Sep 18 2013
ZMD AG (ZMDI), a Dresden-based semiconductor company that specializes in enabling energy efficient solutions, today announces the launch of the ZOPT3100, a leading-edge RGB/ambient light and proximity sensor IC. As a global supplier of analog and mixed signal solutions for automotive, industrial, medical, information technology and consumer applications, ZMDI has developed the ZOPT3100 to expand its family of low-power ICs for hand held and mobile sensing applications.
The ZOPT3100 - ZMDI’s Energy-Efficient, Digital RGB/Ambient Light and Proximity Sensor IC
The ZOPT3100 integrates an ambient light sensor (ALS), a color sensor (CS), and a proximity sensor (PS), as well as an integrated IR LED driver on a single chip. It is optimized for enabling adjustment of brightness as well as color for display panels. With five integrated photodiodes (one for proximity and four for white, green, blue, and red channels), four high-resolution 18-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for optical signals and one 11-bit dual-slope ADC for proximity measurements, this IC enables parallel measurement of light and proximity. It reaches a wide dynamic range of 0.006 lux to 32,000 lux for ambient light sensing and provides linearized output results for color sensing via the red, green and blue channels. The IC’s simultaneous measurement of distance and ALS/CS is well suited to applications such as deactivating a touch screen during phone calls in mobile phones. Integrated filters help suppress 50/60Hz ambient light flicker; e.g., from fluorescent lights.
A wide supply voltage range of 2.4 to 3.6V combined with a low supply current of 200µA (excluding the LED driver) and a configurable standby mode allow use in mobile battery-driven applications.
The ZOPT3100 delivers extremely high sensitivity especially in low-lux areas, making it optimal for usage behind very dark cover glasses, and it maintains superior linearity across the temperature range to ensure consistent results under different conditions. For display light adjustment, the IC is balanced to achieve an excellent fit to the human eye’s characteristics. The best-in-class IR suppression (greater than 650nm) together with a proximity sensor offering the best sensitivity available in the market enables precise object detection that is ideal for usage in mobile devices.
Modern products including mobile phones, tablet computers, notebooks, cameras, PC monitors and gaming devices can greatly benefit from the ZOPT3100’s performance.
“Energy-efficiency and precision are what we do best. We designed the ZOPT3100 to provide our customers with the required resolution and accuracy for their next generation products,” said Michael Georgi, Product Marketing Manager at ZMDI. Unlike many products available today, the ZOPT3100 comes with multiple optical sensor channels on one chip, providing high-resolution output and flexible configuration features to allow customers to minimize engineering efforts and costs.”
Features of the ZOPT3100:
- Multiple optical sensor channels on one chip
- Parallel measurement of proximity, ambient light and color
- Outstanding crosstalk immunity for proximity measurements
- Ambient light dynamic range: 0.006 to 32,000 lux
- High color sensing channel resolution: 18 bits
- Wide operating temperature range:-40°C to +90°C
- Broad power supply range: 2.4 to 3.6 V
- Overall current consumption as low as 200µA (LED driver excluded)
- Standby mode current: <2µA
- Internal temperature compensation
- I²C™ interface (I²C™ is a trademark of NXP)
- Programmable interrupt functions
Availability and Pricing
The ZOPT3100 is in full production and is available as die for wafer bonding. Die, samples wafers and an application kit are available from ZMDI.
For 15,000 pieces, the ZOPT3100 is priced at EUR 0.25 per unit or USD 0.34 per unit.