High speed camera system using a CMOS image sensor

In this paper a new camera system for high speed imaging is presented which is capable of recording images with a resolution of 256x256 pixels and frame rates in excess of 1000 frames per second. It uses an image sensor with on-chip electronic shutter and has been fabricated in standard 1µm standard CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) process. The camera system contains an image memory for sequence recording. The camera system contains an image memory for sequence recording. The camera delivers a very good image quality without any external algorithm for image enhancement and provides a very fast interface between the image acquisition and image processing unit. Another among several advantages of CMOS imagers compared to their CCD (Charge Coupled Device) counterparts is the flexibility and the possibility to acquire images in a very short period. This allows an adaption of the camera to various automotive applications like occupancy detection, airbag control, precash sensing, collision avoidance, surveillance, and crash test observation. Moreover, the system architecture makes a combination of several applications possible using just a single image sensor unit.