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Will_Robertson
Will_Robertson
Associate III
October 8, 2024
Solved

Support for CSI-2

  • October 8, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 6829 views

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice re. microcontroller (#MCU) support for #CSI-2?

ST application note AN5478 "STM32MP135 line interfacing with a MIPI® CSI-2 camera" written in 2023 seems to be the best reference that I can find on this and uses the STMIPID02 MIPI CSI-2 deserializer.

https://www.st.com/resource/en/application_note/DM00697325.pdf

SD do provide an internal peripheral for CSI-2:

https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/CSI_internal_peripheral

ST application note AN5470 on #STM32MP15x "STM32MP15x Series interfacing with a MIPI® CSI-2 camera" written in 2020 and updated in 2023 uses the same deserializer and says that:

"it is possible to extend the range of addressable camera sensors for instance MIPI® CSI-2 cameras (camera serial interface), thanks to the STMIPID02 MIPI CSI-2 deserializer discrete component"

https://www.st.com/resource/en/application_note/dm00693021-stm32mp15x-series-interfacing-with-a-mipi-csi2-camera-stmicroelectronics.pdf

The "D3 DesignCore camera mezzanine board OV5640" referred to in AN5470 was designed in 2017 and no longer seems to be available in 2024.

ST made this CSI-2 camera board available in August 2024:

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/steval-cam-m0i.html

One workaround for microcontrollers that don't support CSI-2 may be that some cameras support #I2C - I2C fast mode or I2C fast-mode plus - I don't know if these can reach the same transmission rates as CSI-2 though nor how well supported they are - and careful design can be needed to avoid problems with interference in I2C buses.

One other option I'm looking at is the #SAMA7G54 "New 1 GHz SAMA7G54 is the First Single-Core MPU with MIPI CSI-2 Camera Interface" which was launched in 2022.

https://www.microchip.com/en-us/about/news-releases/products/new-1ghz-sama7g54-is-the-first-single-core-mpu-with-mipi-csi-2

The Analog Devices #MAX78002 data sheet dated 2022 states

"Multiple high-speed and low-power communications interfaces are supported, including I2S, MIPI® CSI-2® serial camera"

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/MAX78002.pdf

This field is rapidly changing so I've included dates in the above.

CSI-2 is supported by SBCs for example the Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 (Sony #IMX708 ) with a Raspberry Pi SBC however the power consumption of SBCs is significantly higher than microcontrollers and I haven't found any SBC that can rapidly wake from a low power sleep mode in the way that some microcontrollers can.

https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/camera/camera-module-3-product-brief.pdf

Best answer by PatrickF

Hi,

For an indication of time to wake up Linux, please have a look to MP15 value here: https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/How_to_define_your_low-power_strategy#Overview_2.
STM32MP2 would be on similar ballpark (let's says Linux console prompt <1s from Standby and <100ms from xxSTOP). I guess it could still be slightly optimized versus our default Starter Package.

Typical power (VDDCORE+VDDCPU+VDD(1.8V)+VDDA18AON) is around 16mW for LPLV-Stop2 and 1.2mW for Standby2.

These figures does not take into account other components (STPMIC and DDR self-refresh power in particular).

Regards.

 

2 replies

STOne-32
STOne-32
Technical Moderator
October 8, 2024

Dear @Will_Robertson ,

You can refer to our STM32MP25 : Arm® based dual Cortex®-A35 1.5 GHz + Cortex®-M33 MPU, AI, 3D GPU,
video encoder/decoder, TFT/DSI/LVDS, USB 3.0, PCIe

 

Datasheet - STM32MP251A/D STM32MP253A/D STM32MP255A/D STM32MP257A/D - Arm® based dual Cortex®-A35 1.5 GHz + Cortex®-M33 MPU, AI, 3D GPU, video encoder/decoder, TFT/DSI/LVDS, USB 3.0, PCIe®

It supports natively Camera CSI-2 

STOne32_0-1728421668863.png

Hope it helps you.

STOne-32.

 

    Will_Robertson
    Will_RobertsonAuthor
    Associate III
    October 9, 2024

    Dear @STOne-32 ,

    Thank you very much! That looks a great match for what we need!

    Would this be the best evaluation board to try?

    https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/Category:STM32MP25_Evaluation_boards

    Will

    PatrickF
    PatrickF
    Technical Moderator
    October 10, 2024

    Hi @Will_Robertson 

     

    Both boards listed below are suited for STM32MP2 Camera evaluation :

    STM32MP257F-EV1

    STM32MP257F-DK (available in some weeks)

    Choice between both depend on which final application you want to evaluate before going to develop your own board/product.

    EV1 is more industrial oriented (3 x Ethernet, DDR4 USB2.0, PCIe, FDCAN, DSI, CSI, LVDS)

    DK is more consumer oriented (USB3.0, LPDDR4, HDMI, WLAN/BT, audio, CSI, LVDS)

     

    You might need to purchase camera and display separately:

    7" LVDS 1024x600 Display B-LVDS7-WSVGA

    5MP CSI Camera + inertial motion unit + Time‑of‑Flight sensor B-CAMS-IMX

     

    Note that STM32MP2x products are not MCUs but MPU. I.e. intended first to run Linux on Cortex-A processor and bare metal coprocessing on Cortex-M processor.

    Many information also on ST MPU wiki : https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/Main_Page

     

    Regards.

    In order to give better visibility on the answered topics, please click on 'Accept as Solution' on the reply which solved your issue or answered your question.Tip of the day: Try Sidekick STM32 AI agent, see here
      Avgerinos
      Avgerinos
      Associate III
      October 23, 2024

      Hello,

      I had the same question and the STM32MP25 seems a solution to use for a MIPI CSI-2 input.
      But I was wondering if there is an alternative IC to the STMIPID02 MIPI CSI-2 deserializer?

      My main goal is to be able to interface a MIPI CSI-2 video input to a STM32F7 series MCU.
      For this reason I am looking for a solution on how can I convert a MIPI CSI-2 to parallel interface that would be compatible with the DCMI peripheral.

      Thank you

        Will_Robertson
        Will_RobertsonAuthor
        Associate III
        October 23, 2024

        HI @Avgerinos 

        I was also looking at using the STMIPID02 MIPI CSI-2 deserializer between a CSI-2 camera and high end MCU but I was hoping that I could find a monolithic solution that avoids the extra complexity of a separate deserializer chip.

        For our application it looks like the STM32MP25 may be able to wake fast enough from a low power sleep state to be a viable alternative to an MCU but I think you're right that there will be some applications where getting CSI-2 directly into a high-end MCU like the STM32F7 series would be valuable.

        Will

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