Under the big data sensor center potential

Smartphones, tablets, PCs, wearables, printers, video cameras, and many other applications are making heavy use of MEMS technology and sensor products. There will be a huge amount of data in the future! People are interested in keeping track of everything, and smart phones seem to be the most reasonable “hub” for collecting and receiving this data, including fitness data (all activities of the day, sleep cycles, heart rate, etc.), indoor mapping (away Cell phone signal, or in a metal building, where you are on the floor, etc.), associated knowledge (if you are walking, riding a car, train or) and much more. All this information is collected by sensors, but if there is no intelligent way to integrate them, they are actually not of great significance. And this is the existence value of the sensor center, which can realize intelligent synthesis of massive data and extract valuable information from it. With the continuous increase of massive information and data, the demand of the sensor center may increase explosively.

Realizing inertia, light, and numerous other sensing options through the sensor hub can extend the battery life of mobile devices while increasing the number of tasks that can be handled, as well as handling the accuracy of these tasks (making full use of existing motion and sensing applications). Patrick Hanley, Atmel’s touch technology product marketing manager, stated that Atmel did not sell many MEMS products (other than temperature sensors). Even so, Atmel worked with many MEMS vendors and sensor fusion experts to design sensor hubs with our industry-leading microcontrollers. The sensor hub allows customers to achieve the lowest power, highest performance (highest accuracy and fastest response), allowing the solution to more perfectly achieve inertia and other contextual interactions with the customer's mobile device.

Atmel uses a microcontroller to design the sensor hub and uses maXFusion technology to combine data from multiple sensors (such as environmental fiber sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers) to provide motion-related accurate, real-time Data and information. Patrick Hanley emphasized that depending on the operating system used by the customer, each customer has a different testing process. Before approving production, they also evaluate the touch screen or sensor hub, which typically includes verifying power values, accuracy, response rates, linearity, and many others. Compare data points.

Atmel has a variety of evaluation methods. For Windows 8 devices, Microsoft has an authentication process called the Windows Hardware Certification Kit. Customers must comply with this certification before they can sell Windows 8 devices. For Android or other operating systems, there is no standard evaluation. Through advanced test and certification, this makes the function of the microcontroller equipped with the sensor hub more perfect, and also brings more secure and valuable data information to the customer. It is also a useful supplement to the controller's advanced touch function. .

Through internal research and customer prototype construction and testing, it was confirmed that Atmel's sensor hub power consumption is half that of other sensor hub suppliers, and the current consumption is lower than the sensors on the management application processor; Increased triple performance (dynamic precision) through enhanced integration algorithms compared to near-competitors, which will significantly improve the user experience for gaming, navigation, and virtual reality applications; by integrating both touch and sensor hubs in a single device Big features reduce design complexity, which is the first time in the industry.

Patrick Hanley disclosed that due to the successful customer support and innovative user interface technology, Atmel can provide sensor hub products to existing customers through cooperation with numerous touch screen manufacturers, and has obtained recognition and achieved good results. Achievements. As competitors continue to improve the functionality of their product solutions, Atmel is optimistic about the future development of sensor hubs. Now being extended through sensor hub solutions that enable intelligent synthesis of the massive data from multiple sensors, extracting more useful information for consumers through touch, motion, sound, light, and many other sensing experiences Come to interact with their device.

Although Atmel's sensor hubs have their own advantages, I believe that sensor fusion is a general trend, and the sensor hubs of other competitors can realize the fusion of more types of sensor combinations, such as: STMicroelectronics will accelerometers, gyro sensors and An electronic compass accommodates a motion sensor hub in a package; an environmental sensor hub that houses a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor in one package; and an acoustic sensor center that houses a microphone array and a headphone microphone in a package. The diversity of products is also an indispensable part of occupying a larger market share. The sensor hub of different combinations will be one of the development trends, and it is also a good strategy to deal with the integration of different massive data.