Sensor signal conditioning IC for calibration functions

Optimised for high-resolution industrial, consumer and medical applications, the IC has special features for battery-driven low-power devices, including 930µA typical overall current consumption, ultra-low 20nA typical sleep mode current and a 1.7-3.6V power supply range. It features an intelligent power-save scheme to ensure lowest overall current consumption and an internal sensor supply regulator with an excellent power supply rejection ratio (PSRR), eliminating the need for an external buffer capacitor. The ZSSC3027’s unique attributes make it especially well-suited for applications designed for harsh environments.

Digital compensation of signal offset, sensitivity, temperature and non-linearity is accomplished via an internal correction algorithm with coefficients stored on-chip in a highly reliable, nonvolatile, multiple-time programmable memory. Programming is simple via the ZSSC3027’s serial interface with the PC-controlled calibration software provided in ZMDI’s Evaluation Kit. The measured and corrected bridge values are provided at the digital output pins as SPI or I²C. The ZSSC3027 can also provide a corrected temperature output measured with an internal sensor.

The ZSSC3027 output is an almost noise-free 16-bit signal, which is well suited for the design of high-precision measurement systems, including barometric altitude measurement used in portable navigation or emergency call systems, altitude measurement for car navigation, pressure measurements inside hard disks, and weather forecasting equipment. Modern products, such as motion sensing equipment or multi-function sensor devices, can greatly benefit from the ZSSC3027’s precision. High-precision medical applications include medical gas control, medical infusion pumps, ambulatory non-invasive pump systems and occlusion detection systems.

Michael Georgi, Product Marketing Manager, ZMDI, comments: “Energy-efficiency is what we do best. We designed the ZSSC3027 to provide our customers with the miniaturised form factor required for their next generation products. The ZSSC3027 is designed for stacked die assembly together with a dedicated MEMS sensor element to provide the lowest form factor for MEMS-based sensors on the market. A typical application is barometric pressure sensors for mobile devices.”

The ZSSC3027 is in full production and is available as die for wafer bonding. Die, samples and wafers are available from ZMDI. In 10,000 unit quantities, the ZSSC3027 is priced at €0.70 per unit or $0.95 (USD) per unit.