This paper presents a multi-resolution generalpurpose high-speed machine vision sensor with on-chip image processing capabilities. The sensor comprises a multi-resolution sensing area, 1536 AD-converters, and a SIMD array of 1536 bit-serial processors with corresponding memory. The SIMD processor array can deliver more than 100 GOPS sustained and the on-chip pixel-analyzing rate can be as high as 4 Gpixels/s. Experimental results showing low noise and a good digital to analogue noise isolation are shown.

A 12-bit 320-MSample/s current-steering D/A converter with the supply voltage of 1.8-v is presented. In order to achieve high linearity and spurious free dynamic range (SFDR), a large degree of segmentation has been used, with the seven most significant bits (MSBs) being implemented as equally weighted current sources. As for each extra bit of accuracy, the gate-area of the current source transistors in the cell matrix must increase by a factor of 4 so that the transistor matching is within the desired accuracy. In addition, the area overhead due to the interconnect lines and the additional circuitry roughly doubles. As consequence, the cell matrix has dimensions of several hundred microns, and it becomes increasingly difficult to minimize the impact of the systematic mismatch sources on the DAC accuracy due to process, temperature, and electric gradients. To solve this problem, this design used the CSA approach, in which the current sources alone are laid out in an array

Abstract—This paper presents a multiresolution general-purpose high-speed machine vision sensor with on-chip image processing capabilities. The sensor comprises an innovative multiresolution sensing area, 1536 A/D converters, and a SIMD array of 1536 bit-serial processors with corresponding memory. The sensing area consists of an area part with 1536 512 pixels, and a line-scan part with a set of rows with 3072 pixels each. The SIMD processor array can deliver more than 100 GOPS sustained and the on-chip pixel-analysing rate can be as high as 4 Gpixels/s. The sensor is ideal for high-speed multisense imaging where, e.g., color, greyscale, internal material light scatter, and 3-D profiles are captured simultaneously. When running only 3-D laser triangulation, a data rate of more than 20 000 profiles/s can be achieved when delivering 1536 range values per profile with 8 bits of range resolution. Experimental results showing very good image characteristics and a good digital to analog noise isolation are presented. Index Terms—APS, CMOS image sensors, laser triangulation, machine vision, MAPP, multiresolution, multisense, smart vision sensors, 3-D.