MWCS is Asia’s leading tech industry event, taking place this year at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from June 27 – 29. This year over 100 countries are represented, with 550 companies attending. As the scale of MWCS is continually expanding, the event provides the perfect platform for Samsung to showcase its latest groundbreaking semiconductor technologies.

Attendees explore the Samsung Electronics experience zone at MWCS 2018

A Samsung promoter introduces the ISOCELL range to a large crowd of interested MWCS attendees

S.LSI has been participating in MWCS since last year, recognizing the growing importance of the Chinese presence in the global technology market.  Highlighted at MWCS this year are S.LSI’s ISOCELL, Exynos, NFC and smart speaker ranges, with a variety of solutions – including the new ‘ISOCELL Plus’ – on show for customers from all around the world including China.

The Samsung Electronics Exhibition Hall, filled with numerous local and global visitors

ISOCELL

The Samsung Electronics S.LSI ISOCELL booth at MWCS 2018. The ISOCELL products on display showcase the latest in high resolution photography solution

The ISOCELL series, first launched at MWCS 2017, is named after the patented Samsung ISOCELL technology which offers solutions for devices that require ultra-slim designs with high quality cameras.

Visitors learn more about the image quality comparison (1.12um 13Mp vs 1.0um 16Mp) of the ISOCELL Slim 3P9 at the Samsung Electronics booth

Among the cutting-edge developments to the ISOCELL series presented at MWCS is the ISOCELL Slim 3P9 with Plug and Play solution for rear camera modules. The Plug and Play solution simplifies the camera module development and optimization process by providing a turnkey module, made up of an ISOCELL sensor and other primary elements from preferred partners, pre-tuned for VCX-standard image quality. Manufacturers can simply plug the module into a device, saving up to four months of development time.

The ISOCELL Plus, a new pixel isolation technology from Samsung, replaces the metal grid formed over the photodiodes with an innovative new material minimizing optical loss and light reflection. The ISOCELL Bright, harnessing Tetrapixel* technology, merges four pixels into one so that users can achieve high quality images in all light conditions. The ISOCELL Fast utilizes Dual Pixel technology for faster, more accurate auto focus – even in low light conditions.

Exynos

The Exynos series, the system-on-a-chip processors featured in Samsung’s own line of mobile devices, presents the latest in performance, efficiency and connectivity options.

Visitors watch a demonstration of the Exynos 7 Series 9610 and its object detection capabilities at the Samsung Electronics booth

The Exynos Series 7 9610 is a S.LSI’s high-end application processor that was introduced earlier this year, with enhanced image processing capabilities to support DSLR-like camera functions with AI-powered image processing. It is also the industry’s first SoC to offer 480fps filming for super slow-motion videos. Thanks to its patented vision-image processing DSP(digital signal processor), users can harness its object detection feature for various AI-powered applications, picture gallery classification and device security.

A Samsung smartphone is used to model the Exynos 7 Series 9610 at the Samsung Electronics booth. The Exynos 7 Series 9610 includes a special DSP, vision-image processor, for object identification of 20 kinds of objects at up to 30fps

The Exynos Series 7 9610 is the first mobile SoC to offer 480fps filming for super slow-motion videos. The only limit to how long a user can record for, at FHD resolution, is the device’s storage capacity

Also introduced this year, the Exynos 9810 is a premium processor, with Samsung’s 3^rd-generation CPU core for enhanced AI and multimedia capabilities. The Exynos 7885 is a high-mid tier processor launched at the end of 2017, and the 7872 is the first to adopt a big CPU core in the volume-zone segment. Offering optimized performance and improved power efficiency, the Exynos processors provide for an incredible user experience.

Samsung promoters showcase the Galaxy S9+, powered by Exynos 9 9810 solution, to an attendee

NFC & Smart Speaker: The Latest in Contactless and Smart Home Technology

Visitors to MWCS can observe applied demonstrations of SLI’s new semiconductor technology; flagship Samsung mobile devices here showcase the NFC contactless power transfer (left) and NFC contactless POS payments technologies (right)

NFC Mobile POS and NFC Power Transfer exhibits the latest in contactless technology. With the Mobile POS, a mobile device can be used to replace a POS reader for virtual payments, and with the Power Transfer, a mobile phone can transfer power to mobile accessories utilizing NFC RF radiation.

The AKI range is a collection of children’s watches powered by Samsung’s Exynos Dual 7270 and NFC technologies

The smart speaker reference platform stand, part of the Samsung experience zone, waits ready for MWCS visitors to experiment with its features – including voice & face recognition as well as personal assistant capabilities

The smart speaker is a great personal assistant for answering questions, playing your favorite music and controlling connected home devices. Based on various Samsung ICs, including Exynos AP, RF, PMIC, image sensor and secure element. Samsung’s smart speaker reference platform helps manufacturers reduced development time and a faster time-to-market.

* Technological term of “Tetrapixel” was updated in July 2022

Samsung ISOCELL image sensors fall into four categories—Fast, Slim, Bright and Dual—depending on their key attributes. As market demand for sleeker smartphones with advanced features increases, ISOCELL Fast 2L9 and Slim 2X7 both offer high resolution image sensors in small chip packages, delivering detailed pictures in low-light environments without a camera bump.

ISOCELL Fast 2L9

With Dual Pixel technology, the ISOCELL Fast 2L9 delivers ultra-fast auto-focus at a reduced pixel size from the previous Dual Pixel sensor’s 1.4μm to 1.28μm. Dual Pixel technology employs two photodiodes in each and every pixel of the sensor instead of only one. With 12 million focus detecting pixels, the sensor is able to not only quickly focus on small still objects, but also lock on and track moving objects without losing focus, even in low-light environments. With smaller pixel size, the ISOCELL Fast 2L9 can fit into slimmer camera modules, enabling bump-less designs for smartphones. Dual Pixel technology especially allows depth-of-field effect for taking bokeh, or aesthetically out-of-focused photographs, through a traditional single lens camera.

ISOCELL Slim 2X7

At 0.9μm, the ISOCELL Slim 2X7 is the first sensor in the industry to have the pixel size below 1.0μm. Even with such a small pixel size, the Slim 2X7 is able to provide high color fidelity with less noise due to the improved ISOCELL technology’s deeper DTI (deep trench isolation) that reduces color crosstalk and expands the full-well capacity to hold more light information. In addition, the small 0.9μm pixel size enables a 24Mp image sensor to be fitted in a thinner camera module, allowing premium smartphones to offer high resolution cameras in a very slim and elegant design.

The ISOCELL Slim 2X7 is also packed with Tetrapixel technology, which lets the sensor take brighter photographs in the dark and more detailed ones in well-lit environments. Tetrapixel improves performance in low-light situations by merging four neighboring pixels to work as one to increase light sensitivity. In bright environments, Tetrapixel uses a re-mosaic algorithm to produce full resolution images. This enables consumers to use the same front camera to take photos in various lighting conditions.

“Samsung ISOCELL Fast 2L9 and ISOCELL Slim 2X7 are new image sensors that fully utilize Samsung’s advanced pixel technology, and are highly versatile as they can be placed in both front and rear of a smartphone,” said Ben K. Hur, Vice President of System LSI Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung plans to further develop the Dual Pixel and 0.9μm-pixel product categories, and expand applicable devices for ISOCELL image sensors that can enhance photographing experiences for consumers.”

* Technological term of “Tetrapixel” was updated in July 2022