GigEVision-compliant Event-based Cameras

Event sensors are a relatively new type of asynchronous vision sensor that output change detect (CD) events for each pixel in the sensor array that detects change over a microsecond timescale.  Event sensor data is both temporal, as well as spatial.  If nothing in the scene changes, there is no data output.  If everything in the scene changes, then all pixels are output.  This is in stark contrast to traditional camera sensors that output a full frame of multibit video data on a regular periodic interval regardless of what is occurring in the scene. The potential sparse data of event sensors provides a natural bandwidth compression that leads to a significantly lower video bandwidth required to transport pixel data, and therefore, much lower power consumption.  With a sparse dataset, lower compute power is also needed.  Event sensors also have high update rates, low sensor smear, and high dynamic range.  All of these specifications are significantly better than most traditional camera sensors.  Event sensors are becoming the key to achieving improved performance for computer vision applications on power friendly compute platforms for image processing.  Due to the break in readout methodology when compared to traditional vision sensors, event sensor-based algorithms, software, and hardware have to be designed differently.  This also means a shift in how the electronics of an event-based camera (EBC) must be designed.  There is currently a lack in the marketplace of non-USB based high speed event sensor camera modules.  An EBC with a high speed 10GigE Vision interface is important so that EBCs can be used in high speed ethernet applications to ease development and use of event sensors.  With a 10GigE Vision interface also comes the flexibility and ease of use of common GigE Vision software standards.  Standard hardware and software interfaces are needed that can be used with COTS event sensors to enable this powerful technology to be tested, integrated, and used at government facilities, empowering government development and unlocking the capability for the warfighter.