Freescale Acceleration Sensor Shipments Surpass 300 Million
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MEMS-based Accelerometers Instrumental for Shock, Motion and Free-Fall Detection in Applications from Airbags to Laptops to Seismic Monitoring
AUSTIN, Texas--Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B), a leading supplier of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based sensor devices, has shipped more than 300 million accelerometers - a major milestone in the company's long history of sensor innovation.
Freescale began its foray into acceleration sensors in the late 1980s when it began developing one of the first surface-micromachined, single-axis accelerometer for the automotive airbag market. Freescale now ships 2- and 3-axis devices with g-select features designed to enable developers to choose the level of acceleration sensitivity for their application requirements.
"Freescale's acceleration sensors are in high demand for embedded systems requiring measurement of g forces, which can damage sensitive electronics components," said Demetre Kondylis, director and general manager of Freescale's Sensor & Actuator Solutions Division. "With our recent development of g-select accelerometers, designers have more flexibility to explore new applications for sensors. Key applications range from handheld consumer appliances and industrial and healthcare monitoring systems to computer peripherals."
Freescale's acceleration sensor portfolio ranges from 1.5 g to 250 g accelerometers, with g-select devices offering 1.5 g to 10 g selectivity, allowing multiple functions to be used in the same device. The latest XZ, XY and XYZ low-g accelerometers are among the first single-package, dual- and triple-axis accelerometers with selectable sensitivity. Additional features, such as sleep mode, low operating current, fast power-up response time and small quad flat no-lead (QFN) packaging make it easy and cost-effective to design Freescale accelerometers into embedded systems.
"We're entering a very exciting period of growth as MEMS sensors are being integrated into an increasingly diverse array of applications within the consumer market," said Marlene Bourne, principal analyst at Bourne Research. "Sales of MEMS sensors for use in consumer electronics are forecast to exceed $750 million in 2010 as more manufacturers embrace the improved functionality and performance that MEMS sensors offer."
Freescale's broad portfolio of acceleration sensor products enables embedded developers to address a diverse range of existing and emerging applications that require accurate detection of small changes in force. Application examples include:
o Shock detection for shipping and handling applications
o High shock detection for new multiple-airbag solutions
o Free-fall detection to help protect data stored in laptops, cell phones, MP3 players and other handheld devices
o Vibration detection for motor stability
o Jiggle control for video recording
o Physiological motion detection applications, such as pedometers
o Seismic monitoring
o Motion detection for event recorders and "black box" applications
o Automotive rollover detection
In late September, Sensors, a publication dedicated to sensor-related technologies, announced that Freescale's inertial sensor applications team won the magazine's inaugural "Engineer of the Year" award. Sensors magazine editors awarded the Freescale engineering team for its development of a reliable accelerometer-based system that can detect free-fall of portable electronics products, including computers, PDAs, cell phones and digital music players.
"When we heard about this application of sensor technology, we were so inspired that we set about to find the people who developed it," said Barbara G. Goode, editor in chief of Sensors magazine. "Free-fall detection is a perfect application for sensor technology - and something the electronics industry sorely needed. Previous methods have had limited success, but using multiple accelerometers and a processor, this inertial sensor applications team has enabled reliable and efficient fall detection even in the presence of other motion."
For more information about Freescale accelerometers and other sensor products, visit www.freescale.com/sensors.
About Freescale Semiconductor
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company in July 2004. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of the S&P 500®, is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with 2005 sales of $5.8 billion (USD).
www.freescale.com.
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