Automotive CMOS image sensors

After penetrating the consumer and industrial world for over a decade, digital imaging is slowly but inevitably gaining marketshare in the automotive world. Cameras will become a key sensor in increasing car safety, driving assistance and driving comfort. The image sensors for automotive will be dominated by CMOS sensors as the requirements are different from the consumer market or the industrial or medical markets. Dynamic range, temperature range, cost, speed and many others are key parameters that need to be optimized. For this reason, automotive sensors differ from the other market's sensors and need to use different design and processing techniques in order to achieve the automotive specifications. This paper will show how Melexis has developed two CMOS imagers to target the automotive safety market and automotive CMOS imagers in general.