How is InvenSense positioned in the global MEMS sensor market?
InvenSense is the world’s leading provider of MEMS-based motion processing products for handheld consumer electronic devices with best-in-class size, performance and cost advantages. According to iSuppli, InvenSense is also the fastest growing MEMS Company serving the mobile and consumer electronics marketplace.
Why did InvenSense focus on the consumer electronics market when other companies developed MEMS for the automotive and industrial markets?
From its inception, InvenSense envisioned a large unfulfilled CE market opportunity for small size, high performance, robust MEMS gyroscopes that would dramatically change the way users interact with their handheld devices. Yet until the availability of InvenSense products, it was not mechanically feasible or economically possible for mainstream CE products to use traditional gyroscopes, which were costly, bulky and fragile. The Nasiri-Fabrication platform eliminated these barriers enabling rapid adoption of gyroscopes in consumer products.
Why is Nasiri-Fabrication so important to the Company’s strategy?
Nasiri-Fabrication is the fundamental strategic advantage of InvenSense because it uniquely addresses the two main cost challenges in producing MEMS products in volume: packaging and test. These two factors account for up to 80% of the total cost of the product. The primary faced challenges with producing MEMS Gyros were addressed by investing in facilities in Taiwan, designed to perform with maximum efficiency and unparalleled quality. InvenSense breaks cost and performance barriers with the patented Nasiri-Fabrication platform, commercially capable of shipping 100M-axis of gyroscopes.
With Nasiri-Fabrication:
What is the difference between an accelerometer and a gyroscope?
An accelerometer measures linear acceleration and tilt due to gravity, but it cannot measure yaw, which is rotation in relation to gravity. A gyro provides all rotational information of how fast it is turning and is specifically designed not to measure linear acceleration and to reject gravity forces.
Does a MEMS gyro replace a MEMS accelerometer?
No. They are complimentary sensors and are used together to measure 6-axis or “6 degrees of freedom” of motion processing supporting the full range of motion in a three-dimensional space. The combination of a gyro and an accelerometer in a handset offers both high accuracy and fast response time not possible with any other sensor combination, such as an accelerometer with a compass sensor.
Why does a handset or other consumer device need a MEMS gyro if it has an accelerometer?
An accelerometer can measure linear movements and tilt, but because they cannot measure all rotational movements, it is difficult for the handset to quickly and precisely determine which movement was measured using only an accelerometer. In combination, the two sensors complement each other with the gyro providing turning information and the accelerometer providing linear acceleration information for true 6-axis motion processing.
How is the InvenSense MEMS gyro different from piezoceramic and piezoelectric quartz technology?
Piezoceramic and piezoelectric quartz-based gyros are modular technologies with subcomponents that must be individually assembled, tested and laser calibrated in multiple stages, making them more costly and difficult to produce in high volume. The delicate nature of a multitude of moving parts also makes these gyros prone to wear over time and less tolerant of high g-shock. InvenSense Nasiri-Fabrication lends itself to high volume applications and is very robust in terms of supporting 10,000 g shock.
How is the InvenSense MEMS gyro different from other MEMS gyros?
The benefits of the Nasiri Fabrication process (listed above) lead to a smaller, more cost-effective and more reliable gyro solution for the CE market. The thicker MEMS structures provided by this process allow the gyroscope to operate at a higher resonant frequency for better rejection of ambient noise and vibration and provide for less sensitivity to physical shock (10,000g).
Other fabrication processes are limited by thinner MEMS structures which make the gyro design inappropriate for low noise applications such as image stabilization or navigation and can offer less resistance to physical shock. These other processes are more appropriate for serving the automotive market where there is less sensitivity to device size or cost.
Why is size so critical in the competitive MEMS gyro market for CE?
CE products, in particular mobile handsets, are becoming increasingly more compact and integrating significantly higher levels of features, functionality and computing power. Only InvenSense can meet this requirement for adding motion processing by providing a smaller footprint of only 16mm2 versus competitive offerings of 40mm2 for 3-axis MEMS gyroscopes. Equally important is the 40% thinner package of the MPU-3000 versus the competition.
What is motion processing?
Motion processing is the integration of 3-axis of rotational data and 3-axis of linear motion information to track the coordinates of 6-axis, or six degrees of freedom, in three-dimensional space. This achieves precise and responsive 1:1 mapping of the user’s motion to control the handheld device’s functionality. Using the MPU-3000, system processor overhead is minimized by performing most motion algorithmic calculations within the MPU hardware itself.
Can OEMs afford to add motion processing to their device?
Yes, our customer’s see that the additional cost is more than offset by the opportunity to monetize applications that are only enabled with the addition of a 6-axis hardware and software platform. Examples of motion-based applications include Wii-like handset games, optical image stabilization for better camera phone pictures, personalized single-handed gesture shortcuts for common phone functions, and support for location based services and points of interest. Over time, just as other function-enabling technologies such as color LCDs, Bluetooth and CMOS image sensors have become pervasive with corresponding price reductions; motion processing will follow this adoption trend.
What impact will motion processing have on power management in the consumer device?
Motion processing consumes approximately 10mW minimal power in full operation and designed to not exceed 9µW in standby mode. A critical advantage of the product is its internal 32-bit hardware accelerator which offloads a majority of the motion processing computations from the handset applications processor, which results in lower overall system power consumption versus using competitive approaches.
What will be the “killer” applications for motion processing?
We believe that including motion processing functionality in handsets is the first step toward developing many “killer applications”, most of which are not even contemplated today. This motion processing functionality must first be present in next generation smart phones, and eventually feature phones, to drive the next yet unknown killer-application. Applications that will leverage a handset sensing “what you are doing” are unlimited. There will be no shortage of motion-enabled applications once software developers leverage the installed-base of motion processing enabled handheld devices.
How difficult is it to develop applications for motion processing-enabled devices?
InvenSense designed its motion processing solution as a total system solution with integrated hardware acceleration and embedded software to help developers quickly integrate motion processing into their products.
Will motion processing be limited to smart phones?
The initial market focus for motion processing are smart phones, in part, because users are already familiar with simple accelerometer motion sensing and will demand more immersive motion applications in their next generation handsets. Motion processing is also viable for feature phones, which is our next target market as more motion applications are developed for widespread consumer adoption. Beyond the handset market, motion processing is the new “must have” function applicable to any mobile consumer electronic device that offers advanced motion applications, such as for immersive gaming, health and fitness monitoring, and gesture-based control.
How big is the market for motion processing?
We believe that over the next several years the volume of gyros will be comparable to accelerometers in handheld devices, but the market value will be over three times the size of the accelerometer sensor value based on the application benefits a 3-axis gyroscope brings and the increased complexity of the gyro design. The InvenSense MEMS gyroscope will make motion processing ubiquitous because of its size, performance and cost advantages.
