Opportunities for Infrared IR LEDs 2016 Presentation by Pierrick Boulay of Yole Developpement at CSInternational conference

From Technologies to Market
Opportunities for
Infrared LEDs
CSInternational – March 1st 2016

2
Overview of IR LED Applications
and Markets

3
• IR security cameras have the capability to capture video in low light and no light (0 Lux) areas.
• IR cameras have IR LEDs positioned around the outer edges of the camera lens which gives the camera its "NightVision".
• IR cameras can capture acceptable video in total darkness and even better quality video in low light.
• Emergence of IR LEDs have allowed the development of such camera as such light source are smaller than traditional IR source.
• IR cameras represented in 2014 the main driver for IR LED market.
Infrared security cameras
SURVEILLANCE APPLICATIONS
IR LED
Example of IR cameras

4
• Proximity sensing technology is becoming popular across a wide range of industries, and especially in consumer electronics as
OEMs introduce new products every year.
• The largest application within consumer electronics is the cell phone. And, given the competition in this particular market, it is
important for OEMs to adopt the latest technology and offer unique features to differentiate their products.
• Today, cellphones use proximity sensors based on IR LEDs to detect the presence of a human ear.
• This sensing is done for two main purposes:
• With the boom of smartphone, proximity sensors for cell phones will take over IR (security) cameras at short term and
become the main driver for IR LED market.
Proximity sensors
CELL PHONE APPLICATIONS
Proximity sensor
Reduce display power consumption Disable touch screen

5
More and more
people are
tracking their
physical fitness
with the aid of
wearable
devices and
appropriate
apps.
Overview
WEARABLE DEVICE APPLICATIONS
• It all started with armbands that could record the number of paces a person took.
Now, many activity trackers such as fitness armbands and smartwatches can also
measure heart rate and other biometric values or monitor sleep quality.
• Major players (Samsung, Apple and Google) are now entering this growing market
with appropriate apps, smartwatches and smartphones.
• Whereas pace counters use acceleration sensors, optical methods traditionally
used in the medical sector for pulse and blood oxygen measurements are now
finding their way into the consumer market (thanks to LED technology).
• The first fitness armbands that enable to measure the oxygen saturation in your
blood simply by placing your finger on a screen are now coming onto the market.
• Pulse rate measurement is also now a basic feature in wearable devices.
• And most of these devices are based on IR LEDs.
• At middle term wearable devices could represent the second main market for IR
LED (after proximity sensors for cell phones).
Mio Alpha Heart Rate Sport Watch

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• The automotive industry is under mutation. ADAS represent a strong axis of development for new functions inside
vehicles but several other functions are also being investigated to increase safety, comfort (…) of cars.
• Indeed, several new technologies developed for consumer, commercial or industrial applications are now making
their way to the automotive industry.
• And several of these new applications could integrate technologies / systems based on IR LEDs.
Night vision, gesture recognition (…)
AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS
Eye observation
Night vision
Gesture recognition

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SENSORS EMBEDDED ON SEMI-AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
How to sense the environment, obstacles, potholes…?
Turn your car
into a super-
hero car
@2016 | www.yole.fr | Opportunities for Infrared LEDs
Ultra sound
Parking, SR pedestrian &
obstacle detection
Short range radar
Front & rear car parking
Long range radar
Active Cruise Control
CMOS Image Sensors
Blind spot, side view (mirrorless cars),
accident recorder, rear, park assist
Stereo cameras: direction & distance
for LDWS & traffic signs recognition
Night vision
Pedestrian / animal detection
LIDAR
3D mapping of surroundings
Dead reckoning sensors
Odometry
From Sensors and Data Management for
Autonomous Vehicles report

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Ultra sounds SR radar MR/LR radar
CMOS image
sensors
Nigh vision Lidar
Frequency 50 kHz 24-81GHz visible NIR - LWIR Infra red
Range (m) 10 Short: 0.2-30
Medium: 30-60
Long: 200
80-100
150 – 200 (NIR)
400 – 500 (LWIR)
50-70
Number of
sensors/car
4 (surround)
2 (side)
3 (front)
1 (rear)
1
3 (today) – 10
(future)
1 1
Functions
• position of
objects very
close to the
vehicle
• Parking
sensors
• pedestrian &
obstacle
detection
• front & rear for
car parking
• ACC
• Blind spot, side
view, accident
recorder, park
assist
• Stereo cameras:
direction &
distance for
LDWS & traffic
signs recognition
• Pedestrian /
animal
detection
• 3D mapping of
surroundings
Requirements
• Sensitive to
dirt
• Rain / snow
proof
• Rain / snow
proof
• Resolution <
1m
• HDR
• Robustness
• Low light / low
contrast imaging
• Larger range
for NIR
• High cost /
Higher
resolution for
LWIR
• Rain / snow
proof
TECHNOLOGIES OVERVIEW - COMPARISON
Because of
redundancy, a
car will have
different
technologies
for same
functions

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LIDAR
Lidar will be
the
breakthrough
technology
for 3D
mapping for
autonomous
cars.
• Principle
• Lidar is a remote sensing technology that
measures distance by illuminating a target with a
laser and analyzing the reflected light.
• In automotive LIDAR applications, a laser beam
is shining at a target; the amount of time it takes
to come back is used to measure the distance
to this target.
• The laser beam is then moved across a certain
angular range or even by 360 degrees, much like
a radar system for air traffic control purposes.
• Thus, the LIDAR system or laser scanner
generates a rather detailed image, at a quality
that is clearly superior to radar images due to
the shorter wavelength of laser.As the laser
moves along, it must continuously change its
wavelength to enable the processing circuitry to
differentiate between the reflected and the
outgoing light.This requires a precise movement
of mirrors within the laser cavity.
• The mechanisms controlling this movement are
the reason why todays LIDAR systems are so
bulky and expensive (source Berkeley).
• Characteristics
• Lidar scans in all directions
• 70m range
• 3D mapping of surroundings
• Sensitive to rain and snow
• Example of players
• Valeo (FR, working with IBEO), Quanergy
Systems (US), Osram (Ge),Velodyne LIDAR
(US) …
• Status
• Still in development for integrated version
for autonomous car.
• Valeo plans to have product ready by
2016.
SourceVelodyne lidar

10
NIGHTVISION (NIR & LWIR – OR FIR)
Autonomous
car will require
the fusion of
different
sensing
technologies;
vision camera
and radar are
the first
candidates on
the list.
• Principle
• In the Long Wave IR (LWIR, 8–12 µm), the
“thermal imaging" area sensors can obtain a
completely passive picture of the outside world
based only on thermal emissions.
• It requires no external light or thermal source,
such as the sun, moon or infrared illuminator.
• LWIR imagers don’t need light sources, and
convert the heat emitted or reflected by objects
into a visible black and white image
• Characteristics
• But vision camera and radar are already very
widespread to provide ADAS (advanced driver
assistance) functions in cars.Therefore car makers
will prefer using these technologies instead of
adding new ones, especially if this imaging camera is
under the hood like FIR is.
• Moreover, car space is very constrained and any
space consuming technology will need to be very
valuable to be accepted.
• Example of players
• Autoliv (US), Bosch (NIR, Ge), Denso (NIR, JP)
…
• Status
• For microbolometers, Autoliv is the market’s
only FIR night vision system supplier. Sales
have grown by 40% in 2014 but FIR is still
limited to high-end cars due to high price of
the technology.
• In the long-term, several tier-one suppliers
are interested in FIR technology to reach
autonomous car concept.
• Some car makers estimate that the
cost/function ratio of FIR will still be too
high for broad adoption. Other ADAS
technologies (vision and NIR cameras, radar)
have lower price points and provide a wider
variety of functions.
• EuroNCAP decision to promote nighttime
pedestrian collision mitigation in 2016 will be
critical for the future adoption of FIR night
vision system.

11
NIGHTVISION (NIR & LWIR)
NIR vs. FIR detection
• NIR and FIR compete to provide a night vision function to car makers
• FIR (Far Infrared) systems are passive IR systems based on LWIR microbolometers.
• NIR (Near Infrared) systems are active IR systems using a near infrared light source (about 0.8 microns) to illuminate
objects, and a CMOS image sensor with an extended NIR detection range to detect reflected light.
• Both have been around since 2000, but their use is limited due to high cost: retail price is more than $2,000.

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NIR – FIR comparison
Advantages
+ Lower sensor cost
+ Higher resolution
+ Better visual acceptance by
consumers
+ Integrated behind windshield
Drawbacks
− Small range (150–200m)
− Lower pedestrian detection
− Requires illuminator
− Sensitive to blooming
FIR (passive system)NIR (active system)
Advantages
+ Higher range (400–500 m)
+ Higher pedestrian detection
capability
Drawbacks
− High cost
− Lower visual acceptance by
consumers
− Lower resolution
− Needs to be positioned
outside windshield 
expensive package

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Night vision’s next step: NIR-FIR fusion
• In 2014, a new night vision system based on NIR-FIR fusion was introduced on the Mercedes S class. This system is supplied by
Autoliv, which buys the NIR camera from Bosch.
• This new system provides animal and pedestrian warning + dynamic light spot + preloaded braking but cannot yet provide
pedestrian collisions mitigation (PCM) at night.
2012 20152011 2013 2014 2016 2017
NV2 NV3 NV4
NIR
FIR
NIR
+
FIR

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NIGHTVISION (NIR & LWIR):AUTOLIV FIR NIGHTVISION ROADMAP
Additional functions and cost reduction
Generation 2:
- Pedestrian detection
- 25-micron imager
- Germanium lenses
Generation 3:
- Pedestrian + animal
detection
- 17-micron imager
- Chalcogenide molded lenses
or Germanium lenses
Generation 4:
- NIR – FIR fusion nighttime
pedestrian collision
mitigation?
- 12-micron imager
- Wafer-Level Optics?
ASP - 30% ASP - 37%
18 premium models contracted in June 2015
=> Not 37 models like expected by Autoliv 4 years ago
2010 2012 20152011 2013 20142009 2017 2018
From Sensors and Data Management
for Autonomous Vehicles report

15
We are just
scratching the
true potential
of IR LEDs!
Medical applications:
• The use of infrared light had showed promising results in a variety of fields including neurology and
dermatology. Some companies have introduced LED light bars that produce invisible IR light in the
850nm or 940nm portion of the light spectrum which makes it ideal for professionals use these
wavelengths in their treatment and therapy plan.
Military applications:
• Larson Electronic has developed a military IR LED tail light that gives the ability to supplement or
replace their vehicles existing tail light with an invisible IR light output visible only to night vision
goggles and devices.
Remote control:
• In 2014, Osram has succeeded in sinking a surface-mountable infrared LED in a PC board. This LED
takes only 4,6 mm² of board space. This enables smartphones and tablet computers to be used as
universal remote controls, particularly for home entertainment electronics.
PreventionAgainst Movie Pirating
OTHER APPLICATIONS (NON EXHAUSTIVE)
When infrared lights behind a movie screen are turned
on, odd stripes and dots appear (right) and give the image
poor quality compared with an image made under
normal conditions (left).

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• 5 mm through hole IR LED covers a wide variety of applications and will still exists in suplliers' portofolio.
• SMD LEDs exist with or without shaped dome to cover different applications. Main advantage of these LEDs are to be surface
mounted allowing a better flexibility and better design possibilities.
• Some IR LEDs are dedicated to one application due to special requirements such as power of emission or angle of emission.
A WIDEVARIETY OF LEDS

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More and more
players will
enter the IR
LED market in
the future.
• Technical challenges: 3-in-1 sensors have a limited performance
• IR LED power is limited not suitable for long range detection
• IR LED is close to the proximity sensor  field of view is limited & crosstalk higher than with external LED
remote from the sensor
• Loss of flexibility  OEM cannot change the LED position and must make its design match the light sensor.
• Main innovations:
• In 2013 most of the light sensors manufacturers have added a 3-in-1 sensor in their portfolio. 3-in-1 package
cannot be considered as a strong factor of differentiation anymore.
• The last notable innovation comes from Maxim Integrated which introduced a 7-in-1 sensor (RGB+Ambient
light+proximity+temperature sensors + IR LED in a single package)
• Main players:Avago was the first manufacturer to introduce 3-in-1 package.
TRENDS

19
More and more
players will
enter the IR
LED market in
the future.
• IR LED represent more and more a topic of interest for manufacturers as margin provided are higher and growth of
the market seems attractive at middle / long term.
• As a consequence, more and more players are entering this field.
• However manufacturing of IR LEDs is totally different than for white LEDs. And new entrants will have to develop
specific expertise to access such market.
• Such barrier will be even more difficult to handle as some players are leading this market since 5 - 7 years (i.e.:
Osram, Nichia, Epistar).
• At the moment, the IR LED industry is still small with a limited number of suppliers.
• We expect some big giants of the visible LED industry to enter this market at short / middle term (as it was the case
for UV LED in the past 2 years).
TRENDS

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IR LED market
is at its
beginning and
will rise with
the adoption of
IR LEDs in the
automotive
market.
1 – Driver: IR Security Camera
2 – Driver: Proximity sensor in cell phones & Pulse rate and oxygen saturation measurement sensors in wearable
devices
3 – Driver: Automotive applications (ADAS…)
• At first, market was driven by security cameras but is now driven by proximity sensor and wearable application
devices. We expect that automotive applications such as night vision or LIDAR will drive the market in the next years
with the development of autonomous vehicles.
• A lot more applications will use IR LEDs: iris/face recognition, gesture recognition, driver monitoring, occupancy
detection…
IR LED MARKET SIZE
1
2
3
Years
Revenues

21
Questions…

Opportunities for Infrared IR LEDs 2016 Presentation by Pierrick Boulay of Yole Developpement at CSInternational conference

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Opportunities for Infrared IR LEDs 2016 Presentation by Pierrick Boulay of Yole Developpement at CSInternational conference