The USA’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that rearview cameras can reduce back-over fatalities by more than 50%, with the result that automotive image sensor penetration in vehicles is increasing, and industry analysts, ABI Research, estimating that shipments will reach 197 million by 2020. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) is a rapidly growing market segment, driven largely by safety requirements in all light passenger vehicles, with many new models having options that include surround-view camera systems for parking assistance and blind spot detection/elimination. The Intersil Corporation has just announced the launch of its new TW9984 four-channel analog video decoder with built-in analog video encoder for around-view parking assist applications, providing improved safety for drivers and pedestrians. The TW9984 is based on the company’s market leading video decoder technology and replaces up to nine discrete components with a single chip. It delivers the industry’s best analog decoding performance, resulting in excellent picture quality to generate 360-degree surround images for ADAS equipment.
The TW9984 analog video decoder and encoder provides motorists with detailed, high-quality video, enhancing their ability to see objects not just behind the car, but around the entire vehicle. An around-view monitor system, also referred to as a surround view monitor, processes video from four cameras and then combines the four images into a single birds-eye, top-down view, as if a camera was stationed directly above the vehicle. The monitor helps drivers visually confirm the vehicle’s position relative to surrounding objects for easy maneuvering and parking. The TW9984 integrates four high quality NTSC/PAL analog video decoders with 10-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to support four analog camera inputs simultaneously. A flexible digital output interface makes it easy for the system designer to send the images to a processor that can then combine the four images into a single unified around-view image. The on-chip analog video encoder provides the ability to transmit the combined video as a standard analog composite signal to the head unit display. The TW9984 also incorporates analog anti-aliasing filters on each channel input to further reduce component count. The high level of integration helps to simplify the system design and minimize the system’s footprint to preserve critical board space.
“We are a leader in multi-channel video and are at the forefront of ADAS around-view camera applications,” noted Philip Chesley, senior vice president of precision products at Intersil. “The decoder’s innovative architecture and high level of integration enables an ultra-clear image to increase driver and pedestrian safety, as well as avoid vehicle damage.”
