ARM Mali-C71 Launched, Its First In-House ISP Design, for Automotive Industry

ARM Holdings, now owned by SoftBank Group, on Thursday announced its first image signal processor - the ARM Mali-C71. The Mali-C71, the first product in the Mali Camera family, is targeted at the automotive industry abd was designed from the ground up for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) SoCs with automotive needs such as adjusting for challenging lighting and weather conditions in mind.

The company adds that the new image signal processor will assist the ADAS SoCs in managing multiple cameras and promise "highest levels of safety in the automotive market."

The Mali-C71 is focused on providing camera output where the image quality should be clear and reliable. The company gives an example of mirror replacement in car where Mali-C71 will offer ultra-wide dynamic range (UWDR) up to 24 stops which is more than what a DSLR camera can provide in real world which is around 15 stops of dynamic range. The image signal processor removes noise and processes the multiple exposures from the camera.

"The Mali-C71 brings low latency and advanced error detection with more than 300 dedicated fault detection circuits to enable system-level certification to the highest standards," writes ARM.

In addition, the chip designing company will also provide the reference software to control the ISP, sensor, auto white balance, and auto exposure. ARM is setting high expectations with its new Mali-C71, and Ryan Smith of AnandTech aptly puts it, "The goal, in some ways, is to exceed human vision."

ARM says that the Mali-C71 is the first imaging product being launched since acquisition of Apical in 2016.

Will Foote, Senior Partnership Manager, OmniVision Technologies on the announcement said, "OmniVision has been closely collaborating with the ARM ISP team (formerly Apical) for several years now, and see the Mali-C71 as an important advancement in image signal processing for emerging automotive applications. ARM's expertise in ISP technology together with OmniVision's best-in-class HDR image sensor technologies offers an industry leading solution for our automotive customers."