Power Management Enables Sub-1-mA IMU

Bosch Sensortec’s BMI160 inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrates a 16-bit, three-axis, low-g accelerometer and an ultra-low-power three-axis gyroscope into a single package. When the accelerometer and gyroscope are in full operation mode, the typical current consumption is 950 µA.
The IMU has been designed specifically for high precision, always-on, six-axis and nine-axis applications in consumer electronics such as game controllers, in which immersive gaming, augmented reality, and the emerging 3D indoor scanning applications must deliver precise, real-time user experiences.

The BMI160 synchronises the inertial accelerometer and gyroscope sensor data precisely with external geomagnetic sensor data. It suits applications requiring exact, low-latency, low-power, nine-axis sensor data fusion.

The device’s built-in power management unit (PMU) can be configured to further reduce power consumption by automatically sending the gyroscope temporarily into fast startup mode, then wake up 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. Longer host controller sleep cycles reduce power consumption at the system level.

The BMI160’s on-chip interrupt engine enables low-power, motion-based gesture recognition and context awareness. Power-efficient interrupts include any- or no-motion detection, tap or double-tap sensing, orientation detection, freefall, or shock events.

BOSCH SENSORTEC