Ultra small digital compass could open up new possibilities for mobile devices

The company claims that the integration of motion and magnetic sensing in a 3 x 3 x 1mm package could open up new possibilities for navigation and location based services in increasingly small portable consumer devices The LSM303D module is said to be 60% smaller than competing devices whilst offering extended magnetic scale range and minimised measurement noise. Its ability to provide accurate heading information is designed to enable users to identify points of interest and retrieve information by pointing their GPS devices in the direction of the object concerned. The module is optimised for accurate output across full scale ranges up to ±16g (linear acceleration) and ±12 Gauss (magnetic field). The device has an embedded temperature sensor and a programmable FIFO (first in first out) memory block for motion recognition and power management. Additional features include two programmable interrupt signals that enable immediate notification of motion detection.