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Category Archives: ARM

Critical Link Expands MityCAM Family to Include New Low-Light Options

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MityCAM-B2521F-webCritical Link is pleased to announce additional low-light options in its MityCAM family of imaging and vision solutions. The MityCAM-B1910F is based on Fairchild Imaging’s CIS 1910F sCMOS sensor, and complements the original MityCAM-B2521F, which is now shipping.

Both products were developed with the support of partner Fairchild Imaging, a division of BAE Systems and the premier supplier of high-performance sCMOS image sensors. sCMOS, or scientific CMOS, sensors combine benefits of CMOS and CCD sensors currently on the market, delivering high-quality images in low-light situations where other technology would be ineffective.

MityCAM-B2521F offers a 5.5MP resolution, and represents the upper limit of technology in terms of low-light image quality and on-board processing capability.  At 2.1MP, the MityCAM-B1910F provides a cost-effective option for applications requiring on-board processing at a lower resolution. Both platforms feature very low read noise, wide dynamic range, a large format, and high frame rates that are useful for intra-scene image processing and monitoring of dynamic events.

The MityCAM platformMityCAM_RGB is designed to be customizable with a variety of high-performance sensors, SoC processors featuring tightly integrated ARM and FPGA fabric, and multiple I/O options. Customers benefit from the platform’s flexibility, with each building block tailorable to suit the application. Production-ready configurations include full cameras, complete 3-board sets, and partial board sets for customers who elect to design their own sensor or I/O boards.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Fairchild Imaging to develop platforms that combine two potent technologies: their sCMOS sensors with our Altera Cyclone V SoC System on Modules,” said Omar Rahim, Critical Link’s co-founder and Vice President of Imaging Solutions. “This fills a gap for OEMs seeking turn-key embedded imaging solutions with on-board processing, allowing them to focus on developing their algorithms and other Intellectual Property.”

The Critical Link team will be demonstrating these new products November 4-6, 2014 in Stuttgart, Germany at VISION, the leading world trade fair for machine vision. At the show, the company plans to conduct a low-light demo with the MityCAM-B2521F. They will also demonstrate niche benefits of other available sensors, like the windowing capabilities of MityCAM-C8000, a soon-to-be released product Critical Link plans to unveil at VISION.

“MityCAM-B2521F, -B1910F, and -C8000 are highly configurable products and we’re looking forward to showing them off,” said Rahim. “We’re also excited to discuss future Critical Link technology with industry leaders. For instance, we plan to integrate next-generation sensors like the Hawkeye from Fairchild Imaging. The Hawkeye is a sCMOS sensor similar to the others, but offers superior low-light image quality and intra-scene dynamic range in a more economical package. That’s a combination of features that is sure to interest a lot of industries.”

For more information about the MityCAM platform and currently available models, visit https://www.criticallink.com/products/scientific-cameras/mitycam-platform/.

About Critical Link

Syracuse, N.Y.-based Critical Link is an embedded systems engineering firm, offering a broad range of highly customizable, small form factor SOMs and development kits for highly integrated, embedded systems for medical, scientific, and industrial applications. Critical Link’s end-to-end product engineering offerings include design, development, and production services. Critical Link is a member of the Altera Design Services Network, a Platinum Partner of the TI Design Network, and a certified member of the Arrow Consulting Engineering Services (ACES) network. Critical Link is ISO 9001:2008 Registered by SRI Quality System Registrar.

Partnership with A.R. Bayer DSP Systeme brings Critical Link SoMs to Central Europe

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System-on-Modules from Critical Link are now available in Central Europe through A.R. Bayer DSP Systeme. These small, highly integrated modules combine fast processors (ARM or DSP) with a powerful FPGA for a maximum of performance and flexibility.ARBayer_web

MityDSP and MitySOM System on Modules are building blocks, serving as the foundation for your custom electronic design. The SoMs have a long lifetime and come with the tools and the support needed to ensure your product success. MityDSP and MitySOM Families along with their associated low-cost Development Kits and Expansion Kits enable you to quickly reach your design goals. The all-new Altera-SOC based MitySOM-5CSX features two 925MHz ARM Cortex-A9, a large FPGA fabric, 2GB of DDR3 memory, an abundance of interfaces and much more – all on a 32cm² SO-DIMM card. Other modules boast C6000 DSP, Sitara or OMAP from Texas Instruments, also available in combination with Xilinx FPGA.

About Critical Link

Syracuse, N.Y.-based Critical Link (www.criticallink.com) is an embedded systems engineering firm, offering a broad range of highly customizable, small-form factor SOMs and development kits for highly integrated, embedded systems for medical, scientific, and industrial applications. Critical Link’s end-to-end product engineering offerings include design, development, and production services. Critical Link is a member of the Altera Design Services Network, a Platinum Partner of the TI Design Network, and a certified member of the Arrow Consulting Engineering Services (ACES) network.

Source:

A.R. BAYER DSP Systeme GmbH
Vohwinkelallee 8
40229 Düsseldorf Germany

Phone: +49 – 211 – 271 46 30
Fax: +49 – 211 – 210 81 76
Email: gmbh@dsp-sys.de This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

How ARM-based SoMs have come to the fore

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While our first System On Modules (SoMs) were DSP-based, we have introduced several ARM-based SoMs over the last couple of years.

MityDSPs of varying sorts are still used in many of our customers’ applications, but there’s no doubt that the embedded market has been moving towards ARM for a number of years, a trend that really became noticeable (to me anyway) with the availability of ARM7 based devices.

At that point, Intel architectures that had been deployed so successfully in PC’s were not especially practical for many embedded products, other than those that were well suited with PC-104. They required too much power and were too complex for the more straightforward and simpler designs that many of the growing number of embedded products coming to market needed.

As ARM became more common, an entire ecosystem began to build up around it – debug tools and compilers, both open source (GNU) and commercial. The momentum became inescapable – apparently so inescapable that a non-technical business publication like Business Week took notice.  A recent article by Ashlee Vance, “The Unlikely Tale of How ARM Came to Rule the World”, highlights the takeover by ARM, noting that “just about every smartphone, mobile phone, and tablet runs on an ARM core.”

Of course, those consumer products are a far cry from the sorts of applications that our SoMs get embedded in, but ARM is certainly making headway in our world. And it’s entertaining to read Business Week’s view on how ARM took over (and fun to brush up on its history).

We all know the old expression “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”, so there’s no doubt another up and coming architecture out there that will rule the world at some point. I’m not sure what it is. Intel recently tried to compete with its Atom, but that tended to require more power, and hasn’t yet gone viral like ARM did. (I don’t think it will.)

Any candidates in your mind for what the next world-ruling architecture will be?

 

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