Nov 9 2016
The ENS210, a single-die sensor IC providing extremely accurate, pre-calibrated measurements of relative humidity and ambient temperature was recently launched by ams AG, a top provider of high performance sensors and analog ICs. The ENS210 is being displayed at ams stand A5.107 at the Electronica trade show held in Munich between 8 and 11 November 2016.
Credit: ams AG
The ENS210’s digital temperature output is in Kelvin, and is accurate to a maximum ±0.2°C over the range 0°C to 70°C. It is also designed to provide relative humidity measurements as a digital output accurate to a maximum ±3.5%. It will be shipped to customers as a calibrated unit.
The sensor does not need any trimming on the production line. It is built to provide its digital outputs over an I2C interface, removing the need for signal processing by the host device’s microcontroller or applications processor.
The ENS210 is housed in a molded plastic surface-mount package measuring 2mm x 2mm x 0.75mm. It is small enough to be fitted in smartphones and wearable devices such as fitness monitoring wristbands. The sensor draws 7.1µA in active measurement mode (sampling at 1Hz) and just 40nA in stand-by mode. It drains very little energy from the battery in portable and handheld applications. It operates from a broad input voltage range of 1.71V-3.6V, which means that systems with a dual 1.8V/3.3V power supply does not need extra level-shifting voltage regulator at the point of load.
In wearable devices, the ENS210’s readings of ambient temperature and relative humidity could probably be used to improve the reliability and accuracy of measurements of physical activity that are highly reliant on environmental conditions. It can also be used to incorporate advanced automation or performance-enhancement features to thermostats and to connected home appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioning and purifiers systems, microwave ovens, kitchen air extractors, clothes dryers, and weather stations.
The device may also be used together with the ams CCS801 or CCS811 gas sensor ICs, which measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air, to provide a comprehensive system solution for indoor air quality monitoring. ams offers application software and a development board to enable OEMs to combine the ams environmental sensor solutions quickly into end product designs.
By integrating relative humidity and ambient temperature sensing functionality in a single small IC, ams is helping consumer electronics OEMs to improve the performance of their products, and to offer new features that users find valuable, while occupying a tiny piece of real estate on what are often densely populated boards. In addition, the ENS210 offers a user-friendly digital output which places no additional processing burden on the applications processor or MCU.
Giovanni de Majo, Senior Marketing Manager at ams
The ENS210 is currently available in production volumes.