The next generation family of dual-axis gyroscopes from InvenSense was designed specifically to address the market needs for optical image stabilization (OIS) in Smartphones. Smartphones are rapidly replacing digital still cameras (DSC) as the devices of choice for capturing images; however, their image quality has generally been worse than DSCs due to blurry images, especially those taken in low-light conditions. By incorporating OIS technology, the same method adopted by many digital still camera manufacturers, Smartphone image quality can be dramatically enhanced.
One of the major challenges of incorporating OIS technology into Smartphone’s has been the availability of high performance, small size, and low cost MEMS gyroscopes. InvenSense is the first company to deliver both x-y (roll and pitch) and x-z (roll and yaw) dual-axis MEMS gyroscopes in a very small 3x3x0.75 mm form factor that meets the market demand. The new gyroscopes also incorporate a range of high performance features, including16-bit Analog to Digital Converters, less than 6mW of power consumption, and 27kHz drive frequency.
This new dual-axis OIS family is available in two package sizes to suit two separate market needs. The IDG-2020/IXZ-2020 in 3x3x0.9mm QFN packages are targeted toward Digital Still Cameras where the IDG-2021/IXZ-2021 in a lower profile 3x3x0.75mm will specifically address the Camera phone module with OIS where size and profile of the module are the #1 consideration for design wins. Both families share the optimized electrical parameters for OIS application that separates them from motion processing application gyroscopes.
By leveraging the company’s patented Nasiri-Fabrication process, the key technology which enables direct integration of MEMS mechanical structures with CMOS electronics at the wafer level, the IDG-202X (x-y axis) and IXZ-202X (x-z axis) provide simple yet high performance solutions. The new gyroscopes offer features specifically tailored to meet OIS requirements, including the ability to have a factory full-scale output of ±31dps for highest sensitivity to detect slightest hand jitter, high-performance 32kHz ADC sampling, a nominal drive frequency of 27kHz, making the gyroscopes immune to interference from audible frequencies such as music or ambient noise, on-chip high resolution ADCs, low phase delay digital filters, and a high speed 20MHz SPI serial interface.