ChipWrights releases production-ready, HD 5MP camera reference design

BEDFORD, USA: ChipWrights Inc., part of AD Group, announced the 5MP 360-Degree camera reference design. Features include:

* Aptina MT9P031 5MP sensor.
* 180-degree fish-eye lens.
* Power-over-Ethernet.
* Built-in microphone.
* MicroSD card.
* Audio input/output jack.
* Composite video output.
* Digital input/output lines.
* Auxiliary 12V power input.

The camera is a “complete, ready-to-manufacture 360-degree IP camera system that provides the flexibility and processing power to add features, such as image enhancement; unique sensor technology; and video analytics [i.e., face detection, virtual tripwires],” says Cary Robins, president of ChipWrights.

The design incorporates two CW5631 SoCs. One SoC is the stand-alone image sensor pipeline (includes source code; easily extendable). The other SoC runs the camera system (controls Ethernet, SD card, audio/video IO; performs video compression to MJPEG/MPEG4/H.264).

"Camera functionality can easily be moved between processors depending on load and the application," says Robins. "For example, our baseline camera uses an Aptina 5MP sensor; dual CW5631 SoCs do the image sensor pipeline, fisheye lens image dewarping, compression and transmission. With a simple redesign of the sensor board, an SoC sensor can be used and the camera can be modified to perform full 1080p30 dewarping and compression on the two chips.”

Camera software includes a web server—the camera is configured and controlled by a standard web browser—and adds video streaming [enables output to be viewed on a networked PC, and from the dedicated composite output]. The software supports DVR functionality to the on-board MicroSD card.

The design offers a 180-degree field of view [presented as a single, dual (panoramic), or quad view]. Digital PTZ, compression, recording featuring, and IP configuration is controllable from the browser interface.

The camera provides HD video and is smaller than previous reference designs. ChipWrights offers system level camera software as free source code and signal processing features in a binary library. Available binary functions include: dewarping software, denoising and dynamic range enhancement. The DSP libraries are available for purchase as source code.