Dave Savastano11.20.14
STMicroelectronics, the world’s top MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) manufacturer and the leading supplier of MEMS for consumer and mobile as well as automotive applications, has extended its portfolio of environmental sensors with a new MEMS pressure sensor that breaks new ground in combining high accuracy and robustness with ultra-small physical size; the LPS22HB is the world’s smallest pressure sensor.
Pressure sensors are increasingly being used in smartphones, tablets and wearable technology such as sports watches, smart watches and fitness bands, enabling accurate floor detection and enhanced location-based services, allowing more accurate dead-reckoning calculations, and opening the door to new smartphone apps such as weather analyzers and health and sports monitors. For this reason, market analyst IHS estimates that the global market for pressure sensors for consumer electronic applications will reach almost a billion units by 2018.
The LPS22HB is not only the world’s smallest pressure sensor, but also the only one offered in a fully molded package that provides the best thermal and mechanical robustness (high shock survivability > 20,000 g) while boosting the performance and offering the best trade-off between current consumption and noise. This is because it is built using ST’s new MEMS technology called “Bastille” that allows the use of fully molded HLGA (Holed Land Grid Array) packages.
“Leveraging our proprietary industry-leading MEMS technology, our advanced packaging expertise, and our ASIC design skills, ST has created in the LPS22HB a unique pressure sensor housed in a fully molded package with a volume of only 3mm³,” said Francesco Italia, general manager, High-End Sensor and Analog Division, STMicroelectronics. “Once again, we are raising the bar in sensors, enabling our customers to offer even more value to their own customers.”
Samples of the LPS22HB are available now for OEMs, with volume production scheduled for Q3 2015.
Pressure sensors are increasingly being used in smartphones, tablets and wearable technology such as sports watches, smart watches and fitness bands, enabling accurate floor detection and enhanced location-based services, allowing more accurate dead-reckoning calculations, and opening the door to new smartphone apps such as weather analyzers and health and sports monitors. For this reason, market analyst IHS estimates that the global market for pressure sensors for consumer electronic applications will reach almost a billion units by 2018.
The LPS22HB is not only the world’s smallest pressure sensor, but also the only one offered in a fully molded package that provides the best thermal and mechanical robustness (high shock survivability > 20,000 g) while boosting the performance and offering the best trade-off between current consumption and noise. This is because it is built using ST’s new MEMS technology called “Bastille” that allows the use of fully molded HLGA (Holed Land Grid Array) packages.
“Leveraging our proprietary industry-leading MEMS technology, our advanced packaging expertise, and our ASIC design skills, ST has created in the LPS22HB a unique pressure sensor housed in a fully molded package with a volume of only 3mm³,” said Francesco Italia, general manager, High-End Sensor and Analog Division, STMicroelectronics. “Once again, we are raising the bar in sensors, enabling our customers to offer even more value to their own customers.”
Samples of the LPS22HB are available now for OEMs, with volume production scheduled for Q3 2015.