Date: 23/12/2009

ST's new MEMS module sense linear and angular motion

ST Micro has integrated a 3-axis digital accelerometer with a 2-axis analog gyroscope in a single module, which improves the performance, boosts reliability, reduces size and shrinks cost for high-precision gesture and motion recognition in mobile phones, remote controllers, personal navigation systems and other portable devices.

ST's new MEMS module includes power-down and sleep modes and it can operate with input supply voltages ranging from 2.7 to 3.6V. The device comes with built-in self-test capability to verify the functioning of both sensors after the assembly, without the need to move the board during testing.

MEMS motion sensors add a man-machine interface to mobile phones, portable multimedia players, game controllers, personal navigation systems and remote input devices, which provides interaction by linking the user's wrist, arm, and hand movements to applications, navigation within and between menus, the movement of characters in a game and much more.

ST's low-power motion-sensing module combines a user-selectable full-scale acceleration range of ±2g/±4g/±8g with wide angular-rate detection from 30 to 6000 dps along the pitch and yaw axes. The gyroscope element provides two separate outputs for each axis at the same time, an unamplified output value for high accuracy of slow motion and a 4x amplification to detect and measure fast gestures and movements.

"ST meets the market demand for cost-effective integration of multiple motion sensors in a single module," said Sam Guilaume, CEO, Movea, the industry leader in motion-sensing controllers. "With ST's new MEMS modules, and our complementary SmartMotion technology, we will provide unequalled motion-based solutions for user interfaces in remote controls, game pads, smartphones and other consumer devices."

"The only company with high-volume production of gyroscopes and accelerometers for consumer applications, ST now makes another significant step in MEMS consumerization by introducing the market's first multiple-axis sensing device in a single package," said Benedetto Vigna, General Manager of STMicroelectronics' MEMS, Sensors and High Performance Analog division. "Our customers will benefit from the industry-unique combination of superior performance, compelling price points, and large-scale production capacity at ST's dedicated 8-inch MEMS fab."

Operating temperature range: -40°C to 85°C

Price:
LSM320HAY30: At $3.3 over 50k pieces
Availablity: LSM320HAY30 multi-axis motion sensor module is available now

For more details visit www.st.com/mems