Dongwoon Anatech supplying autofocus driver IC to Xiaomi

Dongwoon Anatech was supplying its closed-loop autofocus driver IC to Xiaomi for the latter’s augmented reality (AR) glasses, TheElec has learned.

The chip is used to control where the lens is during camera focusing.

An open-loop driver sends electricity to the voice coil motor. It is cheaper to make than a close-loop driver but it can’t get feedback on the lens’ location.

By contrast, a closed-loop driver gets feedback of where the lens is through a hole sensor. This makes it more accurate in focusing compared to an open-loop driver.

Dongwoon Anatech first developed an open-loop autofocus driver IC but starting in 2018 began manufacturing close-loop autofocus driver IC.

The company says its closed-loop autofocus driver IC can precisely control where the lens and offers high speed and high-resolution analog to digital conversion.

It had so far mostly supplied the chip for flagship smartphones of Samsung Electronics and Chinese companies.

Dongwoon Anatech began supplying the chip late last year to Xiaomi’s AR glasses in development. The glasses are now in production, sources said.

In September, the Chinese smartphone giant unveiled its Xiaomi Smart Glasses which uses MicroLED technology and a 5MP camera.

Dongwoon Anatech is likely supplying its chips for the glasses.

Meanwhile, the South Korean company is also in talks with US firm Oculus to supply HD haptic driver IC.