Focal-Plane Sensor-Processor Chips

Book excerpt: Focal-plane sensor-processor imager devices are sensor arrays and processor arrays embedded in each other on the same silicon chip. This close coupling enables ultra-fast processing even on tiny, low power devices, because the slow and energetically expensive transfer of the large amount of sensory data is eliminated. This technology also makes it possible to produce locally adaptive sensor arrays, which can (similarly to the human retina) adapt to the large dynamics of the illumination in a single scene This book focuses on the implementation and application of state-of-the-art vision chips. It provides an overview of focal plane chip technology, smart imagers and cellular wave computers, along with numerous examples of current vision chips, 3D sensor-processor arrays and their applications. Coverage includes not only the technology behind the devices, but also their near- and mid-term research trends.