Publications

Version: 1.1 Approved

LDO-ID 2015-04-09-01

Title Firefly: A HOT camera core for thermal imagers with enhanced functionality

Abstract

Raising the operating temperature of mercury cadmium telluride infrared detectors from 80K to above 160K creates new applications for high performance infrared imagers by vastly reducing the size, weight and power consumption of the integrated cryogenic cooler. Realizing the benefits of Higher Operating Temperature (HOT) requires a new kind of infrared camera module with the flexibility to address emerging applications in handheld, weapon mounted and UAV markets. This paper discusses the Firefly module developed to address these needs by Selex ES in Southampton UK. Firefly represents fundamental redesign of the infrared signal chain reducing power consumption and providing compatibility with low cost, low power Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) computing technology. This paper describes key innovations in this signal chain: a ROIC purpose built to operate with the MIPI-CSI camera interface, GPU based image processing of infrared video, and a software customisable infrared module which can communicate wirelessly with other Battlespace systems.

Authors Pillans Luke, Harmer Jack, Edwards Tim

Type Paper for Seminar/Symposium/Conference

Media SPIE 2015 - Infrared Technology and Applications conference (20-24 April 2015, Baltimore, Maryland, USA)

Web site

Anno 2015