- 2D magnetic encoder IC, the core of the EasyPoint™ joystick module in portable communication devices -

Austria Microsystems (Country Manager: Chang-soo Yang), a leading global high-performance analog IC design and manufacturer, has released the AS5013, a non-contact magnetic encoder IC that provides x and y position information via an I²C interface by observing how a magnet embedded in the handle moves to the center.

The AS5013 Hall sensor IC used in the EasyPoint™ module consists of a mechanical stack including a navigation handle, a magnet, and an AS5013 magnetic encoder IC. The product's simple structure and non-contact sensing technology provide very high reliability and are designed for all types of 360-degree navigation input devices.

The AS5013 is a complete Hall sensor IC for all Human Machine Interface (HMI) applications requiring low voltage. It simplifies software integration issues for joystick navigation in various portable devices such as mobile phones, MP3 players or PDAs, GPS receivers, digital cameras, and game consoles.

The AS5013 single-chip IC integrates a user-selectable power saving mode, five integrated Hall sensing elements capable of detecting up to ±2 mm two-dimensional displacement, a high-resolution analog-to-digital converter, an XY coordinate and motion detection engine, and a smart power management controller. The XY coordinate area and magnetic field information required for each Hall sensor element are transmitted to a host processor via an I²C interface.

The HM I device also provides two interrupt modes (motion detection, data ready) and two operating modes with selectable transmit rates—a sleep mode consuming less than 3 µA of current and a low voltage mode. The low voltage AS5013 operates at 2.7 to 3.6 V but also operates at an ambient low voltage of 1.7 V.
Alfred Binder, HMI (human-machine interface) Marketing Manager at Austria Microsystems, stated, “Thanks to the AS5013 Hall sensor, which is based on the contactless IC that is the core of the EasyPoint™ joystick module, product designers can apply it to many types of high-reliability portable communication devices.