<title>Focal-plane image processing using acoustic charge transport technology</title>

Abstract

Digital technology has made dramatic strides in providing higher signal processing throughput in smaller packages. However, meeting processor throughput requirements for future imagers will be difficult using current or near-term available digital technology. As fabrication technology allows for more dense focal planes, typical image processing throughput requirements per frame increase with the number of pixels; for example, the number of pixel gain and offset computations quadruple when the focal plane size increases from a 128 X 128 to a 256 X 256 array. Several analog technologies are answering the driving throughput requirements for image processing applications; one such technology is the movement of charge packets through a piezoelectric GaAs channel, called acoustic charge transport (ACT). Analog solutions such as ACT offer orders of magnitude higher throughput imagers than A/D conversions and digital processing approaches. This paper includes (1) an overview of the theory of ACT device operation, (2) currently available ACT technology and devices, and (3) computational benefits. Detailed proprietary architectures of current ACt image processor designs are not discussed here.