News Article
MEMS Mobile Phone boom
The camera module for the mobile phone has become a booming market. By the year 2008 nearly 80% of the worldwide mobile phone industry is expected to incorporate a camera module making this one of the most lucrative market areas in mobile phone technology. Jean-Christophe Eloy of Yole Développement discusses, how this 80% market share will mean the camera module business will represent 490 Millions units in 2008.
Before looking at Mems applications linking to optical functions for mobile phones, it is important to understand the business models associated with camera module manufacturers. Nearly all the major players including Sony, STM, and Agilent ... are not only selling CMOS image sensors they have also developed an optical module competence to enable delivery of a complete camera module, including the image sensor, the lens barrel, the linked software and packaging. Mobile phone manufacturers are integrating this function directly into the mobile phone itself, without having to develop an optical competence. By doing so, camera module manufacturers have maintained a price range of $10 - $12 for the module over each generation. This means that the camera module for the mobile phone has stablised the price for next generation technology. Whereas older models are faced with a strong decrease in pricing. This efficient way of working (embedding the Mems added value in a module in order to keep the pricing) is very effective and can be applied to several different fields, including automotive and medical applications. The main evolution of these camera modules is that by increasing the number of pixels, but decreasing the pixel size for the next generation, the camera module will rapidly need an optical auto focus instead of a software update.
The main reasons are the following:
- Long distance focus is acceptable, but however for short distance, the focus is out of the image plan
- At image plan, the image is blurred if the picture size is larger than the pixel size
- This effect happens with image sensors that have a matrix of 1.5 MPixel or higher.
The only way to solve this problem is to have an actual optical auto focus. Several mobile phone manufacturers are already proposing such functions :
- Nokia and other handset manufacturers are working with Zeiss who have developed a very compact auto focus module
- Samsung Hitech is proposing a similar module for Samsung and other companies.
key issues of concern for these modules is that, they are particukarky large in size (requiring insertion into the whole length of the mobile phone), expensive and very high in energy consumption. The auto focus modules use either a stepping motor, a voice coil or a piezo electric motor. But all these solutions are fragile and not adapt for the mainstream mobile phone business.
Two companie have proposed an alternative, using MEMS technology : Varioptic (France, the originator) and Philips (from the Netherlands). MEMS technology is used to manufacture the lens, in order to ensure the liquid lens is always centred in the middle of the optics. Varioptics approach is particularly innovative: they have developed a liquid lens where the focus can be adapted from -5 to +20 dioptres for a launch product.
Device available at the moment have an energy consumption below 10% of existing devices, and a volume of less than 15% of that of existing auto focus modules. The price in volume of such devices is not available but however, will be in the range of 2$ to5$ depending of the volume.
Yole Développement have estimated this market at 5M units in 2006 (year of first commercialisation), going up to more than 80M units in 2008 (Source : Mems4Mobile phone, Yole Développement report). The market will increase to 100 M$ for focus only! A very strong adoption of the Silicon Microphone by mobile phone manufacturers will show that MEMS technology could be widely adopted in mobile phone manfacturing. This technology has faced many chalenges such as life time, ability to work under high and low temperature to name a few, complex situations for liquid lenses to cope with. But there is every confidence that tthe companies involved in these fields will be able to resolve such problems.
After the auto focus, an association of several liquid lenses and adapted optics can lead to the realisation of a complete micro zoom module, compact with very low energy consumption. Such devices are still in R&D stages but product introduction could happen in the next 24 to 36 months. Other optical devices are also currently under development for mobile phones. The most innovative and really quite quirky is the integration of a projection module so that an image can be projected from the mobile phone onto a table or wall.
These developments will be financed by the European Union (consortium lead by Nokia, STM, FhG IPMS) however the technology will not arrive on the market for the next 3 to 5 years. But is indicative of how optics and optical devices will find their way into the mobile phone industry. The next months are very exciting in term of new product introduction.
The main reasons are the following:
- Long distance focus is acceptable, but however for short distance, the focus is out of the image plan
- At image plan, the image is blurred if the picture size is larger than the pixel size
- This effect happens with image sensors that have a matrix of 1.5 MPixel or higher.
The only way to solve this problem is to have an actual optical auto focus. Several mobile phone manufacturers are already proposing such functions :
- Nokia and other handset manufacturers are working with Zeiss who have developed a very compact auto focus module
- Samsung Hitech is proposing a similar module for Samsung and other companies.
key issues of concern for these modules is that, they are particukarky large in size (requiring insertion into the whole length of the mobile phone), expensive and very high in energy consumption. The auto focus modules use either a stepping motor, a voice coil or a piezo electric motor. But all these solutions are fragile and not adapt for the mainstream mobile phone business.
Two companie have proposed an alternative, using MEMS technology : Varioptic (France, the originator) and Philips (from the Netherlands). MEMS technology is used to manufacture the lens, in order to ensure the liquid lens is always centred in the middle of the optics. Varioptics approach is particularly innovative: they have developed a liquid lens where the focus can be adapted from -5 to +20 dioptres for a launch product.
Device available at the moment have an energy consumption below 10% of existing devices, and a volume of less than 15% of that of existing auto focus modules. The price in volume of such devices is not available but however, will be in the range of 2$ to5$ depending of the volume.
Yole Développement have estimated this market at 5M units in 2006 (year of first commercialisation), going up to more than 80M units in 2008 (Source : Mems4Mobile phone, Yole Développement report). The market will increase to 100 M$ for focus only! A very strong adoption of the Silicon Microphone by mobile phone manufacturers will show that MEMS technology could be widely adopted in mobile phone manfacturing. This technology has faced many chalenges such as life time, ability to work under high and low temperature to name a few, complex situations for liquid lenses to cope with. But there is every confidence that tthe companies involved in these fields will be able to resolve such problems.
After the auto focus, an association of several liquid lenses and adapted optics can lead to the realisation of a complete micro zoom module, compact with very low energy consumption. Such devices are still in R&D stages but product introduction could happen in the next 24 to 36 months. Other optical devices are also currently under development for mobile phones. The most innovative and really quite quirky is the integration of a projection module so that an image can be projected from the mobile phone onto a table or wall.
These developments will be financed by the European Union (consortium lead by Nokia, STM, FhG IPMS) however the technology will not arrive on the market for the next 3 to 5 years. But is indicative of how optics and optical devices will find their way into the mobile phone industry. The next months are very exciting in term of new product introduction.
