Smart image sensing in CMOS technology

An electronic retina is a combination between image sensing and in situ signal processing on the same silicon chip. This smart image sensing and processing, realisable in common CMOS technology, is a valuable technique in real-time vision systems. In order to optimise the global performance of a vision machine where different levels of processing are implicated, this technique cannot be considered simply and only as an (intelligent) image sensor design problem. The local on-sensor information processing in an electronic retina should be placed in a more general context including algorithms, architectures and applications. This paper aims to give an overview of electronic retina-based vision systems and especially on the role that an electronic retina can play in real-time vision systems via some real examples from recent work.