April 3, 2012 – PRNewswire — Combining sensors with analog technology to enable sensor fusion will create intelligent devices for automotive, consumer, and industrial markets, said Vijay Ullal, group president of consumer and automotive solutions at Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM).
Ullal spoke at the 2012 DESIGN West Conference in San Jose, CA in March.
Motion, touch, pressure, and temperature sensors are used in applications from cars and smartphones to smart homes and medical instruments. Analog integration with sensor fusion will pave the way for a new world of devices with which humans will interact in a natural way, Ullal said. Technology’s next phase enables it to "virtually disappear," said Ullal, with pervasive sensors and controls in smartphones and wireless networks. Highly integrated systems on chips (SoCs) will enable these new interactions.
Applications:
In the home, lighting, heat and air, security, and safety monitoring systems will become accessible and manageable via a cell phone. Clean, conscious and connected automobiles will save many of the more than two million lives lost each year due to traffic accidents and outdoor air pollution. In healthcare, portable diagnostic and imaging devices will enable in-home monitoring, thus enhancing patient care. In our communities, the measurement of energy creation, distribution, and usage will be available via highly integrated metering systems-on-chips (SoCs).
Maxim makes highly integrated analog and mixed-signal semiconductors. In July 2011, Maxim acquired SensorDynamics, a privately held semiconductor company that develops proprietary sensor and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). For more information, go to www.Maxim-ic.com.