Sensors and analog front end (AFE)

Leading role of sensing system

Sensor devices play a leading role in sensing systems.

Various sensors will be used depending on what kind of state you want to detect from the target location, object, part or environment.

There are various types of sensors such as optical method (NDIR method), resistance method, piezo method, and capacitance method.

The front-end circuit for capturing that information is AFE (Analog Front End).

The arrival of the MEMS sensor era

There are various forms of sensors and devices installed in things.

Commercially available sensor devices generally have a built-in drive / read circuit and ADC for the sensor device and are interfaced with digital data.

As a forecast of future trends, it is thought that many sensors and devices will be manufactured using the same microfabrication and manufacturing technology as semiconductor manufacturing.

It will not be long before the market is filled with mechanical sensor devices such as pressure and stress by configuring sensor devices with silicon semiconductor technology and compound semiconductor technology, and with MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) technology.

In any case, sensor data must be measured as an electrical signal, so it seems natural to be a chip in a semiconductor process that has a high physical and electrical affinity with electronic circuits.

In parallel with the miniaturization and low power consumption of sensor devices, wireless sensor modules such as sensor device drive / readout circuits, ADCs, and wireless transceivers will be integrated.

The image of wireless sensor modules that incorporate sensors and wireless communication circuits has been renewed, and it is expected that wireless sensors that can be easily installed anywhere in a tiny package will arrive.

Technology development with Tele-Sentient

Tele-Sentient is developing technology in anticipation of the arrival of such an era.

The Sensor I / F LSI is an LSI equipped with an analog front end (AFE) in anticipation of the arrival of the MEMS era.

We are also developing technology for wireless sensors that will configure the IoT in the future.