With the development of image and video processing technology and the advent of the 5G era, in addition to social platforms and other platforms, content based on images and videos has penetrated into various fields, especially applications in emerging fields such as smart security, AIoT, and smart cars. At the same time, people have new expanded requirements for their sharpness and image resolution, and their requirements for cameras and human-computer interaction are gradually increasing.
In this regard, Liu Shu, Executive Vice President of Product R&D of Amou China, said: “The processing requirements of such a large number of images and graphics will make multimedia products have long-term vitality. For emerging fields, future images are not only for people to see. , It will also be seen by the machine. Therefore, the interaction between images and machines, the interaction between humans and machines, and the interaction between virtual and real scenes in virtual reality, the image quality processing of different scenes, the sensory processing of the reader, the machine The sensory processing is very different."
Based on this, Amou China has independently developed the "Linglong" i3/i5 ISP processor for more than 2 years, which optimizes the image requirements for security monitoring scenarios, and specifically improves the noise reduction, dynamic range, sharpness, etc. Indicators, featuring high image quality, low latency, high compatibility, easy expansion, compact area and low system bandwidth.
Many domestic manufacturers are currently conducting ISP processor research and development. Why is Amou China only entering the game now?
Liu Shu said that although the future application field and space of image processing is very huge. Divided into two, there are still many companies without these technologies. According to statistics from the Semiconductor Industry Association, there are more than 1,800 semiconductor design companies in China. Among them, only a few companies have accumulated more technology. Most companies have innovation and design requirements. Our products need to meet the needs of most companies. Secondly, although many companies have in-depth research on ISP image graphics processing, the design of "Linglong" ISP processor has unique features, such as wide dynamics, noise reduction processing, highlight suppression and other technologies. In terms of business cooperation, it can also cooperate with other manufacturers in open and different modes.
Specifically, "Linglong" i3/i5 ISP processor has the following technical highlights:
1. The hardware architecture is flexible and configurable, and customers can choose optional modules for integration.
According to the introduction of Anmo China's products, every product of Anmo China emphasizes customer customization and configurability, as before The released "Xingchen" CPU product has a user-defined instruction set, "Zhouyi" has a manually customizable operator, and "Linglong" ISP product is the same. Since ISP contains very complex noise reduction and wide dynamic processing, the "Linglong" ISP processor provides users with more choices and can also customize the interface. And this ISP processor is aimed at many different scenes, different sensors, different modules, different light and surrounding environment, so it can provide users with more expandable and customizable space and make products with its own characteristics.
2. Multiple working modes, compatible with linear, original/compressed HDR data, single-channel and multi-channel camera input, support ultra-high resolution split-screen processing
3. DMA interface data input and output modes can be configured, and multiple ISPs are available Nodes output data in different formats
4. Rich software API interface, easy and clear image effect debugging process
5. Provide rich software and hardware reference designs, such as calibration tools, tuning tools and MIPI to DVP digital circuit, etc.
"Linglong" ISP processor overview
Liu Shu added that in the past ISPs were only visible to people. Nowadays, the number of IoT devices has increased dramatically. There will be various cameras in mobile phone camera cameras, car cameras, security surveillance cameras, home life and other scenes, and image processing needs to deal with many scenarios. , It is very difficult to design an ISP to adapt to so many different scenarios. Therefore, we have made the product into a highly configurable product, which will show more optimized effects for different scenarios and different combinations. And through system solutions, GPU, AI technology, video codec technology, and display technology are part of the system. In this way, through overall capabilities, it provides customers and industry developers with greater flexibility.
Therefore, the subsequent "Linglong" ISP processor will be divided into multiple series of products according to the data processing requirements of different scenarios. The i3 series released this time is mainly aimed at low-power lightweight application scenarios, supporting 2K video processing and single-channel video signal access processing; the i5 series focuses on mid-to-high-end market applications, supporting 4K video and multi-channel video signal access processing . It is believed that in the future, "Linglong" ISP processors will also launch more differentiated product series to fully cover the market.
In terms of effect realization, wide dynamic effects and low-light noise reduction are the main features of "Linglong" ISP processors. In terms of wide dynamic effects, Amou China uses a combination of digital wide dynamic and integrated wide dynamic technology to provide pixel-level dynamic range enhancement; in low-light noise reduction, through 2D and 3D noise reduction technology, it provides customers with multiple scales , Multi-level noise reduction effect.
It is understood that the "Linglong" multimedia product line is Amou China's fourth independent IP product line after the launch of "Zhouyi", "Xingchen" and "Shanhai". It is believed that this new launch of "Linglong" ISP processor will better strengthen the technical layout of Amou China in the field of chip design IP.