New Kionix Gyro Sets Low-Power Benchmark for Consumer-Grade Devices

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kionix, Inc., a global leader in MEMS inertial sensor design and manufacturing, today announced its second-generation gyro, the KGY23—a 3-axis, 4 x 4 x 0.9mm sensor that features low power, low noise, flexible output ranges, and excellent bias stability over temperature.

“The improved KGY23 is the result of our engineering depth and experience coupled with fantastic customer feedback”

Aimed at the consumer market, the KGY23 features:

Operating current consumption of 3.75 mA, a 40% decrease over its predecessor gyro, the KGY13;
A wide, user-programmable, full-scale range of ±256, ±512, ±1024, and ±2048 °/sec;
I²C or SPI digital serial interface bus communication;
Noise density of .30 deg/sec/√Hz, an impressively sharp 77% decrease over previous performance figures of the KGY13;
User-definable bandwidth via a control register of 10, 20, 40, 160 Hz;
An embedded temperature sensor that ensures a fast 50ms power-up time;
An internal 1024 byte FIFO buffer to accumulate data and efficiently transmit it to the customers’ external applications processor; and
Access to supply voltages between 2.6V and 3.3V and digital communication voltages between 1.8V and 3.3V.

“The improved KGY23 is the result of our engineering depth and experience coupled with fantastic customer feedback,” said Scott Miller, vice president of engineering, Kionix. “As the industry pushes for smaller MEMS sensor products, Kionix is meeting the challenge to shrink device package size while elevating performance.”

The MEMS tri-axis gyroscope market will see extraordinary growth in the coming months as more consumer products require its capabilities for applications such as user interface, gaming and navigation. According to Richard Dixon, principal analyst, MEMS & Sensors, IHS iSuppli, “Revenue for the tri-axis gyro will nearly triple in 2011, reaching $420 million in 2011, up from $127 million in 2010. Smartphones are helping to drive this impressive growth. 29% will include a gyroscope, up from just 13% last year.”

Dixon added that gyroscopes will generate the second-highest revenue among consumer and mobile MEMS in 2011, second only to accelerometers.

With the KGY23, Kionix is well positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for the next generation of sensor applications.

Availability

The KGY23 is targeted to begin sampling to qualified customers in Q1 2012. It is available in a 24-pin 4 x 4 x 0.9mm LGA package. For more information, please email: salesna@kionix.com or contact the Kionix sales office nearest you.

About Kionix

Kionix, Inc., located in Ithaca, New York, USA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ROHM Co., Ltd. of Japan. The Company pioneered high-aspect-ratio silicon micromachining based on research originally conducted at Cornell University and today enjoys a global reputation for MEMS product design, process engineering and quality manufacturing. Consumer electronics leaders worldwide utilize Kionix's products, development tools and application support to enable motion-based gaming; user-interface functionality in mobile handsets, personal navigation and TV remote controllers; and hard-disk-drive drop protection in mobile products. Kionix’s MEMS products are further diversified into the automotive, industrial and healthcare sectors. Kionix offers one of the industry’s broadest families of MEMS devices that incorporates 3-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes along with the mixed-signal-interface integrated circuits that provide algorithm processing of sensor data. Kionix is ISO9001:2000 and TS16949 registered. For more information on Kionix, visit: http://www.kionix.com. For additional information on ROHM, visit http://www.rohm.com.

Kionix is a registered trademark of Kionix, Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.