Supplier eBooks

5 ST/Industrial Sensing Solutions current consumption while improving the performance of MEMS sensors has been a great achievement as higher current consumption was a significant obstacle for many applications, and a compelling reduction of sensor power requirement enabled new applications. Sensor Noise Measurement noise of the sensor is one of the fundamen- tal performance characteristics that determine the range of the applications of the sensor. The lower the noise of the sensor, the more comprehensive the range of applications that the sensor may find for deployment. For example, higher dynamic and static accuracy for many applica- tions require very low noise sensors in the range of 5md- ps/√Hz or better for a gyroscope and 60μg/√Hz or better for an accelerometer to achieve a target accuracy. A 73% reduction in sensor noise has been vital in enabling new applications. Offset Drift Over Temperature Many applications require a very stable offset over time and temperature. Over the last few years, the stability of the sensor offset over temperature has improved signifi- cantly (see Figure 1: 83% reduction). This temperature stability helped eliminate, in many cases, the need for ad- ditional code development that was necessary to perform temperature compensation in an external microcontroller. Eliminating the need for external temperature compensa- tion also contributed to lower system overall power con- sumption. Size A size reduction of 70% is an impressive accomplishment because the performance of the sensors has increased at the same time. In addition to the decrease in the space on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for the sensors that resulted in adaptation of multiple sensors in the same product, the height of sensor has also been continuously reduced, mak- ing the sensors an ideal choice for thin portable products. Reduced sensor size has also helped integrate more sen- sors into the same package. Hardware integration, higher functionalities, and embedded algorithms have offered engineers a powerful platform to speed up the completion of their application developments and, therefore, reduce their product development cycle. Cost The price of MEMS sensors over the last few years has dropped dramatically, more than 75% in the past decade (Figure 1). The price of an accelerometer about a decade ago was more than $3. Today, an accelerometer with much better performance and advanced features costs around an order of magnitude lower for high volume. Price decreases led to making sensors more affordable for cost-sensitive products and had a significant effect on penetration of these sensors in many market segments. We expect that the price of MEMS sensors will continue to drop as the MEMS technology continues to improve and more MEMS sensors achieve the economies of scale. LSM6DSOX iNEMO ® Inertial Modules • Machine Learning Core and Programmable finite state machine: Accelerometer, gyroscope and external sensors • SPI / I²C & MIPI I3C serial interface with main processor data synchronization and auxiliary SPI for OIS data output for gyroscope and accelerometer LEARN MOREu

• Cover