Image Sensor Bit-Plane Compression for Power Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic devices face challenges in efficiently compressing and transmitting high-resolution raw image data from image sensors to processors, leading to increased hardware costs, power consumption, and memory requirements without degrading image quality.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device and method that generate bit-planes based on pixel values, compress specific bit-planes, and transmit a bitstream containing the compressed data to a processor, allowing for efficient compression and transmission of raw image data without quality degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If raw image data is transmitted uncompressed at high frame rate, then image quality is maintained, but hardware cost and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the raw image data into multiple bit-planes based on bit positions of pixel values. Each bit-plane contains data at a specific bit position across all pixels. This segmentation allows selective compression of less important bit-planes while preserving higher bit-planes that contain critical image quality information, thereby reducing power consumption during transmission without significant quality loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality levels to different parts of the image data by selectively compressing specific bit-planes. Higher bit-planes (more significant bits) are preserved with higher quality, while lower bit-planes (less significant bits) are compressed or discarded. This local quality approach maintains overall image quality while reducing the data transmission burden and associated power consumption.
2Measurement precision
If high-resolution raw image data is transmitted at high frame rate, then image quality is maintained, but transmission bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes redundant information from the raw image data by identifying and compressing less significant bit-planes. By taking out the less critical lower bit-planes and focusing transmission on higher bit-planes that contain essential image quality information, the data transmission volume is significantly reduced while maintaining perceived image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial compression by selectively processing only certain bit-planes rather than compressing all image data uniformly. This partial action approach compresses lower bit-planes while preserving higher bit-planes, achieving a balance between transmission efficiency and image quality that reduces overall data volume without excessive quality loss.
3Measurement precision
If uncompressed raw image data is transmitted, then image quality is maintained, but hardware cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments image data into bit-planes and implements compression logic within the image sensor module itself. This segmentation approach allows the system to use a lower-bandwidth communication interface instead of requiring a high-performance expensive interface, thereby reducing hardware cost while maintaining acceptable image quality through selective bit-plane transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs compression of less significant bit-planes before transmission by processing the raw image data in advance within the image sensor module. This preliminary compression action reduces the data volume that needs to be transmitted, allowing the use of less expensive communication hardware while still preserving the critical higher bit-planes that determine image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
The electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a processor, and an image sensor module configured to be electrically connected to the processor, wherein the image sensor module comprises an image sensor configured to obtain raw image data and a control circuit configured to be electrically connected to the processor, and wherein the control circuit is configured to: generate a plurality of bit-planes configured based on bit positions of respective pixel values for a plurality of pixels corresponding to at least some of the raw image data obtained by the image sensor, generate compressed data in which one or more of the plurality of bit-planes are compressed, and transmit a bitstream containing the compressed data to the processor. Other embodiments may be provided.