(iTers News) – MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation unveiled a full range of "MXsensor" intelligent sensor product families featuring 0.18 micron mixed signal and analog technology with low power consumption.
Zeroing in on a wide range of applications makrets from smartphone to tablet to navigation to medical devices, the MXsensor families include e-Compass and digital Hall sensors. MagnaChip's intelligent sensors provide cost-effective features such as small form-factor and multi-function integration as a result of its use of 0.18 micron mixed signal & analog technology and advanced design capabilities, as compared to currently available products.
Sensors are used for many applications, and their use is growing rapidly, as devices are getting more and more intelligent. Evolutions in the UI, or user interfaces are also helping to boost demand for sensor chips, as sensors are key building block technoloy to revolutionize the way that people interacts with devices.
For instance, magnetic sensors are essential to implement compass-functionality and to detect the timing of opening and closing of a flip cover in haldheld devices. MagnaChip's intelligent sensor families aims to address these magnetic sensor requirements utilizing its own proprietary 0.18 micron mixed-signal technology that allow the chip maker to cram more functionalities into a single silicon die without compromising form factor and power consumption.
MagnaChip is charging ahead with its new 0.18 micron design in its target market segments, as the sensor industry as a whole needs to move to a more cost-effective smart sensor solution.
A recent report from market research firm Gartner Group shows that smartphone production would grow by a CAGR of 61.6% from 2009 through 2012, mainly due to rapid penetration of 4G / LTE smart phones. To make smartphones more attractive and a lot usser-friendlier, an increasing number of design teams are turning to sensors for their lookout for better user experiences.
To keep up, a ccording to Gartner Group, the non-optical sensor market will be growing by a CAGR of 12.1% from 2012 to 2017, especially driven by the rapid penetration of sensors inside a mobile phone. For models manufactured in 2013, there are typically 12~13 sensors in a smartphone.
To cash in on the proliferation of sensor chips, MagnaChip is aggressively lining up its sensor family.
MXM11XX Digital Hall Sensor Family
This fully-digitalized Hall sensor features 10-bit ADC, or analog-digital converter and programmable design flexibility, offering numerous new functionalities over conventional Hall switches. The self-calibration mode allows high-precision applications with an inexpensive magnet, while the I2C interface enables device makers to quickly provide value-added features through creative programming.
The MXM1120 series uses MagnaChip's 0.18 micron low noise mixed-signal technology and proprietary Hall technology. The development kit is available for multiple operating systems including Android OS.
Compatible with wake-up schemes, the MXM1120 series features an additional interrupt output allowing programmable Brp and Bop parameters. These universal features provide the benefit of easy porting to any particular system allowing engineers to quickly implement value-added functions through programming. For example, flip-covers of handheld devices require a magnetic sensor that can solve both the high deviation in quality as a result of production anomalies of magnets as well as malfunctions caused by unintended cover opening. MagnaChip's self-calibration programming can ignore the magnet flux deviations, while 10-bit magnetic field measurement can reject unintended malfunctions
MXG1300 e-Compass Sensor Family
This new e-Compass features both industry-comparable heading accuracy and power performance with MagnaChip's proprietary magnetic Hall sensor technology. The heading accuracy can enhance the user experience even under harsh magnetic-flux environments, while the better power performance extends battery life time for power-hungry mobile devices.
The e-Compass is an important sensor for smartphones and tablets as it maintains alignment of the display with the user's orientation. As smartphones and tablets increasingly utilize navigation and augmented reality features, the e-Compass market is expected to grow in measure with the growth of smartphone and tablet production. By introducing the MXG1300, MagnaChip enters this emerging and growing market equipped with its own high-volume 8-inch wafer manufacturing capability combined with a Korea-based "end-to-end" ecosystem.
The MXG1300 e-Compass offers an attractive design solution featuring an Android OS driver, compass algorithms, and magnetic field scanning support. Field scanning support helps determine an optimum location for the MXG1300 chip placement within a cellphone, since the e-compass operation is subject to magnetic interference from a vibration motor and speakers. MXG1300 provides an industry-competitive wide dynamic range of magnetic field strength and cost-effectiveness. Additional features of the MXG1300 are its low noise mixed signal and analog process technology as well as a 16-bit sigma-delta ADC.
In addition, the MXG1300 has a low-power mode which reduces operating current by 40% in situations where it is possible to operate the device at a slower, but acceptable, heading speed. This mode creates wider power management flexibility by extending the battery life of mobile devices.
"MagnaChip's new MXsensor solutions are already creating great interest, particularly in the mobile device manufacturing sector," said YJ Kim, Executive Vice President and General Manager of MagnaChip's Display Solutions Division. "We look forward to meeting the needs of the smartphone and tablet communities and other industry sectors with the advanced feature set of the MXsensor series through our rapidly growing list of advanced product offerings."
MXM11XX and MXG1300 families are currently being sampled and will go into production in Q3 2013. Evaluation kits are available through MagnaChip sales channels.