Providing accurate and stable performance across a wide temperature range, the DPS310 is ideal for indoor navigation and auxiliary location tracking applications, such as floor navigation in shopping malls and parking garages, as well as for outdoor navigation to improve navigation accuracy or support dead-reckoning when GPS signals are not received. Additionally, it can provide accurate data for altitude ascent and vertical velocity calculations, making it suitable for activity tracking in mobile and wearable health and sports devices, while ultra-precise pressure measurement opens up new possibilities for motion recognition and the detection of sudden weather changes.

The Infineon DPS310 pressure sensor is based on capacitive sensing rather than the piezoelectric method used in most other digital pressure sensors. This method ensures high precision over a wide temperature range, even when temperatures change rapidly. This characteristic offers a significant advantage because the temperature inside the mobile device can fluctuate rapidly due to various heat sources.

In high-precision mode, the DPS310 can measure height within an error range of ±5cm, enabling accurate detection of instantaneous movements, which has been the biggest challenge in indoor navigation. The high resolution of the Infineon pressure sensor can identify, for example, the movement from one floor to another in a building, allowing the download of the floor plan of the new floor. High-accuracy height measurement is required for sports and fitness applications that need to distinguish between different types of "steps" a wearer can take and the corresponding calorie consumption.

For the new pressure sensor, Infineon utilizes advanced semiconductor process technology previously developed for automotive sensors. The sensor is highly reliable and is integrated into safety applications such as airbags. This technology forms the basis for achieving not only a compact size of 2.0mm x 2.5mm x 1.0mm but also low power consumption. In low-power mode, current consumption is only 3μA per second for one measurement, and drops to less than 1μA in standby mode. The built-in FIFO stores the previous 32 measurements and extends the time the host processor can maintain sleep mode between sensor readings, further reducing overall system power consumption.

The DPS310 provides reliable and accurate performance in pressures ranging from 300 hPa to 1200 hPa and temperatures from -40°C to 85°C. Various measurement and resolution modes allow the device to be optimized for target applications. For example, a single measurement can be configured to achieve GPS altitude accuracy, while an option for multiple measurements per second can be used for motion recognition. Each sensor is calibrated individually and incorporates a correction factor to enable accurate compensation for measured pressure and temperature values. Sensor measurement data and correction factors are provided via the sensor's I2C/SPI digital interface.

"Pressure sensors are becoming essential components of mobile and wearable devices. Furthermore, in the context of IoT, pressure sensors constitute a critical building block for integrated consumer sensor solutions," said Dr. Roland Helm, Head of Sensors at Infineon Technologies. "Based on a proven semiconductor process, the DPS310 combines ultra-high precision resolution, excellent temperature stability, low-power operation, and an ultra-small package size, enabling developers to enhance functionality and user experience across a wide range of applications, from assisted location tracking and navigation to sports, fitness, and real-time weather monitoring."

supply

Engineering samples of the DPS310 will be available in May 2015, with mass production scheduled for the third quarter of 2015. Infineon supports design-in with starter kits and evaluation boards. The DPS310 operates at power voltages ranging from 1.7V to 3.6V and is available in a space-saving 8-pin LGA package measuring 2.0mm x 2.5mm x 1.0mm. More information can be found at www.infineon.com/sensors.