3D Image Sensor REAL3™
Giving a sense of vision to things with our 3D image sensor REAL3™
Time-of-Flight provides accurate and robust depth data
Measure your surrounding in 3D with a Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera. ToF technology is sunlight robust, highly scalable, and ready for integration into numerous consumer electronic, automotive and industrial applications.
REAL3™ is Infineon's Time-of-Flight based 3D image sensor family consisting of highly integrated single-chip imagers manufactured in an ToF optimized CMOS process.
Market News, May 23, 2019:
Embedded Vision Alliance awards REAL3 image sensor as “Product of the Year”
Press release, Feb 25, 2019:
Press release, Feb 24, 2019:
LG and Infineon to introduce LG G8ThinQ with front-facing Time-of-Flight camera
Press release, Feb 7, 2019:
REAL3™ is the basis for the worldwide smallest 3D ToF camera module and the first 3D depth sensor being integrated in commercially available smartphones.
Press release, Jan 5, 2018:
3D image sensor - Infineon enables easy smartphone unlock by face recognition
Get more Information about REAL3™
Time-of-Flight Principle & Benefits
Time-of-flight technology is directly measuring the depth and amplitude information in every pixel by using only one infrared flash light source. The modulated infrared light is emitted to the whole scenery and the reflected light is captured by the ToF imager. The measured phase difference between emitted and received light as well as the amplitude values are resulting into highly reliable distance information and a grey scale picture of the complete scene simultaneously.
This principle keeps the power consumption at a minimum and provides fast data acquisition for real-time operation. Also, the required depth data processing for ToF is known to be less demanding than for other algorithm intensive depth sensing technologies like structured light or stereovision, saving additionally power at the application processor.
An inherent benefit of the time-of-flight technology is the simple and robust design of a ToF camera module. It consists of only two key components, the imager and one single flash illumination component, without the need of any mechanical baseline. This results in very small camera modules with high integration flexibility into demanding applications like a mobile phone and a lean and fast calibration procedure for easy and robust mass production.
REAL3™ ToF benefits at a glance:
| Benefit | REAL3™ Image Sensor based on Time-of-Flight |
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| Robust and accurate depth data |
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| Full operation in bright sunlight and darkness |
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| System design flexibility; small form factor |
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| Low depth map calculation efforts; low CPU usage |
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| Ease of calibration |
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| Robustness over lifetime |
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| Usability in a mobile device |
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REAL3™ Image Sensor Family
The REAL3™ image sensor family consists of highly integrated 3D Time-of-Flight imager. The ToF sensors have been jointly developed by Infineon and pmdtechnologies AG. They embed a high performance ToF pixel-matrix from pmd and are manufactured in Infineon’s volume-proven ToF optimized CMOS process. The high level of integration, the unique performance and the manifold features enable most accurate and reliable depth data and smallest camera module designs.
Product key features
Highest level of integration
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Best performance
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Highest functionality
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Product variants
| Type | Pixel Resolution | Description | Application | Package | Status |
| IRS1125C | 352 x 288 pixel (100k pixel) | ToF single-chip with ~100k pixel targeting high resolution and wide FOV applications | Consumer Electronics | bare die | in production |
| IRS1645C | 224 x 172 pixel (38k pixel) | ToF single-chip with ~38k pixel resolution, 850nm | Consumer Electronics | bare die | in production |
| IRS2381C | 224 x 172 pixel (38k pixel) | ToF single-chip optimized for mobile applications with ~38k pixel resolution, 940nm | Consumer Electronics | bare die | in production |
| IRS2771C | 448 x 336 pixel output (150 k pixel HVGA) |
ToF single-chip optimized for mobile applications with ~150k pixel resolution, 940nm | Consumer Electronics | bare die | in development |
| IRS1125A | 352 x 288 pixel (100k pixel) |
ToF single-chip with 100k pixel, automotive qualified, T_amb: -40°C to 105°C | Automotive | PG-LFBGA-84 | in development |
3D Reference Cameras
To evaluate Infineon’s REAL3 time-of-flight technology, a set of 3D reference cameras are available. The CamBoard pico family has been designed by our development partner pmdtechnologies and comes along with a powerful SDK providing a high quality depth map for evaluation and application software development.
For further details and ordering please visit http://pmdtec.com/picofamily/
Infineon co-developed the 3D image sensor family REAL3 with pmdtechnologies AG from Siegen, Germany. Both companies are jointly providing the technical support for camera module makers. The contribution of pmdtechnologies to the REAL3 chip family is the ToF pixel matrix. Infineon contributes all functional blocks for the system-on-chip (SoC) integration and developed the ToF optimized CMOS manufacturing process.
REAL3™ for Consumer Applications
The monocular camera architecture and the compact REAL3 single-chip design enable smallest form factor camera modules and a robust integration into mobile devices. There is no need for a mechanical baseline or any risk of de-calibration in the field. The high performance of the REAL3 imager with its unique Suppression of Background Illumination (SBI) circuitry ensures robust operation in strong sunlight with a minimum of power – all mandatory requirements of battery driven applications.
REAL3 is the first 3D depth sensing technology integrated into commercially available Tango enabled smartphones, Google’s technology to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion.
Focus applications and use-cases
- Mobile phones and tablets
- Front facing cameras: secure face recognition
- World facing cameras: environmental monitoring, augmented reality, 3D scanning and reconstruction
- Head mounted devices, virtual reality, hand- and gesture tracking
- Smart home cameras, surveillance
- Drones, collision avoidance
REAL3™ for Automotive Applications
On the way to highly automated driving it is important to know what is happening inside the car, in special when the car interior of the future becomes much more flexible than today. The solution is a Time-of-Flight camera providing the most robust and reliable 3D data of the cabin and its passengers, even under strong sunlight conditions.
A dedicated automotive REAL3 imager variant is in development. It comprises all volume-proven product benefits of the consumer variants by fulfilling automotive requirements: packaged imager, wide temperature range of -40°C to 105°C and AEC-Q100 qualification.
Focus applications and use-cases
- In-cabin sensing: new HMI and passive safety concepts
- Body pose tracking & gesture control
- Presence & object detection
- Passenger classification
- Driver state monitoring
- Personalized and situational adapted safety systems
- Exterior sensing, short range (<10 meter)
REAL3™ for Industrial Applications
3D depth data is beneficial for numerous applications from factory automation and robotics to people counting and any kind of specialized depth sensing product idea. Due to the high diversity of such applications and their requirements they are supported through established ToF camera module makers and camera design-house partners only.
Please contact us and clearly describe your application requirements - we are happy to introduce you to the right partner.
Focus applications and use-cases
- Factory automation
- Service and entertainment robots
- Cleaning robots and lawn mover
- Automated Guided Vehicles (AVG)
- Automated warehouse and logistic systems
- Area surveillance and people counting
