ST Gyroscope with On-Chip Memory for Motion Tracking

STMicroelectronics, a leading MEMS vendor for portable and consumer applications, has broadened its motion sensor portfolio by launching the L3G4200DH gyroscope, a digital-output, three-axis gyroscope that incorporates a first-in first-out (FIFO) memory module for smarter power management.

This gyroscope incorporates the on-chip FIFO memory for developing new applications and enhanced user interfaces for the stabilization of camera images, motion tracking, and gaming applications.

The FIFO memory in the L3G4200DH gyroscope has storage capacity up to 96 levels that in turn is split into 32 sample sets having x-, y-, and z-axis data. This feature obviates the requirement for continuous communications for the angular raw data passed between the host processor to the sensor. This helps the gyroscope to dwell on the sleep mode for a longer duration and in turn significantly reduce the total system power consumption. The FIFO can be programmed by the application designers to satisfy several different operating modes for raising a dedicated reference or watermark, in case the memory is filled up to the required level.

The gyroscope is designed and manufactured using the manufacturing process technology that ST has applied to 700 million plus sensors available in the market. The industry-specific combination of new-generation product design and ability to manage the complete supply chain has benefited the customers and has helped to leverage the mass-scale manufacturing capacity at ST’s specialized 8-in.MEMS fab. This technique results in reduced time to volume and product development cycles for cost-competitive and high-performance sensing devices.

Every ST MEMS gyroscope shares an industry-specific concept of having one sensing structure that caters for motion measurement in all three orthogonal axes. This advanced design removes interference between the axes and drastically increases the reliability and precision for a broad range of industrial and consumer applications. These applications relate to image stabilization in cameras, motion tracking, and enhanced user interfaces for portable and gaming gadgets.

The gyroscope incorporates enhanced filtering capabilities for better application flexibility and noise reduction, to help the users to restrict the chosen bandwidth through embedded low-pass and high-pass filters. The sensor along with the ASIC interface is placed in a very small 4x4x1 mm package, in accordance with the stipulated size constraints of modern-day consumer applications.

STMicroelectronics’ General Manager of the MEMS, Sensors and High Performance Analog Division, and the Group Vice President,  Benedett Vigna, revealed that the ST designers have a powerful power-conscious mindset and have focused on energy efficiency at the system and chip levels. Vigna explained that such a focus has helped ST’s state-of-the-art gyroscopes and accelerometers in embedding FIFO memory blocks and application layers.