Share on Twitter
Share on Facebook
Share on LinkedIn
Machine vision is transforming countless industries by empowering systems to perceive, process, and interpret visual data. As technology speedily advances, exciting and emerging protocols are being developed and adopted from other industries to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and integration of machine vision systems.
Similarly, machine vision systems are becoming increasingly vital across various sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, security, and automotive. These systems rely heavily upon complex and often numerous protocols for data acquisition, processing, and communication. Emerging protocols are addressing the challenges of scalability, real-time processing, and interoperability, rendering machine vision more robust, versatile and trusted.
In this fourth in a series of nine, we review MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) protocols, a set of standards developed by the MIPI Alliance for the integration of high-speed interfaces in mobile and mobile-influenced devices. MIPI protocols are widely used across various industries due to their efficiency, scalability, and low power consumption.
The key features of MIPI are:
- High Speed Data Transfer: MIPI protocols, such as CSI-2 (Camera Serial Interface) and DSI (Display Serial Interface), are designed for high-speed data transfer. They support data rates that meet the demands of modern high-resolution cameras and displays.
- Low Power Consumption: MIPI protocols are optimized for low power consumption, which is critical in battery-powered devices, helping extend operating life in mobile devices, wearables, and other portable electronics.
- Scalability: MIPI protocols are highly scalable, allowing for the use of multiple lanes to increase data throughput as needed. This scalability supports a wide range of applications, from simple low-power sensors to high-performance cameras and displays, making MIPI malleable to different system requirements.
- Compact Design: MIPI protocols enable compact and efficient designs with fewer pins and smaller physical interfaces which is particularly advantageous in space-constrained devices like smartphones, wearables, and embedded systems, where minimizing size and weight is important.
- Backward Compatibility: MIPI protocols often maintain backward compatibility with previous versions allowing for easier upgrades and integration of new technologies without the need for a complete redesign of existing systems.
- Embedded Clocking: Many MIPI protocols, such as CSI-2 and DSI, implement embedded clocking, where the clock signal is embedded within the data stream. This reduces the number of signal lines required, simplifying the design and improving signal integrity, particularly at high data rates.
MIPI protocols are designed to meet the demands of modern electronics, offering high-speed data transfer, low power consumption, scalability, and robust performance in compact designs. Their wide adoption and versatile applications make them a cornerstone of mobile and mobile-influenced device design, from smartphones and cameras to automotive and IoT devices.
The applications for MIPI are widespread and include:
- Imaging Device Connectivity: MIPI has been a key standard to connect cameras, displays, and other components to processing in smartphones and tablets. With the evolution of edge and and smart devices for vision applications, specific protocols such as MIPI CSI-2 (Camera Serial Interface) and MIPI DSI (Display Serial Interface) for connecting camera sensors and displays in low footprint, low power embedded solutions.
- Automotive Systems: Increasingly adopted in automotive applications, including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), infotainment systems, and in-vehicle networking. Specific protocols are MIPI CSI-2 for connecting cameras used in ADAS, surround-view systems, and driver monitoring, MIPI DSI for connecting displays in infotainment systems, and MIPI A-PHY, a new protocol for long-reach, high-speed data transfer in automotive environments.
- Healthcare Devices: MIPI protocols are employed in healthcare devices such as portable medical imaging systems, diagnostic equipment, and patient monitoring devices. Two specific protocols are MIPI CSI-2 for high-resolution medical imaging sensors and MIPI I3C for connecting various medical sensors and peripherals.
- Security and Surveillance Systems: MIPI protocols are used in security cameras, smart doorbells, and other surveillance equipment with a specific protocol of MIPI CSI-2 for capturing and transmitting high-q
- Scalable, high speed, backwards compatible and compact
- Stay tuned for next week’s emerging protocol in machine visionuality video footage.
MIPI represents a critical role in the development of modern electronic devices by providing standardized interfaces that enable high-performance, power-efficient, and scalable designs. Its widespread adoption across various industries highlights its importance in facilitating innovation and ensuring compatibility between components from different manufacturers.
Whilst there are challenges such as complexity of integration and power consumption, the benefits of MIPI are clear:
