A CMOS analog front-end chip-set for mega pixel camcorders

In modern CCD video camera systems, packaging and optical requirements constrain the CCD to be mounted close to the camera lens, often on a board separate from the main signal processing. In this configuration, the analog signal from the CCD must be driven across a flexible cable to the main board, where analog pre-processing is performed. In previous camera generations, the challenge was simply to integrate all of the analog functions onto a single CMOS chip compatible with low voltage supplies. This results in low-cost low-power system partitioning now widely used for consumer CCD camera systems. As consumer CCD sensors move toward higher resolution, however, this conventional integration has weaknesses. This paper shows a modified analog front-end integration for high-speed CCD interface to overcome the problems of conventional partitioning.