Tiny I2C Protocol for Camera Command Exchange in CSI-2: A Review

Mobile industry Protocol Interface (MIPI) use Camera Serial Interface (CSI-2) protocol for fast Serial Interface between the camera device and mobile main processor, MIPI suggest that unidirectional transmission of image taken from camera to memory of baseband processor using CSI-2 is faster than bidirectional, hence in MIPI control commands between camera sensor and baseband processor exchanges using another bidirectional interface known as Camera Control Interface (CCI). This paper presents a new Tiny Interconnect Integrated Circuits (TI2C) protocol for exchange control commands between the camera sensor and mobile baseband processor. TI2C will support the new Camera Command Set (CCS) which is developed for multiple advance camera sensors interfacing, on the other hand, CCI supports Standard Mobile Imaging Architecture (SMIA) command register which was developed according to single-camera interfacing. CCI uses I2C core protocol however TI2C will use only necessary modules of I2C core for camera control commands communication. This study shows the necessary elements requires for command communication and additional components available in I2C core which can be omitted. TI2C will be more area optimized in comparison with CCI because of its application-specific design. This study discusses different methods used by researchers for the improvement of CSI-2 performance.