Microchip Technology Inc. announced the SSC7102 a low-power, flexible and turnkey sensor hub that makes implementing sensor fusion easy and provides an extremely large selection of supported sensors. In fact, Microchip directly partnered with multiple industry-leading sensor manufacturers and sensor-fusion specialists to create this solution, enabling faster time to market without the need for sensor-fusion expertise. The SSC7102 is also extremely efficient. It consumes ~4 mA while running complex sensor-fusion algorithms, resulting in longer battery life for Windows® 8.1 tablets, laptops, ultrabooks and smart phones.
Sensors can now be added to virtually anything, due to their small cost and size. IHS iSuppli predicts that more than 6 billion motion sensors are expected to ship in mobile handsets and tablets by 2016. As sensors continue to surround us, system requirements are moving from simple monitoring to providing complex information about our environment and activities. Data from multiple sensors, such as motion (accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes) and environmental (light, temperature, humidity, pressure), needs to be incorporated or “fused” in the system. Microchip’s low-power SSC7102 sensor hub runs these complex sensor-fusion algorithms, while providing maximum flexibility in an easy-to-implement solution.
Microchip’s SSC7102 sensor hub is available in a 6mm x 6mm body, BGA package, and is priced at $2.69 each in 10,000-unit quantities. Samples are available now, via Microchip’s sales representatives, and volume production is expected by the end of this quarter.
