Silicon Labs launches digital ultraviolet index sensors

Silicon Labs has introduced what it says is the industry’s first single-chip digital ultraviolet index sensor ICs designed to track UV sun exposure, heart/pulse rate and blood oximetry and provide proximity and gesture control for smartphone and wearable computing products.

The new sensors, the Si1132 and Si114x, are the latest additions to Silicon Labs’ optical sensor family.

According to the company, The Si114x sensors’ LED drivers enable implementation of reflective heart rate and blood oximetry measurement capabilities for health and fitness trackers, as well as touchless interfaces that support end-user control from a distance. Offering two and three infrared LED drivers respectively, the Si1146 and Si1147 sensors enable advanced motion and gesture sensing. The Si1146 enables motion sensing and touchless control in the z- and x-axis, and the Si1147 adds a third axis to enable 3-dimensional motion sensing. Both sensors provide reflectance measurements that can be post-processed to determine gestures.

“Wearable designs require highly integrated, small-footprint and low-power sensing solutions, and we’re meeting this need with the industry’s first single-chip digital UV index sensors that also provide ambient light and IR sensing capabilities for innovative health and fitness applications,” Mark Thompson, vice president and general manager of Silicon Labs’ Access, Power and Sensor products said. “Silicon Labs is the only UV index sensor vendor that offers a broad portfolio of energy-friendly MCUs, wireless MCUs and transceivers, and an array of other sensors that can be combined into system solutions for the fast-growing wearables market.”

Article Topics

blood oximetry  |  Heart Rate  |  launch  |  sensor  |  Silicon Labs  |  wearable