Freescale Semiconductor MMA6270Q, MMA6280Q and MMA7261Q MEMS-based Sensors

Freescale Semiconductor
MMA6270Q, MMA6280Q and MMA7261Q MEMS-based Sensors

QUICK TAKE:
Freescale has announced three accelerometers aimed at the low-cost consumer electronics market. One of them, the MMA6280Q, is the industry's first XZ-axis accelerometer.
FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR INC., Austin, TX. (512) 638-5317.

More Info:
The introduction of the MMA6270Q (XY-axis), MMA6280Q (XZ-axis) and MMA7261Q (XYZ-axis) MEMS based sensors—a.k.a. accelerometers—extends the company's offerings from 1.5g to 10g. The three low-gravity sensors are wellsuited for electronic systems that require the detection of small changes in force resulting from fall, tilt, motion, positioning, shock or vibration. The MMA6280Q, the industry's first XZ-axis accelerometer, can sense in both lateral and perpendicular planes, which eliminates the need for daughter cards and delivers a more costeffective solution when a 3-axis device is not needed. Applications include advanced pedometers that can measure a runner's foot motion, distance and speed. All three sensor devices allow for selectable sensitivity where various sensitivities are needed for multiple applications and functions.

See Associated Figure

APPLICATIONS FOR MEMS-BASED SENSORS:
MEMS-based sensors can be used in any consumer, industrial, or healthcare monitoring product, or embedded system using the six sensing functions to meet application needs. Examples include:

1. GPS systems
2. Free-fall protection for hard drives
3. Camcorder stability
4. Scrolling interfaces in gaming devices

KEY FEATURES

1. Dual or triple axes for sensing a full-range of directional motion
2. User selectable g-range
   • MMA62x0Q: 1.5g/2g/4g/6g
   • MMA7261Q: 2.5g/3.3g/6.7g/10g
3. Low current consumption at 500 µA
4. Sleep mode at 3 µA for extended battery life
5. Low voltage operation at 2.2V to 3.6V
6. Fast power-up response time at 1ms
7. RoHS compliant

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

In a 6 mm x 6 mm x 1.45 mm QFN package, the MMA6270Q (XY-axis), MMA6280Q (XZ-axis) and the MMA7261Q (XYZ-axis) are priced at $3.58, $3.85 and $4.43, respectively, in 25,000-piece quantities.

ON THE WEB
http://freescale.com/xyz

What about Reference Design, Development Tools and Evaluation Kits?
The RD3152MMA7260Q ZigBee sensing triple axis reference (ZSTAR) design demonstrates the latest innovations from Freescale using 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, a 3-axis sensor, and embedded flash microcontrollers.

The development tool contains the MC9S08QG8 MCU, combined with the MMA7260Q XYZ-axis accelerometer, which can be directly replaced with the MMA6270Q, MMA6280Q or MMA7261Q, 2.4GHz MC13191 wireless transceiver and MC68HC908JW32 for USB 2.0 full speed.

Evaluation kits are also available for the three MEMS-based sensors. The small circuit boards can be used to evaluate the devices to quickly develop prototypes. The kits—KIT3109MMA6270QE, KIT3109MMA6280QE and KIT3109MMA7261QE— are available at a suggested resale price of $35.00 each.

Market Outlook
"While the MEMS industry has traditionally been associated with automotive applications, the consumer market continues to gain ground as these tiny sensors become more sensitive and less expensive," said Marlene Bourne, principal analyst at Bourne Research. "The use of MEMS sensors in consumer electronics is forecast to grow from $355 million in 2005 to nearly $800 million in 2010, as more people rely on mobility and benefit from the improved ease-of-use interfaces that MEMS sensors provide."

See Associated Figure