MIPI DisCo™ for Imaging

General Info

• Overview

  MIPI DisCo for Imaging enables system developers to easily discover and use cameras and other devices that are connected via MIPI Camera Serial Interface 2 (CSI-2®), the high-speed protocol for transmission of still and video images from image sensors to application processors. DisCo for Imaging is both vendor- and hardware-independent, eliminating the need to develop and implement drivers for these external devices, and conveying potentially dramatic reductions in both time to market and development cost for system vendors.

  DisCo for Imaging is based on the MIPI Discovery and Configuration (DisCo™) Base Specification, a uniform ACPI-based software architecture. DisCo for Imaging uses a set of structured properties in the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) firmware, which is widely used—especially in the PC industry—to enumerate devices and functions, describe their capabilities, and manage their power states. DisCo for Imaging leverages both “ACPI _DSD” property and data extensions, as well as the “ACPI 6.4_CRS” generic serial bus connection descriptor, to define what information is conveyed from the ACPI firmware to the operating system (OS) related to image sensors and how that information is formatted.

  MIPI DisCo for Imaging v1.0 was adopted in December 2022, and supports components connected via current and former versions of CSI-2.

  Like other DisCo specifications from the MIPI Software Working Group, DisCo for Imaging is available for download by MIPI Alliance members and nonmembers alike.

• Implementation

  Implementation of MIPI DisCo for Imaging is intended to allow for simplification of software driver stacks and allow platform firmware to describe camera components in an OS-agnostic manner. 

  The common, architecturally defined form of DisCo for Imaging is designed to be recognized by most major OSs, including Android, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux. This broad compatibility is intended to eliminate the need to write a different, platform-specific driver each time a given component is added to a system, though in some cases a system software developer may modify the driver slightly. Furthermore, the MIPI specification retains abilities for component vendors to provide additional vendor-specific capabilities.

  The MIPI Alliance welcomes contributions to the specification. If you would like to contribute, please contact software@mipi.org for more information.