High-Resolution Camera for Traffic Surveillance

Automatic traffic intersection management is done by computer-controlled systems—Traffic Management Systems (TMS)—that sense the presence of vehicles to maximize traffic flow and safety. For decades, TMS has used an inductive sensor buried in the pavement at intersections to detect vehicle presence. Those buried sensors have always been a source of problems, from corrosion to freeze/thaw pavement damage to their inability to “see” motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians.

Today, newer systems employ video cameras at multiple points to monitor all intersection approaches. These durable cameras are typically only modest resolution units, but work well in many situations. As technical demands increase, one of the challenges for camera image sensors is the high dynamic range (HDR), in which such cameras must operate. From daylight to darkness with bright vehicle lights and reflections, the camera and its control system must be able to detect and classify all activity at an intersection. Such cameras require a very HDR in order to “see” across the wide range of light levels that might occur in a single scene; for example, perceiving a pedestrian at night when bright vehicle lights are in the scene.

Forza Silicon designs and manufactures custom high-resolution CMOS focal plane arrays for high-performance cameras. One key capability for TMS offered by Forza is a patented in-pixel HDR capability. Traffic camera designers and manufacturers can integrate a Forza CMOS focal plane array and assure TMS customers next-generation HDR capabilities. Forza also designs very high-resolution focal plane arrays beyond HDTV to 4K HDTV and 8K UHDTV.