Yamaha develops world’s smallest tri-axial geomagnetic sensor IC for smartphones

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Yamaha Corp has developed the world’s smallest tri-axial geomagnetic sensor integrated circuit for use in smartphones and tablet PCs, etc. Yamaha said it will begin shipping samples in mid-September.

The YAS532 is the third in a line of Yamaha’s geomagnetic sensor series. The YAS532 is at 1.5mm by 1.5mm in size, the world’s smallest tri-axial geomagnetic sensor integrated circuit. Normally, sensor integrated circuits are made by packaging a CMOS circuit chip and multiple sensor elements.

With this method, the elements and chip need to be wired and assembled within the package, which would make it difficult to shrink the size of a geomagnetic sensor integrated circuit. The use of Yamaha’s proprietary technology, however, enabled smaller sizes through a monolithic structure that generates the sensor elements and CMOS circuits all on the same chip.

The YAS532, compared to the YAS530 which has been sold until now, has a 56% smaller size, with a 150% increase in dynamic range for further precision and with a lower consumption of power.

As with the existing product, it is provided with auto-calibration software that uses proprietary algorithms, and drivers for the various OS types, which will be made available in a timely fashion, and while responding to customer needs with technical support of the implementation of geomagnetic sensor integrated circuits, we assist in reducing the design load on our customers.