QuickLogic's sensor hub solutions provide standard Android driver libraries to allow for quick integration to an OEM system.

Component suppliers take advantage of adoption driven by MEMS and wearable computing devices.

Sensor hubs are gradually moving into the components mainstream, thanks to the MEMS market takeoff, the advent of wearable computing devices and the availability of software and development tools. Semiconductor companies such as QuickLogic Corp. are focusing on this segment.

The supplier has announced the integrated development environment or IDE and development board for customizing its low-power sensor hub. This will allow engineers to create a new code, and compile and debug internally-developed sensor algorithms. These tools speed up time to market by providing an abstraction layer between the sensor algorithms and software and the hardware implementation.

The IDE—called the Flexible Fusion Engine Algorithm Tool or FFEAT—enables developers to develop code and algorithms easily and compile to QuickLogic’s ArcticLink 3 S1 low-power sensor hub architecture. It lets designers to perform clock cycle-accurate simulation and real-time hardware debugging. The solution eliminates the need to use IDE/FFEAT.

“Engineers can simply put the device onto their PCB, load the software drivers and daemon we provide in conjunction with our partnership with Sensor Platforms Inc., and they are up and running,” said Paul Karazuba, senior product marketing and media manager at QuickLogic. “However, if the OEM manager wants to customize the algorithms for the sensor hub, then our IDE/FFEAT tools must be used as they serve as the compiler of the OEM algorithms expressed in our programming language down to our Flexible Fusion Engine architecture.” This means the OEM can achieve true differentiation from other OEMs by using the IDE/FFEAT tools to compile their “secret sauce” on top of QuickLogic’s sensor hub architecture, Karazuba added.

The development boards support connectivity to host systems such as PCs via USB, I2C, or Snapdragon processor-based DragonBoard platform of Qualcomm. “USB is a widespread platform found in every PC and every smartphone,” said Karazuba. “The Snapdragon was also chosen because it is an outstanding development platform for Android devices and offers a superior level of openness, flexibility and market acceptance.” However, Karazuba added, the boards are not limited to just Snapdragon. The USB and I2C connectivity of development boards allow them to be easily wired into any applications processor development system from any major manufacturer with a minimum of effort.

Sensor hubs in wearable devices

“A sensor hub is a low-power processor that can be used to perform calculations on data from sensors, thereby saving power on a device by offloading such tasks from the power-intensive application processor,” said Marwan Boustany, senior analyst for MEMS and sensors at IHS. “The use of sensor hubs is increasingly crucial because of the push for ‘always-on’ sensors used for activity monitoring, voice-command operation and contextual awareness.”

According to IHS, global shipments of sensor hubs in 2014 will reach 658.4 million units, up 154 percent from 259.6 million units last year. In fact, the 2012 growth rate exceeded 2,000 percent. The IHS study also notes the market has been on a tear since 2011, when shipments first started from a low initial base.

Sensor hubs’ accelerating adoption stems from their ability to allow mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs to run longer on a single battery charge. That value proposition, however, seems far more compelling in the next phase of mobile computing: connected wearables. QuickLogic’s Karazuba acknowledges that their main targets for the sensor hub components are smartphones and wearable devices. “Certainly these two segments represent the largest markets and growth areas for sensor hubs in the near future.”

The component can be used in the Internet of Things domain. “Outside of the typical applications, sensor hubs may play a significant role in home automation and smart appliances,” Karazuba added. A sensor hub could be employed, for instance, on a smart refrigerator to manage inside and outside temperature, door open and close, motion detection, touchscreen monitoring and other functions being developed now.

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