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MIPI Alliance Releases Two Standards To Ease Camera Phone Development; Mobile Industry Collaborates on CSI-2 and D-PHY Specifications for Serial Camera Interface

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 09:00 CST

The Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance today announced the release of two new specifications which will accelerate the development of next-generation camera phones by expanding the interoperability of sensors and processors and reducing the development time of semiconductor, camera sensor, and phone vendors. Motivated by the fragmentation wrought by incompatible proprietary interfaces, the MIPI Alliance brings together more than 90 leading companies in pursuit of open standards to converge interfaces inside mobile terminals.

The standards announced today are the first in a series of specifications aimed at that goal. D-PHY is a scalable, low-power, high-speed physical layer upon which several MIPI interface standards will be based. CSI-2 (Camera Serial Interface 2) leverages D-PHY to deliver a comprehensive solution for interconnecting the camera sensors and host processors typically found in camera phones. Phone manufacturers will soon enjoy a broader pool of potential suppliers, and processor and sensor vendors will no longer face the burden of developing and maintaining multiple incompatible interface technologies.

CSI-2: A compelling case for convergence of camera interfaces

CSI-2 solves the interconnect challenge facing the mobile industry as camera phones shrink in size and move far beyond 2 Mpixel resolutions. It is a scalable, low-pin-count, low-power, high-bandwidth interface between camera sensors and application processors. Camera phone designers had previously been limited to either pin-hungry parallel interfaces, or choosing from several incompatible, lower bandwidth, often proprietary serial interfaces. With the release of CSI-2, designers now have a technically superior, open standard alternative. The low pin-count of CSI-2 enables camera signals to be carried across the limited conductors in the flex circuits of flip phone hinges. The data rate of CSI-2 - which can scale as high as 4 Gbps - enables new camera features, adds flexibility to phone architectures and can support sensor resolutions beyond 10 Mpixel.

Leading phone manufacturers, camera sensor vendors, and processor suppliers collaborated in the development of CSI-2, ensuring it meets the diverse technical requirements of each segment. Many of those companies are now developing products using CSI-2, promising rapid adoption of CSI-2 as the standard interface to camera peripherals in the mobile industry.

D-PHY to spawn additional interface solutions

The physical layer, or PHY, is the heart of any advanced, serial interconnect standard. Very different peripherals often share similar requirements at the PHY level. Recognizing this, MIPI developed a single D-PHY specification as a re-usable physical layer solution upon which MIPI camera interfaces, display panel interfaces, and general-purpose high-speed/low-power interfaces could be based. This helped streamline the development of multiple standards in MIPI, but also benefits the companies implementing these interfaces in semiconductor products, since much of the PHY engineering investment can be re-used on subsequent designs.

MIPI D-PHY delivers up to 1Gbps per lane via an advanced source-synchronous, differential SLVS design which is scalable to the number of lanes required by the application. D-PHY meets the demanding requirements of low-power, low-noise-generation, and high-noise-immunity which mobile phone designs demand. Based on 1.2V supplies, it scales well across future semiconductor process technologies, promising a long life for standards based upon D-PHY.

Industry Support is Key to Success

CSI-2 and D-PHY were developed through the contributions of more than 100 engineers from dozens of leading mobile industry companies. "It's difficult to argue with something that has consensus support from a large majority of the mobile industry," said Tom Vial, Chairman of the Board, MIPI Alliance, Inc. "I am highly confident that CSI-2 and D-PHY will be widely adopted by the mobile industry because these specs have traction with leading companies and the features and performance are well-aligned with emerging market requirements."

As the first major deliverable from the MIPI Alliance, these specifications also hint at future standards currently under development. A specification for serial display interfaces is currently being finalized. Two general-purpose interfaces, one targeted at low-bandwidth peripherals and another at high-bandwidth peripherals, are next in line. "Literally tens of thousands of hours invested by member company participants are now beginning to yield dividends to the industry," said Vial. "The entire organization is excited about the impact we expect to make in 2006."

About The MIPI Alliance

The Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance is a collaboration of mobile industry leaders with the objective to define and promote open standards for interfaces to mobile application processors. Through these open standards, the MIPI Alliance intends to speed deployment of new services to mobile users by establishing specifications for standard hardware and software interfaces to mobile application processors and encouraging the adoption of those standards throughout the industry value chain. The MIPI Alliance is intended to complement existing standards bodies with a focus on microprocessors, peripherals and software interfaces.

About MIPI Specifications

MIPI Specifications are currently available only to MIPI Alliance member companies. Interested companies are welcome to join the MIPI Alliance. Membership includes limited royalty-free intellectual property rights and obligations. For more information on membership in the MIPI Alliance, visit www.mipi.org.

About MIPI Members

More than 90 member companies participate in the MIPI Alliance, including nearly every leading supplier of mobile phones, applications processors, baseband modems, display panels, camera sensors, and audio and power peripherals. A complete list of member companies can be found at www.mipi.org.

More Information about this release

Member Testimonials: Including quotes from Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, ATI, Broadcom, ESS, Freescale, Infineon, Micron, National Semiconductor, Philips, Renesas, Sonion and Synopsys. Available at: http://www.mipi.org/docs/mipi-testimonials-051130.pdf

MIPI Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.mipi.org/docs/mipi-faq-051130.pdf

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

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