Specification that defines an interface between a camera and a host processor
The Camera Serial Interface (CSI) is a specification of the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance. It defines an interface between a camera and a host processor.
The latest active interface specifications are CSI-2 v4.1 (April 2024), CSI-3 v1.1 (March 2014) and CCS v1.1.1 (April 2023).[1][2][3]
Standards
CSI-1
CSI-1 was the original standard MIPI interface for cameras. It emerged as an architecture to define the interface between a camera and a host processor. Its successors were MIPI CSI-2 and MIPI CSI-3, two standards that are still evolving.
CSI-2
The MIPI CSI-2 v1.0 specification was released in 2005. It uses either D-PHY or C-PHY (Both standards are set by the MIPI Alliance) as a physical layer option. The protocol is divided into the following layers:
- Physical Layer (C-PHY/D-PHY)
- Lane Merger Layer.
- Low Level Protocol Layer.
- Pixel to Byte Conversion Layer
- Application Layer
In April 2017, the CSI-2 v2.0 specification was released. CSI-2 v2.0 brought support for RAW-16 and RAW-20 color depth, increase virtual channels from 4 to 32, Latency Reduction and Transport Efficiency (LRTE), Differential Pulse-Code Modulation (DPCM) compression and scrambling to reduce Power Spectral Density.[4]
In September 2019, the CSI-2 v3.0 specification was released. CSI-2 v3.0 introduced Unified Serial Link (USL), Smart Region of Interest (SROI), End-of-Transmission Short Packet (EoTp) and support for RAW-24 color depth.[5][6]
CSI-3
MIPI CSI-3 is a high-speed, bidirectional protocol primarily intended for image and video transmission between cameras and hosts within a multi-layered, peer-to-peer, UniPro-based M-PHY device network. It was originally released in 2012 and got re-released in version 1.1 in 2014.[7]
CCS
The Camera Command Set (CCS) v1.0 specification was released on November 30, 2017. CCS defines a standard set of functionalities for controlling image sensors using CSI-2.[8][9]
Technology & speeds
For EMI reasons the system designer can select between two different clock rates (a and b) in each of the M-PHY speed levels.[10]
M-PHY speed
|
Clock rate
|
Bit rate
|
Gear 1
|
G1a
|
1.25 Gbit/s
|
G1b
|
1.49 Gbit/s
|
Gear 2
|
G2a
|
2.5 Gbit/s
|
G2b
|
2.9 Gbit/s
|
Gear 3
|
G3a
|
5 Gbit/s
|
G3b
|
5.8 Gbit/s
|
See also
References
External links