Swiss semiconductor company ST Microelectronics is extending its sensor technologies by developing software for location tracking and other IoT applications using technology from Qualcomm.

As part of Qualcomm’s Platform Ecosystem programme, STM is contributing pre-validated software to OEMs for its MEMS and other sensing devices to deliver features for smartphones, connected PCs, IoT and wearables. Most recently, Qualcomm pre-selected STM’s low-power, motion-tracking IC with intelligent sensor software, along with its most accurate pressure sensor, for its 5G mobile reference platforms.

The iNemo LSM6DST motion-tracking sensor is a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) that integrates a three-axis digital accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope into a system-in-package.

With a power consumption of 0.55mA in high-performance mode and 4µA in accelerometer-only mode, the LSM6DST enables always-on accurate motion tracking with little impact on power consumption. In concert with STM’s low-noise (0.65Pa), high-accuracy (±0.5hPa), and I3C-enabled LPS22HH pressure sensor, the pair provides accurate location tracking while meeting restrictive power budgets.

For imaging applications, the LSM6DST supports EIS and OIS (electronic and optical image stabilisation) applications as the module includes a dedicated configurable signal processing path for OIS and auxiliary SPI, configurable for both the gyroscope and accelerometer and, in turn, the auxiliary SPI and primary interface (SPI, I²C and Mipi I3CSM) can configure the OIS.

Benefiting from the firm’s mature low-power Thelma (thick epitaxial layer for micro-gyroscopes and accelerometers) process technology, it can support and simplify integration in low-power circuit designs and offers I²C, Mipi I3C or SPI from the sensing element to the application. It also contains a 9kbyte fifo to allow dynamic data batching and 16 finite state machines that recognise programmed data sequences from the sensor and further reduce system-level power consumption.

“STM has long recognised the importance of sensors in Qualcomm’s solutions and has been a strong collaborator for many years,” said Manvinder Singh, vice president of Qualcomm Technologies. “They have demonstrated leadership in sensors with new interfaces such as Mipi I3C along with the ability to squeeze the power budget on its devices while maintaining or increasing sensor accuracy. We are pleased to have STM join our Qualcomm Platform Ecosystem programme to integrate and optimise their advanced sensor algorithms on the always-on, low-power island of our Snapdragon mobile platforms. Collaboration with strategic vendors such as STM is critical to enabling the fast adoption of 5G technologies in different verticals.”

Thelma is STM’s proprietary surface micromachining process that combines variably thick and thin poly-silicon layers for structures and interconnection, enabling the integration of accelerometer and gyroscope mechanical elements in a single chip

“Having worked closely with Qualcomm for many years, we’ve been able to assure sensor performance that meets the demanding requirements of next-generation mobile and wearable devices and software that can be used with the Qualcomm sensor execution environment,” said Andrea Onetti, vice president at ST Microelectronics. “These include advanced features – such as hinge- or fold-angle detection for smartphones and mobile PCs – and enable the seamless integration and faster time-to-market of these features that customers across the globe require. Combining the industry’s lowest-power high-accuracy IMU with our high-precision, robust and extremely stable-over-time-and-temperature pressure sensor, can enable the best possible location accuracy to meet e911 and ecall requirements.”