Analog Devices Optimizes Sensing Technology For Automotive And Industrial Applications.

New Capacitance-to-Digital Converter (CDC) and iSensor[TM] Motion Sensing Devices Make It Easier for System Designers to Reap the Benefits of Integrated Sensing Technologies.

MUNICH, Germany -- Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) is expanding its capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) and iSensor[TM] intelligent sensor families with new devices that deliver a combination of high sensitivity, low power, low cost and small size for sensing applications. The new CDC device provides superior power efficiency, sensitivity, response time, and robustness in proximity sensing applications, such as automotive remote keyless entry systems. Based on Analog Devices' iMEMS[R] inertial sensor cores, the highly integrated, and pre-calibrated, iSensor(TM) intelligent sensor devices provide a simplified programmable interface and are designed for embedded motion analysis and control applications.

"Discrete sensors have a history of being expensive and difficult to implement," said Mike Britchfield, product line director, Precision Signal Processing, Analog Devices. "ADI's CDC and iSensor device families break down the barriers that have kept designers from adding sensing functions to their system designs due to cost and excessive power consumption."

CDC Proximity Sensing Fits Power Budget and Provides Higher Sensitivity

Analog Devices today is expanding its portfolio of CDCs for sensor systems with the introduction of a new family of ultra-low-power devices specifically designed for highly sensitive proximity sensing applications. Leveraging ADI's industry-leading capacitance technology, the AD7150 delivers a complete signal processing solution for proximity sensors, offering important features such as electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), adaptive environmental calibration, small package, low power consumption and fast response time.

Unlike existing solutions that use optical sensors, which can be unreliable and power hungry, the AD7150 consumes just 90 [acute accent]A, resulting in a 70 percent power savings. The AD7150 is ideal for use in portable and battery-powered products in automotive, industrial and even consumer applications, such as entry and security systems, remote detection and contact-less switches.

The AD7150 has undergone extensive EMC evaluation, making it particularly suitable for use in the harsh environments experienced in today's demanding automotive and industrial applications. In addition, ADI's patented CDC front-end architecture makes the AD7150 tolerant of input parasitic ground capacitance, leakage currents and power supply noise. This greatly enhances the implementation of robust and highly sensitive proximity sensor systems that provide consistent detection every time.

The highly robust and sensitive proximity sensor system is further enhanced by the on-chip adaptive environmental calibration feature. This enables the device to automatically recalibrate and adapt to capacitance changes due to shifts in environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and the gradual build-up of dust and dirt.

In addition to the AD7150, which has two channels, Analog Devices is announcing the availability of the AD7151, a single-channel CDC that consumes only 50 [acute accent]A. Both devices are specified over a -40C to +125C temperature range and communicate over an IC serial interface. Automotive qualified models will be available on release.

Availability and Pricing

The AD7150 CDC is sampling now, with full production slated for May 2007. Available in a 10-lead MSOP (mini-small-outline package), the AD7150 and AD7151 are priced at $1.35 each in 1,000-unit quantities. For more information, visit http://www.analog.com/pr/AD7150.

iSensor Devices Deliver Performance, Size and Power Advantages

The ADIS16204 is the industry's first fully integrated and programmable high-g impact sensor, providing a greater than 90 percent size advantage over existing solutions. The ADIS16204 provides dual-axis inertial sensing, with 35-g or 70-g full-scale range, and embeds all required signal conditioning and processing. Programmable features, including peak sample and hold, shock-profile recording, filtering, trigger points and power management, make the device in-system tunable and can reduce time-to-market by six months or more.

Impact sensors have multiple industrial applications but often are used in condition monitoring, safety controls and crash detection, or to monitor finished goods in the event they are damaged as they move through the distribution channel. In the past, expensive, brick-sized impact sensing solutions were not suitable for many embedded industrial applications, while less integrated alternatives created a barrier for many designers, given the complexity and diversity of the technologies involved. The result was that impact sensing was often left to less accurate and less reliable inspection methods, such as vision-based approaches.

Analog Devices today is also introducing the ADIS16251 and ADIS16255 iSensor gyroscopes, which provide angular rate sensing in applications that include vehicle navigation, factory controls, and robotics. The ADIS16251 provides digital range scaling across a 20 to 80 degree/second, with bias stability of 0.016 degree/second, and sensitivity precision of 1%, which is five times better than that of competing devices. The ADIS16255 calibrates the bias and sensitivity over the full temperature range, via embedded temperature compensation, and provides a wider dynamic range of 80 to 320 degree/second. Both iSensor devices require less than half the design space of existing multi-component solutions, while providing programmable interfaces and calibrated digital outputs.

Availability and Pricing

The ADIS16204 is sampling now with full production slated for February 2007. The sensor is available for $20.95 per unit in 1,000-piece quantities and is packaged in a 9.2 mm Eu 9.2 mm Eu 3.9 mm laminate-based LGA (land grid array) package. The ADIS16251 and ADIS16255 are sampling now, and will be available in production quantities in February 2007. The sensors are priced at $44.95 and $55.90, respectively, in 1,000-piece quantities and are packaged in an 11 mm Eu 11 mm Eu 5.5 mm laminate-based LGA package. For additional information, visit http://www.analog.com/pr/isensor.

About Analog Devices

Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices has built one of the most long-standing, high-growth companies within the technology sector. Acknowledged industry-wide as the world leader in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, Analog Devices serves over 60,000 customers around the world, representing virtually all types of electronics equipment. Celebrating more than 40 years as a leading global manufacturer of high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications, Analog Devices, Inc. is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, and employs approximately 8,900 people worldwide. It has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, and the Philippines. Analog Devices' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and ADI is included in the S&P 500 Index.

iSensor and Motion Signal Processing are trademarks and iMEMS is a registered trademark of Analog Devices, Inc.