Ams AG has released a new family of chips that integrate six sensing functions, including gesture detection and Mobeam barcode emulation. The chips are part of the TMG399x family. They are intended for use in touchless gesture control and display management in consumer electronics.
Gesture software on the devices currently supports optimised Android drivers. A fully-qualified gesture library is available for the Qualcomm ADSP sensor core on the Snapdragon 6xx and 8xx processor family for four-direction gesture, as well as ALS, proximity and other ‘standard’ features. Ams’ software includes support for eight-direction gesture, push button and taps. Work is also in progress to support other third-party sensor hub devices.
Many features are built into the gesture engine. These include automatic ambient light subtraction; crosstalk cancellation; dual 8-bit data converters; power saving inter-conversion delay; 32-dataset FIFO; and interrupt driven I2C communication. Power consumption and noise are minimised with adjustable IR LED timing and optimised gesture algorithms.
Colour sensors are built into the new chips, as accurate colour management and light intensity measurements are important for display management in modern portable devices. Additionally proximity detection, using the IR LED and sensor, is factory-calibrated to detect objects within 100mm.
The TMG3993 and TMG3992 are in volume production now, priced at $2.50 per piece for 1,000 unit orders.
