Date: 12/04/2022

Smart building ref design powered by Ambarella’s CV22 edge AI SoC

Lumentum Holdings and Ambarella announced a new joint reference design named Vision-D, which combines Lumentum’s flood illuminator module for extremely accurate time-of-flight (ToF) 3D sensing with Ambarella’s CV22 edge AI SoC.

This design can be used in smart building automation for activities such as occupancy monitoring, intelligent space management and also smart retail. Small AIoT sensors made based on this reference design can be placed across building for smart building automation.

ToF 3D sensing generates a point cloud with granular 3D information, without any personal identification for applications such as healthcare and eldercare, so that privacy issues are taken care.

This reference design is aimed at addressing a big market of occupancy sensors, where it is estimated to grow from $1.9 billion USD in 2020 to $3.6 billion USD by 2025, at a CAGR of 13.3%, according to some of the market research reports.

Compared to the present occupancy detection systems, where either passive infrared sensors or cameras are used, this new ref design solution is said to offer intelligent sensing with AI processing at the edge, while offering privacy and avoiding the high cost of cloud computing. With the ability to having AI at the edge, enables creation of digital twins for automated real-time space utilization or hot desking in shared workspaces. Other applications include traffic-based hospitality staffing, cleaning and maintenance alerts to address the labor shortage, and maximized energy efficiency through the fine-tuned usage of HVAC and lighting systems, stated in the release.

“There are currently two choices for occupancy sensing in building automation systems—basic motion-detection devices that preserve privacy, or intelligent camera-based systems that compromise privacy,” said Jerome Gigot, Senior Director of Marketing at Ambarella. “This joint reference design combines Lumentum’s high-performance flood illuminator module with our Cvflow edge AI SoC to provide a novel solution for digital transformation that protects occupant privacy.”

“The use of sophisticated building automation and occupant monitoring solutions is expanding rapidly, driven by home healthcare and monitoring for the world’s growing senior population, efficient building usage with hybrid work schedules, and other increasingly important applications,” said Ken Huang, Director of Product Line Management at Lumentum. “This innovative reference design uniquely addresses key requirements of building automation and occupant monitoring systems by providing rich data sets and processing power while being unobtrusive in terms of both size and privacy.”

Along with the image sensors, Ambarella’s CV22 SoC also provides peripheral interfaces for humidity, temperature and audio to enhance environmental perception. The Lumentum 10 W flood illuminator module incorporates a high-performance, three-junction vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array for ToF 3D sensing.

The Vision-D reference design targets smart building automation in hospitals, malls, apartments and home security. In home security application, this technology can differentiate pets from intruders. This also allows hotel staff to intelligently adjust the HVAC temperature in reserved rooms based on real-time occupancy. Another good example is, it helps in remote monitoring of aging parents without invading their privacy. This reference design is using AI algorithms where it can monitor occupants for sudden falls or medical events, intelligently and immediately triggering a request for emergency services.

OEMs can gain access to broad set of tools and ecosystem partners from both companies to further accelerate time to market. The new Vision-D joint reference design is available now.