A tri-mode event-based vision sensor with an embedded wireless transmitter

We report a vision sensor with three different operation modes (intensity, spatial, and temporal contrast), and an integrated UWB wireless transmitter. The sensor is intended for surveillance applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), where autonomous sensor nodes are required. It has event-based output, high dynamic range (120dB), and reduced power consumption (we expect less than 2.7mA for the sensor and 10mA for the wireless transmitter). Its pixels only use 5 transistors and have a size of 10 × 10μm², with fill factor of 47%. The sensor array has 256 × 256 pixels and was implemented in the standard IBM 8HP SiGe BiCMOS 0.13μm process. In this paper, we describe the system blocks. Simulation and preliminary experimental results are provided.