Inertial Measurement Unit Consumes Less Than 1 mA

Designed for high-precision, always-on, six- and nine-axis applications, such as smartphones, tablets, remote controls, and game controllers, the BMI160 inertial measurement unit (IMU) combines a 16-bit, 3-axis, low-g accelerometer and ultra-low-power, 3-axis gyroscope. When the accelerometer and gyroscope are in full operation mode, typical current consumption for Bosch Sensortec’s IMU is 950 µA. To support immersive gaming, augmented reality, and #D indoor scanning applications, the device synchronizes the inertial accelerometer and gyroscope sensor data precisely with external geomagnetic sensor data. The IMU, which supports optical image stabilization (OIS), also suits applications requiring low-latency, low-power nine-axis sensor-data fusion. Its power-management unit (PMU) can be configured to further lower power consumption by automatically sending the gyroscope into a temporary fast startup mode, then wakeup using the any-motion interrupt of the accelerometer. When connected to a geomagnetic sensor, the BMI160 can trigger a readout of the magnetometer sensor data without host processor intervention. A built-in FIFO supports low-power applications and prevents data loss in non-real-time systems. Additional sensors can be connected as slaves to the IMU via a secondary I²C interface. The unit comes in a 14-pin, 2.5- by 3.0- by 0.8-mm³ LGA package.

BOSCH SENSORTEC GmBH