MEMS accelerometer specialist Kionix has announced a pair of new gyroscopes - the dual-axis KGY12 and the tri-axis KGY13 - aimed at mass-market consumer applications such as mobile handsets and video game controllers.
"Kionix has been immersed in gyro technology for some time, our first gyro having been introduced in 2003," commented Tim Davis, executive VP and CTO of Kionix. "This new generation of gyros reflects our deep understanding of maximizing performance by striking a balance between current consumption and noise with excellent bias stability over temperature. It will effectively establish best-in-class performance for consumer gyros."
The new Kionix gyros are packaged in a 5x5x0.9mm 24-pin land grid array (LGA). They feature low power consumption and 16-bit digital outputs (I2C and SPI) over a measurement range of ±2048°/sec. Analog outputs are also available in user-selectable ranges of ±256°/sec, ±512°/sec, ±1024°/sec and ±2048°/sec. Both gyros offer user-definable bandwidth and embedded temperature sensors.
"MEMS gyroscopes are making consumer-electronics history with their rapidly-growing integration into a wide range of products," said Greg Galvin, president and CEO of Kionix. "For Kionix, having had such widespread success with accelerometers, producing gyroscopes optimized for mass-produced consumer applications was a logical next step - and one that will enhance our market position in 2011 and 2012."
The KGY12 dual-axis gyro is currently sampling, and samples of the tri-axis gyro will be available next month (December 2010), according to Kionix.
Just one year after its acquisition by Rohm, Kionix is broadening its offerings for developers of consumer applications in which motion sensing, gesture recognition, drop detection, performance monitoring and location awareness are essential attributes, the company noted.
Kionix KGY13-series gyro
Photo: Company
Article translated by Jessie Shen
