类似苹果M7的运动协同处理器适用任何移动设备

PNI公司在日前一场探讨 MEMS与传感器未来发展的研讨会上展示其最新的Sentral Sensor Fusion Hub协同处理器。这款协同处理器类似苹果公司(Apple)日前发表新款iPhone 5S手机中所搭载的M7运动协同处理器。 这款微型的Sentral协同处理器尺寸约仅1.5 x 1.5mm，是专为任何具有运动追踪功能的移动设备而设计的，它就和苹果的M7一样，能够持续融合来自加速度计、陀螺仪与磁力计的数据串流，为任何移动设备提供精确的位置、方位与航向等资讯。 “我们已经采用了搭配自家高精度传感器的动作处理演算法，使其内建于一款通用的协同处理器芯片中，让采用各种品牌惯性传感器的任何行动装置都能使用，”PNI公司总裁与执行长Becky Oh表示。 PNI展示的新款Sentra协同处理器采用意法半导体的加速度计、陀螺仪与磁加计──根据先前的拆解报告得知，这和苹果iPhone 4S采用的是同一品牌的传感器元件 。

PNI Sensor的Sentral动作传感器类似苹果iPhone 5S中所用的M7运动协同处理器
source：PNIUAMesmc

在MEMS芯片领域中，意法半导体与博世(Bosch)是彼此间竞争激烈的两大主导厂商。PNI提供的动作处理融合演算法具有更高精确度，其动作演算法已经广泛应用于NASA到任天堂(Nintendo) Wii U GamePad等应用中。可惜的是，PNI高精准的非MEMS传感器对于超薄的智能手机却过大。因此，有了PNI Sentral 协同处理器，任何移动设备制造商都能在精巧的封装中实现准确的运动检测演算法。 PNI表示，相较于一般移动设备中应用处理器的运动处理演算法，其Sensor Fusion Hub协同处理器只需使用不到其1%的功耗，就能执行类似的作业。这是因为PNI的产品采用了专用的状态机，而非韧体。9轴自动校正传感器融合技术采用专利的卡尔曼(Kalman)滤波器演算法，以提供较韧体能精确的读数。 编译：Susan Hong 参考原文：iPhone 5-Like Motion Processor for Any Mobile Device，by R. Colin Johnson 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载

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{pagination} PNI Sensor Corp. of Santa Rosa, Calif., demonstrated its new Sentral Sensor Fusion Hub coprocessor for the rest of the world this week at the STMicroelectronics Shaping the Future of MEMS and Sensors conference here. The coprocessor is similar to Apple's recently announced M7 "motion coprocessor" chip for the new iPhone 5s. (See: China Is the Only Reason the iPhone 5c Matters.) Designed for any motion-tracking mobile device, the tiny Sentral coprocessor -- measuring just 1.5 by 1.5 by 0.5 millimeters -- constantly fuses the data streams from any accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer (just like Apple's M7) to provide precise location, orientation, and heading information to any mobile device. "We have taken the motion-processing algorithms we use with our own high-precision sensors and put them in a coprocessor chip that any mobile device can use with any brand of inertial sensor," Becky Oh, president and CEO of PNI, told us. At the conference, PNI demonstrated the newly released Sentral coprocessor using ST's accelerometer, gryroscope, and magnetometers -- the same brand of sensors used in Apple's iPhone-4s (according to teardowns). STMicroelectronics is in a dead heat with Bosch for the worldwide lead in the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) chip market. The motion-processing fusion algorithms provided by PNI -- whose motion algorithms are used by everyone from NASA to the Nintendo Wii U GamePad -- up the ante in accuracy. Unfortunately, PNI's high-precision non-MEMS sensors are too big for slim-line smartphones. However, with PNI's Sentral coprocessor, any mobile device maker can get accurate motion-sensing algorithms in a tiny package. PNI says on its website that its Sensor Fusion Hub coprocessor uses less than 1 percent of the power required to run similar motion-processing algorithms on a mobile device's application processor, because it uses a dedicated state machine, rather than firmware. The nine-axis auto-calibrating sensor fusion uses patented Kalman filter algorithms to provide more accurate readings than firmware.

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