, Basler AG for high-speed machine vision solutions, Shick Technologies for dental radiography and Gentex, providing CMOS imagers for their automatic-dimming mirrors.[1] In 2001, Micron Technology acquired Photobit and combined the technology with its own semiconductor process to deliver CMOS imaging to the industry on a broader level.[5]
In December 2006, the Micron Imaging Group acquired Avago Technologies' image-sensor business. The acquisition provided Micron with an experienced imaging team, select imaging products and intellectual property relating to Avago's image sensor business.[6]
At its inception in 2008, Aptina was a division of Micron Technologies responsible for creating image sensor technologies. In 2009, Micron partially sold the newly formed Aptina to TPG and Riverwood Capital . Aptina Imaging Corporation officially became a separate legal company in July 2009. Micron remains a partial owner of the company.[5]
Other key milestones:
Aptina™ A-Pix™ Technology,[10] Aptina A-Pix is a series of advanced pixel technologies, featuring lightguide and deep photodiode, and 65 nanometer pixel design rules that cost-effectively advance pixel performance. A-Pix technology enhances quantum efficiency and minimizes crosstalk[6] to capture sharp images with vibrant colors even in the low-light conditions that challenge traditional sensors. Aptina A-Pix technology provides mobile phone camera users with picture quality and an overall imaging experience, as close as possible, to what they would get with a digital still camera. It also enables a new class of hybrid camera that combines digital still image capture with advanced high-performance HD video. Aptina has already shipped millions of imaging products containing A-Pix technology. Continuing with this success, Aptina offers a wide range of 1.4-micrometre products to leverage the latest advances in Aptina A-Pix technology. This technology is also contributing to Aptina's 1.1-micrometre backside illumination (BSI) solutions.
Aptina™ DR-Pix™ Technology,[11] Aptina DR-Pix technology combines two modes of operation in one pixel design – a low conversion gain mode for large charge handling capacity in bright scenes and a high conversion gain mode with increased sensitivity and low read noise for low-light scenes. The result is a sensor that offers maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) across all scene lighting and ISO speed conditions.
Aptina HiSPi Interface Technology The HiSPi (High-Speed Serial Pixel) interface was developed and is owned by Aptina . The open-access, scalable technology enables 1080p/60 frame/s performance and has been adopted by many of Aptina's business partners. The technology offers advantages for high-speed, low power consumption data transfer.[10]
Image sensors,[12] CMOS sensors use multiple in-pixel transistors to amplify and move the charge generated by incoming photons of light, enabling the pixels to be read individually. The CMOS manufacturing process uses standard semiconductor technology, which lowers the production cost significantly, and can make integration simpler. Other widely accepted advantages of CMOS image sensors include lower power requirements, increased portability, and the ability to create miniaturized imaging systems.[13]
Resolutions are now high enough and run at fast enough frame rates to enable advanced-camera features like electronic pan, tilt, and zoom or image stabilization. CMOS architecture allows for random pixel access and window-of-interest readout for applications requiring image compression, motion detection, or target tracking.[13]
In a teardown conducted in 2010, TechInsights discovered that the CMOS image sensors used in the Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect are provided by Aptina (the die markings on the sensors still refer to Micron Imaging, which was spun off into Aptina in 2008). The infrared camera uses the MT9M001 sensor and RGB input from the color camera features the MT9M112 sensor.[14]
Image Processors/SOCs,[15] Digital image signal processors (ISPs) and SOCs use algorithms, or well-defined step-by-step instructions, to adjust the raw data an image sensor collects so that the processed image or video is more visually pleasing than the original. In other words, SOCs and ISPs make the image look more like what the mind's eye sees, eliminating image blemishes, compensating for poor lighting conditions, or even correcting for a shaky hand or for bad focus.[13]
High-performance imaging is the result of years of experience and innovation. It requires a precise understanding of how light energy is converted into digital signals. A leader in this space, Aptina offered one of the industry's first imaging SOCs and offers a portfolio of companion chip digital ISPs.[13]
SOCs, which are built right on to the image sensor at the silicon level, are designed to work with the sensor they are attached to. As a result, signal processing is optimized when the sensor is most utilized. They're a compact, one-chip solution, making them easy to integrate, which can potentially lower overall system cost.[13]
Wafer-level Cameras (WLCs),[16] Wafer-level camera modules provide functionality similar to today's camera modules, but, as the name implies, they are manufactured at the wafer level. The entire camera system – lens elements, filter, sensor and processor — are included in a minuscule, integrated package, enabling ultra-slim handsets. The reflowable module simplifies the handset manufacturing process, providing increased efficiency and potentially significant cost advantages.