STMicroelectronics LSM6DSO iNEMO inertial measurement unit

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The LSM6DSO iNEMO inertial measurement unit (IMU) from STMicroelectronics is an always-on 3D accelerometer and 3D gyroscope system-in-package that is power efficient by itself and makes the entire embedded system around it power efficient, too. Two key features play into this increased system-level power efficiency.

The product contains a 9 KB FIFO that is said to store more data than comparable sensors and, as a result, allows the system processor to wait longer and make fewer requests for data. In addition, the product adds an MIPI I³C serial interface to a serial peripheral interface (SPI)/I²C. The higher speed MIPI I³C interface offers dynamic address assignment, follower-initiated communication and communication speeds about 10x faster than I²C. By transmitting data faster and less frequently, the IMU enables the processor to sleep longer and the system to use less power.

An embedded programmable finite state machine with the LSM6DSO also contributes to reducing the processor’s workload. This feature off-loads simple, repetitive tasks, further conserving system power.

The IMU has a full-scale acceleration range of ±2 to ±16g and an angular rate range of ±125 to ±2000 dps. The sensors deliver good overall noise performance with acceleration noise density 70 mg/√Hz, rate noise density (RND) of 3.8 mdps/√Hz and configurable phase delay for OIS/EIS application and typical ZRL of ±1 dps. Useful across a wide range of applications, these capabilities are valuable for motion detection and in boosting camera performance.

The sensor also supports an enhanced ST-developed pedometer algorithm that uses floating-point math to reduce step-counter errors by 60% and contains a false-positive rejection block that recognises bus, subway and other conveyance movements to avoid counting them as steps. The algorithm is configurable to enable tuning to specific user populations, depending on physical body parameters.

For more information: https://www.st.com//lsm6dso-pr.