Electronics
Pelican/Tessera/Xperi
Paving the Way for Advanced Imaging Technology
Electronics
Pelican/Tessera/Xperi
Paving the Way for Advanced Imaging Technology
537
Patent References to IEEE
36
Average IEEE References Per Patent
537
Patent References to IEEE
36
Average IEEE References per Patent
Unlike traditional smartphone cameras, Pelican’s array camera uses 16 distinct lenses and imaging channels in a 4x4 grid.
Each sub-camera captures only one color (red, green or blue), which improves image quality and reduces noise.
Moreover, since there are small distances between the sub-cameras, their output also contains 3D depth information. With clever software, all this information can be translated into a single JPEG file that's 20% larger than a regular JPEG. An advantage is that the JPEG should have less noise at low light, and it should contain focus information for an entire scene. This allows the user to select the desired focus point Lytro-style, even after taking the image.18
In 2016, the patent assets of Pelican Imaging were acquired by Tessera (now Xperi Corp). Pelican’s advanced imaging technologies were to be used by Tessera’s FotoNation subsidiary, to accelerate the development of new, high performance, low power computational imaging solutions for use in next generation applications and devices.19 Terms of the deal were not announced, but three years earlier, Pelican raised $20 million from Nokia and Qualcomm to help develop the technology.20
This study identified 58 patents assigned to Pelican that mention a camera array or an array of lenses—the most highly cited are included in this report. Combined, the patents in this subset have more than 500 references to IEEE science.
Frequently Referenced IEEE Publication
The Pelican Imaging patents frequently reference the below IEEE document. Because these patents were granted between 2013-2016, this suggests that the super-resolution idea appeared in an IEEE publication six or seven years before it became a patented technology.
2006 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics Speech and Signal Processing Proceedings.
18 Sakr, Sharif. (2013) "Pelican Imaging's 16-lens array camera coming to smartphones next year," Engadget, May 2, 2013. https://www.engadget.com/2013-05-02-pelican-imaging-array-camera-coming-2014.html Last accessed June 9, 2020 19 Press Release (2016). https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161101005720/en/Tessera-Technologies-Acquires-Technology-Assets-Pelican-Imaging Last accessed June 9, 2020. 20 Tung, Liam. (2013) "Pelican Imaging lands $20m from VC arms of Qualcomm and Nokia," ZDnet, May 1, 2013. https://www.zdnet.com/article/pelican-imaging-lands-20m-from-vc-arms-of-qualcomm-and-nokia/ Last accessed June 9, 2020