A pair of chip firms announce new depth and distance platform for face biometrics

An indirect time of flight platform for 3D imaging and facial recognition has been announced by Tower Semiconductor.

The company claims the platform boasts multiple depth sensing and distance measurement applications based on its pixel level wafer stacking back-side illumination (BSI) technology. The new platform will improve face biometrics and other optics in automation, industrial inspection and mobile uses among others, according to Tower Semi.

The company, which is based in Israel and the United States, is a specialized analog chip foundry. It develops indirect time of flight, or iToF, image sensors. The platform is based on that experience and Tower’s 65nm pixel level stacked BSI CMOS image sensors.

Tower worked on the platform with Opix, maker of three-dimension ToF image sensors. Opix is a Chinese fabless chip firm specializing in 3D ToF CMOS-based imaging sensors used in mobile phones, industrial automation and other markets.

Sensors for facial recognition on mobile devices are among multiple products expected to result from the work. The first sensor, according to Tower, is a prototype 5µm 3-tap iToF pixel incorporating an array with 640×480-pixel resolution.

Article Topics

3D face recognition  |  biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  image sensor  |  research and development  |  Tower Semiconductor