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Low-Power Accelerometer Moving IoT Forward

June 18, 2015 by Jennifer A. Diffley

mCube's new accelerometer offers impressive power conservation.

mCube's new accelerometer offers impressive power conservation.

The Internet of Things has connected all our devices into one fluid technosphere, but the latest push for wearables raises considerable concerns about their energy consumption. After all, a smart watch is a fantastic tool, but completely useless if it runs out of battery at 10pm. Add to that the inevitable size constraints of wearables and the increased demand for performance and features, and suddenly keeping components running as long as possible on as little energy as possible becomes a major priority. 

mCube, manufacturer of the world's smallest motion sensors, announced its solution to part of the wearables dilemma in a new accelerometer designed to perform with ultra low power. According to mCube, "The new MC3600 family of accelerometers will consume only 0.6uA of current, which is up to 3X less power consumption than competitive accelerometers." This is a positive sign that manufacturers are taking market evolution into consideration when designing new products, as the space in tablets and laptops are now considered obsolete luxuries.  

In fact, according to TechLucia, by 2020 there will be over 50 billion internet-enabled devices requiring accelerometers to gather and analyze movement data. This means increased strain on both sensor power consumption and significantly increased strain on performance. mCube's single-chip technology is already embedded in mass-volume mobile devices and promises to meet the demands of the avalance of the IoMT market.

“In the highly competitive consumer market of inertial sensors, that will represent a market value of $4.33B in 2020, mCube has yet again proven its monolithic single-chip technology can deliver significant advancements in reducing sensor battery life and size,” said Jean-Christophe Eloy, President & CEO of Yole Développement. 

Consumers' imaginations are driven immediately to smart watches, but accelerometers are destined to be included in everything from sunglasses to shoes, consistently feeding data to the IoT and improving the customer's technological experience. Especially tantalizing is the notion of wearables that do not need diligent charging and mCube's accelerometer is proof that high power does not need to require high energy. 

 

SOURCE: mCube