Tiny chip turns phones into cameras
Published: 20 Jun 2002 11:57 BST
A new camera chip that's smaller than a five pence piece could possibly pave the way for more compact mobile phones with digital imaging capabilities.
Developed by mobile imaging solutions developer TransChip, the TC5600, which measures 5mm across, is based on a power-saving, single-chip design, said Avi Strum, president and chief operating officer of Israel-headquartered TransChip.
"Current imaging technologies often require multichip solutions in order to capture an image, process the colors and compress the image to a size suitable for transmission over wireless networks but we have developed a single-chip camera solution to accomplish this," Strum said in an interview at the CommunicAsia conference in Singapore.
According to Strum, the TC5600 operates on an electrical power of 35mW, one-third of what a traditional camera chip consumes in a mobile phone. This would result in phones with increased battery life.
Each unit would cost handset makers between $10 (£6.70) and $15 to incorporate into a mobile phone, he said.
The chip supports image resolutions of up 376 x 296 pixels, and also offers video capture at a rate of up to 15 frames per second.
TransChip is currently in discussions with handset makers in Taiwan, Korea and China to integrate the imaging chip, Strum said, but declined to reveal their identities.
In the pipeline is a camera chip with an integrated MPEG-4-encoder which will allow for video telephony over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks. This device is expected to be ready in two years.
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