Melexis announced the MLX90395 Triaxis Magnetometer Node, an automotive-grade (AEC-Q100) monolithic Hall-effect sensor that provides contactless sensing in three dimensions. The dual-die version of the MLX90395 provides redundancy for demanding scenarios, such as gear lever position sensing in automotive applications.
The functionality of the MLX90395 is defined through the system processor, rather than hardwired into the device itself.
The MLX90395 offers both I2C and SPI interfaces, and both medium-field (50 mT) and high-field (120 mT) versions are available in three package options: SOIC-8, TSSOP-16 (dual-die for redundancy) and QFN-16 (with wettable flanks). All package options are qualified to AEC-Q100 covering the extended temperature range for -40 °C to +125 °C and are RoHS compliant.
The selectable digital output provides 16-bit resolution for X, Y and Z magnetic field measurements, enabling the host processor, DSP, microcontroller or digital signal controller to decode the absolute position of any magnet as it passes the sensor. The MLX90395 is smaller and more power-efficient than alternative Hall effect sensors, thanks in large part to Melexis' Triaxis technology. This innovative and proprietary technology achieves an idle current of 1.4 μA, a standby current of 2.4 μA, and a supply current of 4 mA or less.
MLX90395BBH-QFN_Melexis-sensorsAlong with magnetic field sensors to measure three fields (Bx, By, Bz), the MLX90395 also integrates a temperature sensor and supply voltage monitor. Functionally, the sensor features three state machines and operates in one of three modes: single measurement, burst mode and wake-up on change mode. Engineers can select which magnetic field is measured and the frequency of measurement, to further fine-tune the sensor's energy efficiency as well as the filtering and sampling time to optimize noise vs bandwidth.
Operational modes can be defined and selected at runtime through the I2C or SPI interfaces, allowing multiple sensors to form part of a sensor cluster, controlled by a single microcontroller. The bus protocol (SPI or I2C) is also selectable, running at up to 10 MHz for SPI and 1 MHz for I2C. Each sensor is given a unique 48-bit ID number during the manufacturing process, and contains additional free space to store customer traceability information.
For more information visit www.melexis.com
