KR20070060686A - Multiple embedded camera module and mobile communication terminal with multiple embedded camera module - Google Patents

Abstract

Multiple camera modules and a mobile communication terminal with the multiple camera modules are provided to selectively apply a driving signal to a plurality of camera modules mounted on a single flexible PCB(Printed Circuit Board) through a common input/output bus to simplify a circuit design. Multiple camera modules include a PCB(100) and a plurality of module assemblies(104). The PCB includes flexible parts(101), hard parts(102), and a connector(103) for connecting a main board. The plurality of module assemblies is respectively mounted on the hard parts of the PCB. The connector of the PCB is connected to the main board of a mobile terminal, and power is selectively supplied to the camera modules according to an electric signal applied from the main board through the connector.

Description

MULTIPLE EMBEDDED CAMERA MODULE AND MOBILE COMMUNICATION TERMINAL WITH MULTIPLE EMBEDDED CAMERA MODULE

1 is a side view showing a mounting structure of a conventional dual camera module.

Figure 2 is a side view showing another mounting structure of a conventional dual camera module.

3 is a block diagram showing a part of a configuration of a mobile communication terminal having a dual camera of the type shown in FIG.

4 is a plan view of a camera module mounted with a plurality of module assemblies according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram of a multi-mount camera module according to the present invention.

6 is a circuit diagram of a mobile communication terminal mounted with a plurality of camera modules according to the present invention.

7 is a signal processing logic table of the circuit configured in FIG.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100. Printed circuit board 104. Module assembly

200. Control unit 300. Backend chip

310,320. Input / output bus

400. Power Supply 500. Camera Module

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal having a multi-mounted camera module. More particularly, the present invention relates to a driving signal in which a plurality of camera module assemblies are mounted on a single flexible printed circuit board and applied through a common input / output bus. Selective image capturing of the camera module is performed, thereby simplifying the circuit design according to the driving of the camera and allowing the mounting position of the camera module to be appropriately changed and mounted by the deformation of the board according to the user's request. A module and a mobile communication terminal having the same.

Nowadays, portable terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs are being used as a multi-convergence with music, movies, TV, and games as well as simple telephone functions with the development of the technology. The camera module is the most representative. The camera module is being changed from the existing 300,000 pixels (VGA level) to the high pixel center of 7 million pixels, and at the same time, it is changing with the implementation of various additional functions such as auto focusing (AF) and optical zoom (OPTICAL ZOOM). . In addition, due to the development of file transfer systems such as the Internet, video calls have become possible, and accordingly, the importance of dual cameras (DUAL CAMERA) has emerged.

In general, in implementing such a dual camera, a high pixel camera of 1.3 megabytes or more is used to capture a general video, and a low pixel camera of a VGA level or lower is used for a video call. However, as the price of a portable terminal is leading to an era of low price, the cost of using two camera modules is increasing. Therefore, a method of using a camera in which a high pixel photographing function and a general image capturing function are merged using a single camera module is considered.

In order to implement this method, the single camera can be rotated and used by using a general hinge type camera module (Korea Patent Publication Nos. 2005-0091955 and 2004-0094133, etc.). The module is subject to mechanical constraints for mounting the hinge and also inconvenient of manual switching. In addition, due to the characteristics of the video camera, the camera module should be placed in a position close to the LCD window so that it does not deviate much from the other person's gaze during the video call. There are some difficult disadvantages.

In order to alleviate this disadvantage, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of camera modules 1 having different pixels or the same pixel are mounted so that their incidences face in opposite directions. Is a state in which the camera module 1 is separately attached to a pair of boards 2 each provided with a connector 3 for power connection, and FIG. 2 shows one board 2 with the connector 3 for power connection. ), The camera module 1 is mounted so that its incidence part faces in the opposite direction.

In the case of the mounting structure illustrated in FIG. 2, a master and a slave are mainly divided using a SADDR terminal to selectively drive two camera modules 1 attached to one substrate 2. When the master camera module 1 is in an ON state, the slave camera module 1 remains in an OFF state, and the master camera module 1 is turned off. When the structure is to be driven in the opposite state is mainly used.

In addition, in the case of the camera module mounting structure shown in Figure 1 has a connector (3), each substrate 2 is coupled to the main board in the main body is a structure in which the electrical connection of the camera module (1), The drive selection of each camera module 1 is made by using an enable terminal for transmitting an electrical signal through each connector 3.

On the other hand, Figure 3 is an example of the prior art for the dual camera module of the type shown in Figure 1, a block diagram showing a partial configuration of a mobile communication terminal having a dual camera disclosed in the Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 2005-0052160 . As shown in the drawing, the conventional dual camera includes a first camera module 33 and a second camera module 34 for capturing an image, and the first camera module (in response to a camera operation signal IN input by a user). 33) or a control unit 31 for outputting a predetermined driving signal for operating the second camera module 34, receiving a predetermined signal including image data and outputting the predetermined signal to an externally provided display window; The power supply unit 35 supplies power to the first camera module 33 or the second camera module 34 by a power enable signal, and receives a predetermined driving signal output from the control unit 31 and converts the predetermined driving signal. The driving signal is output to the first camera module 33 or the second camera module 34, and a predetermined signal including the image data output from the first camera module 33 or the second camera module 34 is output. Receiving and outputting to the control unit 31, And a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) 32 that outputs a power enable signal to the power supply unit 35. The controller 31 outputs a clock signal, a power enable signal, and a reset signal having a predetermined frequency to the CPLD 32, and outputs image data from the CPLD 32. DATA), a vertical sync (VSYNC) signal, a horizontal sync (HSYNC) signal, and a pixel clock signal. In addition, the CPLD 32 receives the clock signal CLOCK output from the controller 31 and outputs the clock signal CLOCK1 having a predetermined frequency to the first camera module 33 or the second camera module ( 34) outputs a clock signal CLOCK2 having a predetermined frequency, and the internal logic is configured by using VHDL (Very High Speed Integrated Circuits Hardware Description Language). The frequency of the clock signal CLOCK1 of the first camera module 33 and the frequency of the clock signal CLOCK2 of the second camera module 34 may be the same or different.

However, the portable terminal having the first and second camera modules, as in the above-described prior art, has a reset signal and a clock through a control unit 31 for controlling two camera modules and an enable terminal connected thereto. Since each control signal including a signal and an image data signal must be transmitted independently through the CPLD 32 to allow each camera module 33 to be driven individually, a significant limitation is imposed on the module driving circuit design.

In addition, the design of hardware is difficult due to the overlap of the data buses for each of the first and second camera modules or the complexity of the transmission lines of the respective control signals, as well as the noise of the image due to the interference between the control signals through the respective transmission lines. It is the cause of occurrence.

Accordingly, the present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages and problems in the conventional dual camera module, and a driving signal is generated by a combination of operation signals of a control unit connected to a backend chip, and the driving signal is common. I / O BUS allows multiple camera modules mounted on a single flexible printed circuit board to be selectively applied, simplifying circuit design according to individual camera driving and An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-mount camera module and a mobile communication terminal having the same regardless of the number.

The object of the present invention is a multi-mount camera module comprising a printed circuit board having a flexible portion and a rigid portion, the connector portion for connecting the main substrate at one end, and a plurality of module assemblies mounted on the rigid portion of the printed circuit board. By being provided.

The connector of the printed circuit board is connected to the main board in the portable terminal, and the power supply is selectively supplied to each camera module by an electrical signal applied from the main board through the connector.

The printed circuit board is formed by alternately forming a flexible part and a hard part so that a plurality of module assemblies are mounted on the hard part. In addition, the flexible portion between the rigid portion to which the module assembly is attached is made of a structure capable of freely changing the shape according to the external design or design conditions of the mobile communication terminal. At least two camera modules attached to the single printed circuit board to be electrically connected to each other are mounted, and in theory, more camera modules may be mounted according to the free space in the mobile communication terminal and are connected to the printed circuit board. It can be controlled by a simple switching signal applied to a control unit mounted on the main board in the terminal.

In addition, another object of the present invention, a plurality of camera module unit which is individually driven so as to output a predetermined image signal by photographing the subject by the selective drive signal input from the outside, and the back mounted on the main board in the mobile communication terminal A control unit that generates a driving signal of the camera module by combining an operation signal with an end chip, and a common input / output bus for transmitting and receiving the driving signal and the image signal of the camera module through a single line. And a power supply unit supplying power to the camera module selectively driven by the drive signal of the control unit.

The back end chip performs selective driving of the camera module by the signal combination with the control unit, and at the same time, the image information through each camera module is connected to the back end chip through an input bus composed of a single data line. And image processing is performed.

In addition, the control unit is composed of a demultiplexer (DeMux) that makes a desired type of connection by selecting signals such as S0 and S1. Will be done.

In this case, a driving signal for selectively driving the camera module and an image signal generated by driving the camera module are transmitted and received through a single input / output bus connected to the backend chip, respectively. A video data signal such as a horizontal sync (HSYNC) signal, a vertical sync (VSYNC) signal, a pixel clock signal, and the like are supplied via the output bus to a power supply signal, a clock signal, and a reset signal. As a driving signal such as a RESET) signal is transmitted and received through a single line connected to the backend chip, a technical feature is to allow selective driving of each camera module with a simple circuit configuration.

Matters relating to the operational effects including the technical configuration of the multi-mount camera module of the present invention and the mobile communication terminal having the same are clearly understood by the following detailed description with reference to the drawings showing preferred embodiments of the present invention. Will be.

First, Figure 4 is a plan view of a camera module mounted with a plurality of module assembly according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a block diagram of a multi-mount camera module according to the present invention.

As shown, the multi-mount camera module of the present invention is a module assembly 104 in which the lens barrel is coupled to the rigid portion 102 of the printed circuit board 100 having a connector 103 for connecting external terminals at one end thereof. There are many mounted structures.

The hard part 102 on which the module assembly 104 is mounted is alternately formed with the soft part 101 connecting the hard parts 102, and the hard parts 102 may be extended according to the length extension and the shape change of the soft part 101. 102 is configured to be freely arranged.

In addition, the connector 103 of the printed circuit board 100 is connected to the main board (not shown) in the mobile communication terminal, thereby selecting each camera module by an electrical signal and data transmission applied from the main board. Power supply and transmission and reception of the image information through the selected camera module is made through the connector 103, which is a single passage.

Meanwhile, FIG. 5 is a view showing an embodiment in which four module assemblies 104 are mounted on a single rigid printed circuit board 100. As shown in FIG. 5, one print may be selectively driven by a user operation. Each module assembly 104 mounted on the circuit board 100 is connected to a control unit 200 which is operated as a switching means to allow selective driving of each camera module, and the control unit 200 is mobile communication. It is included in the back end chip 300 mounted on the main substrate in the terminal or attached separately on the mail substrate and is electrically connected to the back end chip 300.

The back-end chip 300 is interconnected with the printed circuit board 100 on which each module assembly 104 is mounted to process image information signals received through each camera module, and to combine the operation signals by user manipulation. Thereby allowing only one module assembly 104 of the plurality of module assemblies 104 mounted on a single printed circuit board 100 to be selectively driven.

In this case, the driving of the module assembly 104 is made of a driving signal generated by the operation signal combination of the control unit 200 connected between the back and chip 300 and the module assembly 104, the control unit The driving signal generation of 200 is implemented by a demux of 1 × 4 format when four camera modules are mounted.

6 is a circuit diagram of a mobile communication terminal in which a plurality of camera modules according to the present invention is mounted, and FIG. 7 is a signal processing logic table of the circuit of FIG. 6.

As shown, the present invention is mounted on a plurality of camera module unit 500 and the main board in the mobile communication terminal to be individually driven to output a predetermined image signal by photographing the subject by the selective drive signal input from the outside The control unit 200 which generates a driving signal to the camera module unit 500 by a combination of an operation signal with the backend chip 300, and the driving signal and the image signal of the camera module are single lines. It consists of a common input / output bus 310, 320 to transmit and receive through, and a power supply unit 400 for supplying power to the camera module selectively driven by the drive signal of the control unit 200. .

The camera module 500 includes a plurality of camera modules mounted on a single printed circuit board, receives a selective driving signal from a main board connected through a connector of one end, and is transmitted along with the driving signal. The camera module is driven by a power-on signal.

The common input / output buses 310 and 320 are respectively connected to the main board in the mobile communication terminal so that various video signals and driving signals including image data generated by the camera module 500 are back-endd on the main board. The chip 300 is transmitted and received through a single data line.

In this case, the input bus 310 may include a vertical sync (VSYNC) signal, a horizontal sync (HSYNC) signal, and a pixel clock (PIXEL CLOCK) signal including image data collected through individual camera modules of the camera module unit 500. By being received by the back-end chip 300 via the image processing is performed by a combination of the various signals and the image data.

In addition, the output bus 320 includes a clock signal having a predetermined frequency generated from the backend chip 300, a power applying signal from the power supply unit 400 including a reset signal, and the camera module. The camera 500 may be received by the unit 500, and a combination of the signals may selectively drive one of the camera modules constituting the camera module unit 500.

As described above, the input / output buses 310 and 320 are cameras having various driving signals (clock signals, reset signals, and power applied signals) output from the back end chip 300 and the power supply unit 400 through a single line. Various video signals (vertical sync signal, horizontal sync signal, and pixel) received by the module unit 500 to perform individual driving of each camera module, and the image data received from the driving camera module of the camera module 500. Clock signal) is received to the back-end chip 300 through the input line 310 of a single line, the camera to the display unit (not shown) provided externally by the image processing of the back-end chip 300 Image output of the image picked up by the module is performed.

Selective driving of the individual camera module constituting the camera module unit 500 is made through the control unit 200 connected through the back and chip 300 and the input / output bus 310, 320, The control unit 200 transmits the switching signal generated by the operation signal combination with the back-end chip 300 to the camera module unit 500, thereby controlling the driving of each camera module.

The control unit 200 is composed of a demultiplexer (DeMux) for transmitting an operation signal of a desired form by a combination of selection signals such as S0, S1, etc., and is attached to a single printed circuit board and controlled according to the number of camera modules to be controlled. It is configured in the form of 1x3, 1x4, 1x5 demultiplexer (DeMux). That is, the shape of the demultiplexer (DeMux) may be appropriately changed according to the number of camera modules that can be freely arranged according to the shape of the rigid part 102 and the flexible part 101 of the printed circuit board 100.

The driving control operation of the camera module 500 driven by the operation signal combination of the control unit 200 will be described below based on the signal processing logic shown in FIG. 7.

The operation signal of the control unit 200 is driven whether the entire camera module unit 500 is driven by a standby signal through a common input bus 310 selected by a switching means input from the keypad of the mobile communication terminal. In this case, when the standby signal through the input bus 310 is 0, the power supply through the power supply unit 400 is interrupted, the overall operation of the camera module unit 400 is stopped, the standby signal is 1 When the power is supplied through the power supply unit 400, the operation of the camera module is activated by the combination of the operation signals S0 and S1 through the control unit 200.

As a driving signal through the control unit 200, a driving signal such as a clock signal generated by a combination of operation signals applied to S0 and S1 is applied to a corresponding camera module, and the driving signal is transmitted through a single output bus. When applied, the driving power through the power supply unit 400 is simultaneously applied to the camera module.

When the control unit 200 is configured as a demultiplexer (DeMux) of the 1 × 4 form, the combination of the driving signal is made of a number combination of four cases by the signal combination of S0, S1, as shown in Figure 7 As shown in the logic table, the first camera module when S0 and S1 are 0 and 0, the second camera module when S0 and S1 are 0 and 1, and the third camera module when S0 and S1 are 1 and 0, S0 When a driving signal applied to the fourth camera module is generated when S1 is 1 or 1, a driving signal is selectively applied to each camera module to selectively drive the camera module.

In this case, the selective combination of the driving signal through the control unit 200 may be adjusted by a switching means input from an external keypad or an external terminal of the mobile communication terminal.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention described above are disclosed for the purpose of illustration, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes within the scope without departing from the spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It will be possible, but such substitutions, changes and the like should be regarded as belonging to the following claims.

As described above, in the multi-mount camera module of the present invention and the mobile communication terminal using the same, individual drive signals generated by the operation signal combination of the control unit connected to the back-end chip are connected to a single flexible printed circuit through a common input / output bus. By selectively applying to a plurality of camera modules mounted on a circuit board, the shape change range of the flexible part and the hard part provided in a single printed circuit board and the number of module assemblies within the mountable position of the mobile communication terminal, regardless of A number of camera modules can be mounted, and a number of camera modules mounted in a mobile communication terminal can be selectively controlled by each camera module with a simple circuit configuration consisting of a common data transmission, reception line, and input / output bus. There is this.

Claims (9)

A printed circuit board having a flexible portion and a rigid portion, and having a connector portion for connecting an external terminal to one end thereof; And A plurality of module assemblies mounted on the rigid part of the printed circuit board; Multi-mount camera module comprising a. The method of claim 1, The connector unit is connected to the main board in the portable terminal, the multi-mount camera module, characterized in that the selective power supply to each camera module by the electrical signal applied from the main board through the connector. A plurality of camera module units which are individually driven to photograph a subject by outputting an optional driving signal input from the outside to output a predetermined image signal; A control unit for generating a driving signal of the camera module by a combination of an operation signal with a backend chip mounted on a main board in the mobile communication terminal; A common input / output bus for transmitting and receiving a driving signal generated by the control unit and an image signal output from the camera module unit through a single line; And A power supply unit supplying power to a corresponding camera module selectively driven by a drive signal of the control unit; Mobile communication terminal using a multi-mount camera module comprising a. The method of claim 3, The control unit is configured to selectively drive the camera module by a signal combination with a back end chip mounted on the main board, and the back end chip is connected to the driving camera module through an input bus which is a single data line to which the control unit is connected. A mobile communication terminal using a multi-mount camera module, characterized in that image processing is performed by receiving image information including a video signal. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The control unit is a mobile communication terminal using a multi-mount camera module, characterized in that implemented by the 1xn type demultiplexer (DeMux) to make the desired type of connection by the selection signal of S0, S1. The method of claim 3, The camera module unit is composed of a plurality of camera modules mounted on a single printed circuit board, the multi-mount camera characterized in that only the camera module is driven by the power supply signal of the power supply unit transmitted along with the optional drive signal. Mobile communication terminal using a module. The method of claim 3, The common input / output bus is a mobile communication terminal using a multi-mount camera module, wherein various video signals and driving signals including image data are transmitted and received through a single data line with a backend chip on a main board. . The method of claim 7, wherein The input bus collects image signals such as a vertical sync (VSYNC) signal, a horizontal sync (HSYNC) signal, and a pixel clock signal including image data output through an individual camera module, and receives the image signals on the backend chip. Mobile communication terminal using a multi-mount camera module, characterized in that. The method of claim 7, wherein The output bus is a power supply signal from the power supply unit 400 including a clock signal and a reset signal having a predetermined frequency generated from the backend chip is collected and received by the camera module unit. A mobile communication terminal using a multi-mount camera module, characterized in that the camera module can be selectively driven.

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