MIPI camera boards with sensor variety

10th March 2020

Alex Lynn

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Vision Components adapts its wide range of machine vision image sensors on MIPI camera modules and integrates non-native MIPI sensors such as Sony Pregius IMX250 and IMX252. The portfolio currently comprises ten sensors with resolutions up to 20 MP and is being continuously expanded. It includes global shutter, rolling shutter, and global reset shutter versions.

The latter offer significant price advantages over global shutter variants with roughly the same functionality. The compact, only 23.5mm wide VC MIPI boards feature a 22-pin MIPI CSI-2 port for FPC (flexible printed circuit) cables. They are compatible to over 20 CPU boards including NVIDIA Jetson, DragonBoard, all Raspberry Pi boards, and all 96 boards.

Vision Components has developed proprietary shielded FPC cables that ensure robust data transfer and support the full bandwidth of the MIPI standard. The cables with two or four transmission lanes can be connected to 15 and 22-pin MIPI ports. Depending on the processor, this allows communication at twice the maximum speed of USB3 cameras.

The MIPI standard supports relatively short transfer distances. Vision Components has developed repeaters for its 200 mm cables that can amplify the signal up to five times. This allows transmission paths to be extended to more than one metre without compromising speed or signal quality. The repeater board also features a trigger interface (image trigger input/flash trigger output) and thereby augments CPU boards lacking these particular interfaces.

The VC MIPI range furthermore includes lens holders, filter discs, adapter boards, as well as custom carrier boards and interface extensions. In addition, the manufacturer has already developed stable drivers for the most common hardware combinations and is steadily continuing this work to connect additional boards. Vision Components provides these drivers to its customers free of charge.