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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: New Imaging Sensor Shrinks Cameras to the Size of a Chip (fwd)
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 16:28:13 +0200
Forwarded message:
> From jmcotton@*****.net Tue Jun 20 20:34:54 1995
> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 14:34:41 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Joseph Cotton <jmcotton@*****.net>
> To: Jakko Westerbeke <gurth@******.nl>
> Subject: New Imaging Sensor Shrinks Cameras to the Size of a Chip (fwd)
> Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950620143158.21038A-100000@********.nando.net>
> Mime-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>
>
> Hey, guy, I thought this might be of interest to the SR list, since
> it could be the forerunner of the cameras & stuff in ShadowRun. If
> you agree, forward it to the list (I haven't been subscribed in ages).
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 13:32:50 -0400
> From: NASA HQ Public Affairs Office <NASANews@****.osf.hq.nasa.gov>
> To: press-release-net@*******.hq.nasa.gov
> Subject: New Imaging Sensor Shrinks Cameras to the Size of a Chip
>
> Jim Cast
> Headquarters, Washington, DC June 20, 1995
> (Phone: 202/358-1779)
>
> Jim Doyle
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
> (Phone: 818/354-5011)
>
> RELEASE: 95-98
>
> NEW IMAGING SENSOR SHRINKS CAMERAS TO THE SIZE OF A CHIP
>
> A new imaging sensor -- virtually a camera on a chip --
> is in development for NASA's space program and under
> consideration by several major companies for licensing.
>
> The technology makes possible an imaging system that is
> smaller and cheaper than current state-of-the-art electronic
> imaging systems but comparable in performance, according to
> Dr. Eric Fossum, who led the team to develop the Active Pixel
> Sensor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA.
>
> Fossum said the new technology is a considerable leap
> beyond the current state of the art electronic sensors --
> charge-coupled devices or CCDs. "It is a second generation
> solid state imaging technology," he said.
>
> JPL has signed a technology cooperation agreement with
> AT&T Bell Laboratories. Several other companies, both large
> and small, are seeking licensing agreements to commercialize
> the technology.
>
> Charge-coupled devices were developed by the Bell
> Laboratories in the early 1970s and have been used mostly in
> video camcorders and spacecraft. The solid-state devices led
> to relatively low-cost, compact imaging systems compared to
> Vidicons and other tube technology. The charge-coupled
> devices also have advanced as the microelectronics industry
> has improved its quality and fabrication techniques.
>
> Charge-coupled devices with a million pixels, or picture
> elements, are expensive to make, costing about $1,000 per
> million pixels when made for low-volume applications. Active
> Pixel Sensors, by contrast, are made within mainstream
> microelectronics technology -- the way chips for many other
> applications are made -- which can potentially reduce the cost
> to under $200 per million pixels, according to Fossum.
>
> The technology used to develop the Active Pixel Sensor is
> called complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, or CMOS. That
> technology, according to Fossum, is backed by an enormous
> worldwide research and development workforce and large amounts
> of capital investment. CMOS is used for nearly all
> microprocessors and memory chips. The cost of manufacturing a
> CMOS image sensor is currently about three times less than
> that of a CCD image sensor.
>
> The CMOS Active Pixel Sensor was developed at JPL's
> Center for Space Microelectronic Technology for space
> applications in which it has several advantages over CCDs,
> including a requirement for less power and less susceptibility
> to radiation damage in space.
>
> Other applications, Fossum said, include personal
> computer visual communications, high-definition television,
> electronic still cameras, laboratory-based cameras, medical
> instruments, nuclear instruments, toys, automotive
> applications and space-based surveillance systems.
>
> The use of complementary metal-oxide semiconductors for
> the new sensors presents an additional opportunity for
> reducing imaging costs, power and size and improving
> reliability. The Active Pixel Image Sensor can be a single-
> chip camera system. It can communicate directly with a
> microprocessor or computer and allows for reduced component count.
>
> -end-
>
> EDITOR'S NOTE: A black and white image is available to news
> media representatives by calling the Broadcast & Imaging
> Branch at 202/358-1900. The NASA photo number is: 95-H-340.
>
> NASA press releases and other information are available
> automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message
> to domo@**.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the
> subject line) users should type the words "subscribe press-
> release" (no quotes). The system will reply with a
> confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. A second
> automatic message will include additional information on the
> service. Questions should be directed to (202) 358-4043.
>
>


--

gurth@******.nl
Message no. 2
From: Marc A Renouf <jormung@*****.UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: New Imaging Sensor Shrinks Cameras to the Size of a Chip (fwd)
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 12:42:48 -0400
Gurth writes: (forwarded thingy on new camera tech):

And people say that the space program is useless. Actually,
though, if NASA charged companies normal commercial licensing rates and
royalties to produce all the stuff that has come out of JPL over the
years, they probably wouldn't *need* government funding. Of course
there's probably an even better reason that they don't do that very
thing, I just don't know what it is...

Marc

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