This application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) computes two optically encoded positions, each engraved in a pattern onto one of a two-cylinder assembly. The cylinders are coupled by a torsion bar of known stiffness so that the difference between the two extracted positions provides a torque measurement to be used in next-generation automobile electrical power assisted steering (EPAS) systems. The cylinder positions are defined by 11b absolute-position encoders plus 7 additional bits of interpolated (relative) position between adjacent codes. The circuit is controlled and accessed via a serial peripheral interface (SPI).

The optical character-recognition (OCR) system described consists of a CMOS retina, an analog classifier IC and a microcontroller. The retina converts the parallel optical input into an oriented edge representation which is processed further and recognized by the classifier in real-time. The microcontroller postprocesses the time sequence of classifier outputs and provides timing and control. The system can be used as a handheld OCR scanner which processes the field of view 1000 times per second. The system output is the character string being scanned.