MEMS accelerometer from STMicroelectronics aimed to boost price performance for automotive systems and industrial applications.

STMicroelectronics, a provider of MEMS, has introduced its first automotive qualified three axis MEMS accelerometer. The new device is qualified to AEC-Q100 for automotive applications, fully leveraging its proven 200mm wafer MEMS fabrication facility to deliver MEMS technology at competitive prices for system integrators. The accelerometer is the first of a range of products spearheading ST's strategy to bring economies of scale from its MEMS business in consumer to new automotive MEMS applications.

The accelerometer meets automotive industry requirements for non safety applications such as vehicle alarms, tracking and monitoring, black box systems, seat controls, navigation support and antenna positioning. Its high flexibility and ruggedness also benefit industrial applications such as vibration monitoring in heavy duty equipment, or shipping container management and security. Key performance advantages include user selectable full scale range of +/- 2g or +/- 6g in all three axes, wide temperature range from -40 to +105 degrees Celsius, and 10,000g shock survivability.

Several features simplify design-in, including 3.3V single-supply operation, 1.8V-compatible I/Os, and an SPI/I2C serial digital output supporting direct connection to a microcontroller. With 12 bit resolution, the accelerometer can detect inclination changes as small as one tenth of a degree. Further capabilities include a data ready signal to simplify system synchronisation, as well as user configurable inertial wake up, direction detection and free fall interrupt modes. The integrated IC interface is factory calibrated for sensitivity and zero g level, allowing use without further calibration. An embedded self test routine is also implemented, which can be activated at any time to verify correct functionality.