Interview with Dr. Yu-Cheng Fan, 3D Multimedia Integrated Circuits and Systems Research

 

imageDr. Yu-Cheng Fan is with the National Taipei University of Technology as a professor at the Department of Electronic Engineering. He is concurrently the Asia and Pacific Regional Director of the IEEE Consumer Technology Society, and the Vice Chair of the IEEE CTSoc VAR (co-founder) Technical Committee. At the same time, he is the Executive Director of the Taiwan Consumer Electronics Society (co-founder), which is the most professional and largest academic society in the field of Consumer Electronics in Taiwan. In the past, he also served as the Associate Dean of the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Chairman of the Undergraduate Honors Program of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the Director of the Curriculum Division at the National Taipei University of Technology. Dr. Fan is dedicated to the research of forward-looking 3D multimedia integrated circuits and systems and promotes innovative consumer electronics worldwide. He is a scholastic honor member of Phi Tau Phi and an IEEE Senior Member.

 

What are the major missions and main research topics of your team?

 

Our laboratory focuses on the research of 3D multimedia integrated circuits and systems design. This series of research mainly includes 3D LiDAR environment detection, 3D display chip design, 3D interactive system design, and 3D multimedia magnetic storage technology design. Dr. Yu-Cheng Fan has achieved the following significant technological innovation and achievement.

We propose a 3D environment detection system and chip design based on multi-view color images and LiDAR point cloud images. Combining multi-view color images and LiDAR point cloud images solves the problem of insufficient resolution of LiDAR point cloud images, further realizes accurate 3D environment detection, recognition, and reconstruction, and is applied to autonomous vehicles [1-3].

According to the Human Visual System, we propose a Vivid-DIBR-Based 2D to 3D Image Conversion System for 3D Display [4]. Vivid-DIBR solves the problem that stereoscopic TV cannot overcome in nonlinear displacement for a long time [4]. The editor of the IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology commends our proposed method for the following innovation. The proposed method constrains the displacement in image warping by transforming linear depth value into nonlinear displacement which reduces the error rate during the image warping process.

In the past, in the field of stereoscopic display and 3D interaction, depth generation was an important issue that puzzled researchers. The method of obtaining depth images was either too expensive or not accurate enough. To solve this important issue, we proposed the VLSI Design of a Depth Map Estimation Circuit Based on a Structured Light Algorithm, which realizes accurate and low-cost depth detection chips, and can measure accurate depth values with ordinary consumer cameras and projectors [5].

Due to the huge amount of 3D video data, traditional information storage technology (VCD, DVD) is still not applicable even after image compression. The international standard Blue-Ray 3D came into being. Blue Ray 3D applies advanced Optical and Magnetic storage technology to achieve high-capacity data storage. However, key technologies such as depth data estimation and Hole-Filling control of 3D data are not discussed much in the literature. In addition, the components of Pickup Head also consume a lot of power in reading and writing. To improve the above problems, we proposed technologies Hole-Filling Based Memory Controller of Disparity Modification [6] and Three Dimensional Depth Map Motion Estimation [7] to improve the performance of Blue-Ray 3D in Optical and Magnetic storage and proposed Predictable Power Saving Memory Controller Circuit [8] to solve Pickup Head components in read and write power consumption issues on. Finally, according to the specification of Blue-Ray 3D Optical and Magnetic storage technology, a 3D Image Recording, Mapping, and Synthesis System for 3D Display [9] is proposed, which completely solves the related problems of Blue-Ray 3D Optical and Magnetic storage. At the same time, in response to the development of a forward-looking Holographic Display, we completed the Three-dimensional Holographic Data Storage Circuit Design [10]. Given the above content, we fully propose the relevant algorithm, circuit structure, and system implementation from the perspective of 3D stereoscopic display and interactive system, core chip, and magnetic information storage.

Prof. Fan’s innovative research on 3D multimedia integrated circuit and system design has received the Dr. Shechtman Young Researcher Award in 2015 and the Best Paper Awards including IEEE ICCE 2003 (Los Angeles, USA), CIASPCD 2010 (Taoyuan, Taiwan), APDSC 2010 (Hualien, Taiwan), IEEE ISNE 2013 (Kaohsiung, Taiwan), IDW/3DSA 2016 (Fukuoka, Japan), IMID/3DSA 2017 (Busan, Korea), IEEE ISNE 2018 (Taipei, Taiwan), IEEE ICCE 2020 Poster Video Award (Las Vegas, USA), IEEE ICIET 2021 (Okayama, Japan), IEEE ICCCI 2021 (Nagoya, Japan), and IEEE WSCE 2022 (Nagoya, Japan). For his excellent industry-academia research results, Dr. Fan received the Industry-University Cooperation Outstanding Achievement Award (2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in Taiwan In addition, he received numerous other awards, including the Excellent Chip Design Award from Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI), the 4C Electronic Excellence Design Awards from the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Excellent Chip Award for High-end Measuring Instruments from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Macronix Golden Silicon Awards, and the Excellent Creative Design Award from Chiuan Yan Technology Company.

 

You serve as the Asia and Pacific Regional Director of the IEEE Consumer Technology Society. What is your vision for IEEE CTSoc Membership?

 

As Asia and Pacific Regional Director of the IEEE Consumer Technology Society, my vision is to use the experience of service to the CTSoc to advance its mission, influence, and reach of our society to engineering communities. I would like to devote myself to continuously increasing the number of society members and take greater responsibility for promoting CTSoc activities, encouraging more members to attend CTSoc conferences, speeches, workshops, etc. 

Over the past years, we have worked hard to promote and encourage members of various chapters to participate in ICCE (Las Vegas), ISCE, GCCE, ICCE-TW, ICCE-ASIA, and ICCE-Berlin. We hope to build bridges between each chapter and promote CTSoc's activities. Members from all over the world connect and help each other.

 

You serve as the Vice Chair and Co-Founder of the IEEE CTSoc VAR Technical Committee. What is your vision for the VAR Technical Committee?

 

On October 19, 2020, Prof. Wahab Almuhtadi (President) and Prof. Fabrizio Lamberti (Vice President of Technical Activities) held the Kickoff Meeting of the IEEE CTSoc Technical Committees. 15 Technical Committees (TCs) are established to promote technical activities in the fields of interest of the Society and to position the Society as the leading technical organization for consumer technology professionals.

Prof. Reinhard Moeller (University of Wuppertal, Germany), Prof. Kousik Sankar R. (PES University) Prof. Yu-Cheng Fan (National Taipei University of Technology), and Prof. Alberto Cannavò (Politecnico di Torino, Italy) founded the Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Displays (VAR) Technical Committee. VAR TC is a cluster of engineers, practitioners, technologists, scientists, and researchers from Industry and Academia around the world. The mission and objective of the IEEE CTSoc Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Displays (VAR TC) is to implement the Field of Interest of the IEEE CTSoc and to assist, support, endorse, corroborate and strengthen IEEE CTSoc conferences, publications, standards, education, future directions, new initiatives, emerging technologies, technical sessions, workshops, and research, and other information exchanges in the area of virtual and augmented reality, associated display technologies, architectures, algorithms, certifications, applications, systems and related frameworks/technologies [11].


Acknowledgment

  We sincerely thank Prof. Wahab Almuhtadi, Charlotte Kobert, Prof. Wen-Chung Kao, Prof. Stefan Mozar, and Prof. Jong-Moon Chung for supporting and helping the development of the Asia and Pacific Region of IEEE Consumer Technology Society. In addition, we would like to thank Prof. Wahab Almuhtadi, Prof. Fabrizio Lamberti, Prof. Reinhard Moeller, Prof. Kousik Sankar R., and Prof. Alberto Cannavò for their support and contributions to the IEEE CTSoc VAR Technical Committee. Finally, we are deeply grateful to Prof. Nobuo Funabiki, Prof. Yutaka Ishibashi, Prof. Shinji Sugawara, Prof. Hiroaki Nishino, Prof. Shingo Yamaguchi, Prof. Kazuyuki Kojima, Prof. Kazuhiko Kinoshita, Prof. Takuji Tachibana, Prof. Kiyoshi Ueda for supporting the activities of the Taiwan Consumer Electronics Society.

 

Reference

  1. Y. C. Fan, Y. C. Liu, and C. A. Chu, “Efficient CORDIC Iteration Design of LiDAR Sensors’ Point-Cloud Map Reconstruction Technology,” Sensors, Vol. 19, issue 24, 5412, pp. 1-28, Dec. 2019.
  2. Y. C. Fan, B. T. Wu, C. J. Huang, and Y. H. Bai, “Environment Detection of 3D LiDAR by Using Neural Networks,” 2019 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics, IEEE ICCE 2019, Las Vegas, U.S.A., Jan. 11-13, 2019, pp. 1-2.
  3. Y. C. Fan, L. J. Zheng, and Y. C. Liu, “3D Environment Measurement and Reconstruction Based on LiDAR,” 2018 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, IEEE I2MTC 2018, Houston, TX, U.S.A., May 14-17, 2018, pp. 1~4.
  4. Y. C. Fan, Y. C. Chen, and S. Y. Chou, “Vivid-DIBR Based 2D-3D Image Conversion System for 3D Display,” IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology, Vol. 10, issue 10, pp. 887-898, Oct. 2014.
  5. Y. C. Fan, P. K. Huang, and H. K. Liu, “VLSI Design of a Depth Map Estimation Circuit Based on Structured Light Algorithm,” IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration Systems, Vol. 23, issue 10, pp. 2281-2294, Oct. 2015.
  6. Y. C. Fan, J. C. Chiou, and Y. H. Jiang, “Hole-Filling Based Memory Controller of Disparity Modification System for Multiview Three-Dimensional Video,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 47, issue 3, pp. 679-682, March 2011.
  7. Y. C. Fan, S. F. Wu, and B. L. Lin, “Three-Dimensional Depth Map Motion Estimation and Compensation for 3D Video Compression,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 47, issue 3, pp. 691-695, March 2011.
  8. Y. C. Fan, C. K. Lin, S. Y. Chou, H. K. Liu, S. H. Wu, and C. H. Wang, “Predictable Power Saving Memory Controller Circuit Design for Embedded Static Random Access Memory,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 50, issue 7, pp. 1~5, July 2014.
  9. Y. C. Fan, Y. T. Kung, and B. L. Lin, “Three-Dimensional Auto-Stereoscopic Image Recording, Mapping and Synthesis System for Multiview 3D Display,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 47, issue 3, pp. 683-686, March 2011.
  10. Y. C. Fan, C. C. Lu, D. W. Syu, S. H. Chen, and Y. T. Shie,  “3-D Holographic Data Storage Circuit Design,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 50, issue 7, pp. 1~5, July 2014.
  11. IEEE CTSoc VAR Technical Committee [Online]. Available: https://ctsoc.ieee.org/technical/technical-committees/var-tc.html