Nuvation HEADLINES 
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IP Camera
Security of the Future
  As technology for live video streaming has evolved over the past few years, the video surveillance / security market is undergoing dramatic change. There are millions of surveillance cameras installed in a variety of applications. Border security, building entrances, ATM machines, casinos, retail stores, traffic intersections, trains, school buses, ships, civil and military aircraft, even automobiles. Traditional cameras output analog NTSC video over a BNC connector, which is viewed, recorded, and stored in digital systems.
Today most of the major security companies are racing to migrate to IP-Cameras which output compressed digital video over Ethernet or other network topologies. In addition to streaming compressed digital video over networks, these IP-Cameras can receive signals to reconfigure themselves and can send alerts based on video analytics, simplifying installations and increasing the number of cameras per network hub.
To help accelerate product development in this dynamic market, Nuvation has introduced an IP Camera Reference Design with exceptional video quality, encoder and analytics flexibility, and in a miniature form factor with low power and COGS. The reference design features the Pixim Orca chipset, which enables the greatest dynamic imaging range of any CMOS sensor. If you’ve ever seen surveillance video on the evening news where the subject is not identifiable due to poor lighting, you can appreciate the value that Pixim’s latest chipset brings to the market.
The IP Camera Reference Design can be licensed to customers who want to start with a clean set of schematics, layout and Linux code as a base for their own products. It is also intended for OEMs who want to private-label the IP Camera or a modified design. Nuvation offers customization services to modify the IP Camera to match customer specifications. Many security companies have limited experience in IP Cameras and benefit by engaging Nuvation’s engineering expertise to speed them though the process.
The camera boasts low-power, wide dynamic range, color accuracy, and configurable codec options all for a cost-effective budget. Featuring Pixim's Orca advanced imaging chipset, Mobilygen's MG1264 H.264 CODEC or Micronas (WISChip) MPEG-1/2/4/H.263 CODEC, an I/O board, embedded Linux, Pixim firmware, and a mechanical enclosure, Nuvation’s IP Camera is the ideal reference design for accelerated time to market. We are also developing a DSP-based processor option for OEMs that want codec flexibility in a single SKU, advanced analytics, or other programmable processor features.
Offering video encoding options among H.264/3, MPEG-4/2/1, and MJPEG, the Linux-based TCP/IP camera streams 30fps (D1 resolution) over Ethernet. In addition to an Ethernet port, the camera is equipped with a USB 2.0 and an analog video (NTSC/PAL) interface. The camera, excluding the lens, fits in a 3.25” x 1.7” x 1.8” form factor, making it perfect for surveillance and security applications (see Figure 1).
Customizable CODEC chipset options include:
Mobilygen MG1264 185mW H.264 video encoder chip with 2-channel AAC-LC Audio Codec and Atmel ARM9 MCU, or
Micronas (WISChip) 7007SB MPEG-4 encoder with Amtel ARM9 MCU
DSP board available soon
A key component of the IP Camera is the Pixim Orca chipset. The processor board in the camera can be configured with the Pixim D1600 or D2500 chipset. With one of the widest dynamic ranges on the market (up to 102 dB in typical operation, 120 dB max), this chipset allows the IP camera to effectively capture and render scenes with 128,000-to-1 contrast. (This is the equivalent of 17 f/stops of dynamic range, for those familiar with Single Lens Reflex (SLR) still cameras.). Additionally, the wide dynamic range can produce colors as they appear in nature even under extreme lighting conditions such as glare, reflections, back light, car headlights, and the sun. This makes the difference of illuminating human faces in front of excessive backlight, and get-away cars under extreme sunlight, with natural color for accurate identification.
For more information on the Orca chipset, please see our device spotlight on the D2500 in this issue.
Nuvation is offering the design files for a license fee and design services with significant time-to-market acceleration for OEMs who want to private-label the IP camera or a modified design. Please contact Nuvation for more information.
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