OmniVision debuts AI ASIC at AutoSens

OmniVision debuts OAX4600 AI ASIC at AutoSens – a rugged, highly integrated ISP and NPU for both driver and occupant monitoring systems

OAX4600 enables seamless driver/occupant monitoring system functionality and flexible automotive design, integrating a low-power RGB-IR ISP and two NPUs in a small package

Santa Clara, California – May 4, 2022 – OmniVision Technologies, Inc. , a leading global developer of semiconductor solutions for advanced digital imaging, analog, touchscreen and display technologies, today announced an advanced AI application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for the automotive industry that can seamlessly power dedicated driver/occupant monitoring systems (DMS/OMS) simultaneously. The product uses a stacked die architecture to provide integrated RGB-IR image signal processing (ISP), two AI neural processing units (NPUs) and embedded DDR3 memory (2Gb) in a single low-power, small-footprint package.

Mark Fitzgerald, Research Director for Autonomous Vehicles at Strategy Analytics, said: “For manufacturers looking to comply with regional safety regulations, high performance, low power, and small package size driver monitoring solutions are very attractive. The flexibility to add additional functionality and expand to cabin monitoring is an added benefit.”

OAX4600 is a new generation ASIC that uses OmniVision's 2 teraflops dedicated NPU. It also uses Seeing Machine's Occula™ NPU to increase application flexibility. OAX4600 uses 2Gb of embedded DDR stacked memory and a tri-ARM® Cortex® A53 with NEON™ core subsystem.

“The OAX4600 will be a game changer for the automotive industry,” said Brian Pluckebaum, automotive product marketing manager at OmniVision. “It integrates a unique set of features developed specifically for interior monitoring systems (IMS), and its small size and low power consumption give manufacturers the flexibility to install the camera anywhere in the car, regardless of space constraints. It uses OmniVision’s ISP processing technology and a dedicated NPU to ensure that images, even RGB-IR images, are processed in a robust and latency-free manner. We designed this device with ASIL B functional safety in mind.”

The OAX4600 can handle higher resolutions, up to 5 megapixels, has a fast startup, reduces the delay from power-on to image output inside the camera, and integrates network security features.

The OAX4600 is packaged in a BGA format and samples will be available in the third quarter of 2022.