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To: DiViT who wrote (29960)	2/26/1998 3:50:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Rockwell two-chip digital video camera sends digital video data over a computer's USB bus. It uses a proprietary video compression algortihm to send images over the USB at 30 frames/second. Help, it needs CUBE for MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 image compression! We cannot be far from inexpensive digital video camera solutions. Don't forget -- Intel is working on CMOS image sensors. Since the Intel 740 chip has a VMI (video module interface -- the one that CUBE's ZiVA connects to) interface which accepts digital video inputs, I wouldn't be surprised to see Intel introduce a digital camera that plugs into CUBE's DVx MPEG-2 codec (Chelsea-II?) and the 740 chip, thereby giving us a compressed MPEG-2 video input into the PC. techweb.cmp.com Posted: 3:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98 Rockwell imaging chips plug into USB By Stephan Ohr NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- In an effort to reinforce its position in the emerging market for CMOS imagers, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems is now offering a digital camera engine. The Rp0352 device complements the Ri0352A single-chip CMOS imager introduced earlier this year. When used in tandem, the digital camera engine and the imager offer a two-chip solution for PC-based video image capture and conferencing. The Rp0352 digital camera engine performs image reconstruction, color correction and camera-control functions. It can also compress an image to allow transmission at 30 frames/second on the Universal Serial Bus (USB). Rockwell is following Intel and Winbond in using USB for video, though it relies on a proprietary compression algorithm that may not conform to H.261 video compression standards. The Rockwell algorithm makes it possible to transfer 30 frames/s of Common Intermediate Format (CIF) images (352 x 288 pixels) across the USB. In principle, the 10-Mbit/s USB has enough bandwidth to transfer video, but interrupts generated by other peripherals on the bus will effectively narrow the pipe. Though the 1394 serial interface, at 400 Mbits/s, has been highly touted for video, manufacturers like Intel, Winbond and others have elected to take advantage of the USB ports now available on most PCs. "USB has maturity and accessibility," said David Escobar, Rockwell's product line manager for digital imaging, "and Windows 98 will be influential in promoting USB drivers." Rockwell will provide a reference design for its USB camera to interested parties, said Escobar. The two-chip solution, moreover, lends itself to a possible single-chip implementation in the future, the company said. One advantage of CMOS imagers over CCDs, according to vendors, is that CMOS technology can integrate signal-conditioning circuitry and digital image processors, thus paving the way for the vaunted single-chip camera. There may be some compromise in light sensitivity, Escobar said, as the geometries of the CMOS light-sensing elements shrink. (For example, an evening panel at last month's International Solid-State Circuits Conference concluded that CMOS light sensors were not practical on ICs with line widths smaller than 0.25 micron.) Rockwell's imagers currently use a 0.5-micron circuit with a 7 x 7-micron pixel dimension for the light sensor. Though Rockwell will likely shrink the geometry of its camera circuits to 0.35 and later 0.25 micron, the pixel width of the light sensor will not drop below 5.5 microns, said Escobar. The dimensions of the light-sensing array, moreover, are compatible with the 0.5- or 0.25-inch optical apertures used by most digital cameras. Rockwell's camera engine outputs video in a YUV 4:2:0 pixel format or as raw RGB data.