RT1170: Using MIPI-CSI with grayscale or raw image sensors

[michael_parthei]

Dear all,

according to another topic here on the forum the MIPI-CSI2 peripheral on the RT1170 does not support grayscale and RAW image sensors due to a silicon bug. Since this is a major issue for anyone using the MCU for e.g. computer vision applications it would be great to discuss possible work-arounds or solutions in this topic.

More specifically, could someone from NXP please comment on the following questions:

1. Are there any work-arounds/hacks to make a grayscale/RAW8 sensor work with the RT1170? Maybe even by using additional hardware, or tricks in software?
2. Will this bug be fixed in a future revision of the silicon, and if yes, is there a rough timeline on when an updated RT1170 MCU will be available?

Again, I'd like to emphasize how bad this issue is. This is not just an "inconvenience" but instead will prevent the MCU from being used for many applications in computer vision, where it would otherwise be a perfect fit! Please, NXP, treat this issue with the importance it deserves!

If anyone else has any tipps or suggestions I'd be happy to hear them! Unless I find a fix for this issue, this will kill the product I am working on.

Best, Michael

[vladimirchernin]

hi nxp !

any update regarding the problem we use rt1176 and we need 14bit raw data support!!!!!!

the camera support only raw format 

 workaround ? new silicon rev fixes it?

[kerryzhou]

Hello michael_parthei,

   Thanks for your new question post.

   Today, I help you to confirm it internally again.

  RT1170 due to the video mux bug, the MIPI-CSI2 can't support the raw data, and no workaround now.

  If customer want to use the raw data method, they can use the parallel CSI interface instead of the mipi-csi.

  Until now, RT1170 still doesn't have the fixed plan for it, maybe in the next RT version, it will be fixed.

  BTW, do you meet these issues when you design your company's product?

  If yes, I suggest you use your company and product information to create the account and create a nxp internal case, then I will help you to report it internally, now, in this post, you just use the 3rd part email.

Case create process:

1. Open below SUPPORT site, click blue "Go to Tickets" in the middle.
http://www.nxp.com/support/support:SUPPORTHOME

2.Then you will be requested to Login, if you have no an account, please first Register with your business email.

3.After login, please "Create New Cases" button in the middle, then you can submit your question.

Please note, use the company email!

Best Regards,

Kerry

[shai_b]

Dear @kerryzhou,

Can you please advise if our iMXRT1170 has fixed the video mux bug, that prevented the MIPI-CSI2 from supporting the 14-bit raw data?

Waiting for your kind feedback, many thanks.

Regards,

Shai

[michael_parthei]

Thanks Kerry for your help! It would be great to get your input on the following possible solutions:

• Would it work to use the MIPI CSI peripheral in RGB mode with a 8-bit RAW camera sensor by "lying" about the resolution? For instance: let's say the camera sensor is 640x480 with 8-bit grayscale values. Could one configure the MIPI CSI peripheral on the MCU to use RGB565 (that is, two bytes per pixel) with 320x480 resolution? In the end, this would result in the same about of data send per frame (actually, even same amount for each image row), and I'd say the MIPI CSI peripheral shouldn't really care about the interpretation of that data. Would this approach work, or am I missing something?
• The camera parallel interface of the RT1170 supports 8bit-grayscale/RAW image sensors, correct?  Do you have any experience with using a dedicated MIPI CSI-to-parallel converter IC like the STMIPID02? Can you recommend any other chips that act as such a bridge, and are confirmed to work with the RT1170?

Best, Michael

[RuhiSonyToys]

Is RGB mode working ?

[Mc2023]

Hi @michael_parthei

Did you manage to capture RAW8 data using MIPI CSI-2? If not did you find a workaround?

Best regards

[kerryzhou]

Hi michael_parthei，

  You are welcome.

1. About your idea, I think you can use it, you can use the RGB mode to receive your raw data, then try to display it, whether the result is Ok or not, you can test it at first, just to confirm the thought.

2. About 8bit-grayscale/RAW image sensors, sorry, I didn't use that type of convert sensor in the previous time. RT1170 already has the CSI interface, that is the parallel interface, which is not the MIPI_CSI2.

Wish it helps you!

Best Regards,

Kerry

[fmabrouk]

Michael,

I am also interested in this NXP MCU RT1170, and I hope there will a solution so I can use AR1335 with it.

Any hope guys?