CES 2016: Bosch Sensortec unveils intelligent accelerometers and high-performance gyroscopes

Bosch Sensortec is unveiling new generations of intelligent accelerometers and high-performance gyroscopes at the 2016 International CES in Las Vegas.

Aimed at smartphones, tablets and wearables, the new devices cover a wide range of requirements, from low-power consumption for always-on applications such as step counting, to high-performance optical image stabilization (OIS).

Intelligent three-axis accelerometers — BMA422 and BMA455

Today’s applications running on modern mobile devices place many demands on motion sensors. These sensors are required to continuously sense motion, such as for step counting operations, while at the same time delivering a high level of performance without compromising battery lifetime.

To meet these challenges, the new sensors from Bosch Sensortec integrate embedded intelligence functionality into standalone accelerometers. Adding intelligent features to an accelerometer enables innovative applications, while minimizing power consumption by eliminating the need to wake up an application processor or an additional discrete sensor hub. Overall system power management and user experience can be improved by the accelerometer detecting and processing motions such as glance, pick-up and tilt.

Current consumption of the new accelerometers is kept very low to extend battery life. The integrated Android 6.0 “Marshmallow” features minimize programming effort for customers. Each device delivers outstanding accelerometer performance for low offset, low temperature coefficient offset (TCO) and low noise levels, the company said.

Two new accelerometers are being launched: the BMA422 “all-rounder” is suitable for standard applications, and the BMA455 provides high performance for gaming and immersive activity tracking. In addition, the high level of performance enables demanding applications covering augmented reality, virtual reality, image stabilization and industrial measurement applications such as spirit leveling and inclination measurement.

High-performance gyroscopes — BMG250 and BMG280

Mobile devices require gyroscopes for many applications, including gaming, augmented reality, virtual reality and OIS. To provide the necessary performance, Bosch Sensortec’s new gyroscopes combine the most important parameters in a single device: low noise, low TCO and high bias stability.

Although delivering high performance, they do both feature the lowest power consumption of any standalone gyroscope in the market, thus helping to extend battery lifetime in mobile devices.

Today’s announcement includes two three-axis gyroscopes: the BMG250 provides low noise, low TCO and high bias stability, while the BMG280 delivers ultra-low noise optimized for OIS and includes a secondary interface for OIS, making it fit for use in camera modules. The BMG280’s secondary interface can be used in parallel with the primary user application interface, for example for simultaneous panorama creation and OIS.

Packages and availability

The new devices are provided in small packages. The BMA422 measures 2.0 x 2.0 x 0.95 mm³, while the BMA455 is 2.0 x 2.0 x 0.65 mm³. The BMG250 and BMG280 gyroscopes both measure 3.0 x 2.5 x 0.83 mm³.

Samples of the all sensors are available now, with mass production of the gyroscopes to commence in Q1 2016 and mass production of the accelerometers starting in mid-2016. For pricing, contact Bosch Sensortec.