How many sensors do you think you own? Let’s start with your thermostat. It’s simple, right? You might guess one or two, and if you owned a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] generation Nest you’d be wrong. It comes with a light sensor, heat sensor (in addition to temp), microphone, carbon monoxide sensor, smoke sensor, and occupancy sensor. Also, … Read More
Tag: sensors
Zero Power Sensing
We’ve become pretty good at reducing power in IoT edge devices, to the point that some are expected to run for up to 10 years on a single battery charge. But what if you wanted to go lower still or if, perhaps, your design can’t push power down to a level that would meet that goal? One area in systems where it can be challenging to further … Read More
How does the IoT get to 20 Billion?
Not long ago I was asked the question “How do we get to 20 billion IoT devices?” (Actually, I’ve been asked this question multiple times over the past 10+ years.) Great question! How, exactly, do we get to 20 billion (or 30 billion, or a trillion) IoT devices? We’re certainly not going to get there with wearable devices and other… Read More
SMART sensors with OTP memory for the IIoT
A few years back before IoT became the buzzword, the industrial automation community had already talking about “smart sensors” since the mid-1990s. The impetus for those discussions was IEEE 1451, a family of standards for adding intelligence and wireless communications to sensors so they could be incorporated into field networks.… Read More
A moment of IoT silence before we disrupt
As I sat down in the SEMI Arizona Chapter breakfast meeting a few weeks ago, a moment of semiconductor history flew right before my eyes before the IoT sessions started.
We were seated in the cafeteria of Freescale Building 94 on Elliot Road in Tempe, a place I’d been many times before, except this time may have been the last. NXP is consolidating… Read More
Coventor prepping MEMS for CMOS integration
About 11 months ago, I wrote a piece titled “Money for data and your MEMS for free.” In that, I took on the thinking that TSMC is just going to ride into town, fab trillions of IoT sensors, and they all will be 2.6 cents ten years from now. Good headline, but the technology and economics are not that simple. This may be the semiconductor … Read More
The Internet of Sensors
The internet of things (IoT) has a number of key attributes: low power, security, connectivity. But almost every IoT application involves sensors of one sort or another. The visual sensors are built using CCD arrays, they are basically low-resolution cameras, but the mechanical ones are typically built using MEMS technology.… Read More
Ready to Wear Sensor Hubs
Atmel Corp. has beefed up its sensor hub offerings for wearable devices with SAM D20 Cortex M0+ MCU core to add more functionality and further lower the power bar for battery-operated devices. The SAM D20 Cortex M0+ microcontrollers offer ultra-low power through a patented power-saving technique called “Event System” that allows… Read More
Money for data and your MEMS for free
An ongoing IoT debate centers on the notion that just because we can do something does not mean we should. From discussions at the recent MEMS Executive Congress, looking at what TSMC and some others see as the endgame for a trillion sensors signals possible trouble ahead.… Read More
GNSS, dead reckoning, and MEMS IMUs
GNSS is a wonderful invention, and low cost receivers have crept into smartphones and other mobile devices. However, GNSS does not solve all problems, especially in urban environments. The canyon effect blocks signals at street level between tall buildings, and signals do not penetrate to the interior of parking garages, tunnels,… Read More