MEMS sensor targets motion detection in smartphones and tablets

Designed to initiate applications by identifying specific gestures, the LSM330 module houses a 3 axis digital gyroscope and a 3 axis digital accelerometer with two embedded finite state machines to enable custom motion recognition. The inertial module detects acceleration up to 16g and angular rate up to 2,000dps along the pitch, roll and yaw axes. The company says that the integration of high resolution linear and angular motion sensing in a single device increases system robustness and stability. The multi sensor is designed for applications such as motion activated user interfaces in phones and tablets, augmented reality and location based services. To address the power constraints of these portable devices, the module includes power down and sleep modes and an embedded fifo memory block. It is designed to operate with any supply voltage over the range of 2.4 to 3.6V.