ST intros market's smallest 3-axis analog gyroscope

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: STMicroelectronics has extended its motion-sensor portfolio with the market's smallest 3-axis analog-output gyroscope. Housed inside an ultra-small 4x4x1mm3 package, ST's newest gyroscope combines superior performance and reliability with smart power management and design flexibility, advancing adoption of high-precision gesture control and intuitive user interfaces in mobile phones, tablets, game controllers and other consumer devices.

All of ST's MEMS gyroscopes employ an industry-unique concept of a single sensing structure for motion measurement along all three orthogonal axes. This innovative design approach eliminates all interference between the axes, significantly increasing accuracy and reliability in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications.

The company has introduced more than 40 gyroscopes over past two years and boosted its market share in gyroscopes for consumer and mobile applications from less than 1 percent in 2009 to 30 percent in 2010.

ST's L3G462A gyroscope provides accurate angular-rate detection with a separate output for each of the three axes. The full scale of +/- 625dps accurately measures gestures and movements of different types and speeds, enabling applications from navigation to motion-activated user interface and gaming. The analog interface ensures very fast response with low latency and offers flexibility in external filtering capabilities and fine-tuning of key parameters to the individual application requirements.

The gyroscope's extremely compact design eliminates the layout and placement issues common with existing bulkier solutions, without penalty in performance or reliability. The unparalleled stability over temperature (+/- 0.04dps/degrees C) and sensitivity (+/- 0.017%/degrees C) significantly improves measurement accuracy and the low noise level (0.017dps/sqrtHz) guarantees high precision in movement and gesture recognition.

ST's newest 3-axis analog-output gyroscope can operate with any supply voltage in the range of 2.4 to 3.6V and the power-down and sleep-to-wake modes contribute to the reduction in power consumption of the entire system.

Volume production is scheduled for the end of Q3 2011 and the unit price is $3.5 in quantities of 1,000 pieces.