January 13, 2015 – Silicon Labs (Country Manager: Woon-dal Paik), a specialist in environmental and optical sensing solutions suitable for the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial automation, announced the launch of a family of high-precision temperature sensors that provide industry-leading power efficiency. Silicon Labs’ ultra-low-power Si705x temperature sensors consume only 195 nA (typical average current) when sampled once per second. This minimizes self-heating and allows them to operate on coin cell batteries for many years. Unlike conventional digital temperature sensors, the Si705x devices maintain precision across the entire operating temperature and voltage range, offering four precision levels up to +/-0.3 °C. The newly released sensors are ideal for HVAC, home appliances, computer equipment, asset tracking, cold chain storage, industrial control, and medical equipment. An AEC-Q100 certified version is also available for automotive applications.

Conventional methods of detecting temperature using thermistors or embedded MCU temperature sensors suffered from low precision and high power consumption. Even if precision is improved through calibration during the end-of-line process, this technique still suffers from the issue of precision being affected by power supply voltage fluctuations, accompanied by problems including additional manufacturing costs. In contrast, the patented signal processing technology of the newly announced Si705x sensor eliminates the need for costly end-of-line calibration and provides stable temperature precision across the entire operating voltage and temperature range. In addition, the highly integrated, low-power analog design enables a solution with optimal cost-effectiveness and provides up to 35 times better power efficiency compared to competitor temperature sensor products.

Available in a compact 3 mm x 3 mm DFN package, the Si705x sensor products provide an industry-standard I2C interface for easy configuration. Each device offers up to 14-bit temperature resolution for high-precision measurements, and a temperature range of -40 to +125 °C is ideal for consumer, industrial, and automotive applications. With a minimum power supply voltage as low as 1.9 V, the Si705x sensor can be connected directly to a battery without the need for an external voltage redulator.

Ross Sabolcik, Vice President and General Manager of the Analog, Power, and Sensor Products business unit at Silicon Labs, stated, “Temperature is the most comprehensive environmental factor that embedded developers must measure, and today’s designers expect superior power efficiency, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness from temperature sensing solutions. While numerous competing options are capable of temperature sensing, the Si705x device offers the most power-efficient option while maintaining accuracy across the entire operating voltage and temperature range. Therefore, developers do not need to worry about performance degradation.”

The Si705x temperature sensor is the latest addition to Silicon Labs' expanding portfolio of environmental and optical sensors, targeting the company's core IoT, consumer, and industrial automation markets. Silicon Labs' sensor portfolio includes RH (relative humidity) and temperature sensors, proximity and ambient light sensors, UV index and ambient light sensors, and capacitive touch sensors, as well as isolated AC current sensors and high-side DC current sensors for power management applications.

The Si705x temperature sensor is pin-compatible and software-compatible with Silicon Labs' entry-level Si70xx RH and temperature sensor family. Based on this compatibility, existing RH sensor designs and software can be easily reused for temperature applications.

Product Price and Supply Information

Silicon Labs' Si705x temperature sensor is currently available for samples and mass production. The Si705x sensor is supplied at $0.61 per unit in quantities of 10,000. The Si705x USB dongle evaluation kit is priced at $49 (USD MSRP) and simplifies sensor evaluation and application development. The Si705x USB dongle kit is supported via a Windows-based GUI and simplifies the management of the Si705x sensor and temperature measurements. Various source code and driver examples are available in Silicon Labs' Simplicity Studio development environment. For additional information on the Si705x product, ordering samples and evaluation kits, and downloading development software, please visit www.silabs.com/temperature-sensors.