The latest sensor technology, mobile phones can obtain indoor navigation information

The 2012 Portable Product Innovation Technology Exhibition, hosted by Shenzhen Creative Times and supported by the China Institute of Communications, will be held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center from July 25 to 26. This exhibition will focus on user experience, new display, and cross-platform design, focusing on mobile phones, tablets, e-books, ultrabooks and other portable electronic fields. In addition to key components, the focus will be on presenting technologies that make mobile terminals cool, including industrial design, mobile applications, solutions, MEMS, virtual reality, multi-touch, AMOLED, 3D display, flexible display, new sensors, NFC, etc., totaling more than 500 new product technologies.

Wuxi Consensic Electronic Technology (hereinafter referred to as Consensic), as a global emerging supplier of MEMS sensors for consumer electronics and portable devices, will exhibit its latest sensing technologies at this Portable Product Innovation Technology Exhibition - atmospheric pressure sensor (ordinary version) CPS120, atmospheric pressure sensor (waterproof version) CPS130 and atmospheric pressure sensor (ceramic substrate) CPS150. As the Portable Product Innovation Technology Exhibition is about to be held, the reporter had the honor to interview Consensic's marketing director Lu Anan, who expressed his unique insights into the sensor market in the consumer and industrial electronics fields.

[Note: In the following, J stands for Journalist (reporter), and L stands for the interviewee Anan Lu (Marketing Director of Consensic, Inc.)]

J: Hello, welcome to the "Portable Product Innovation Technology Exhibition". First of all, please give a brief introduction of your company and yourself.

L: OK. Hello everyone, I am Lu Anan, the marketing director of Consensic, Inc. I am very happy to be invited to represent our company to participate in this "Portable Product Innovation Technology Exhibition". We, Consensic, are an emerging global supplier of MEMS sensors for consumer electronics and portable devices. We are mainly engaged in the design, development and production of digital MEMS pressure sensor chips, and are quite competitive due to their lower cost, smaller size and higher accuracy. We are a fully American-owned enterprise, headquartered in Hong Kong, with a research and development company in Burlingame, California, and a production company in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China.

Consensic was originally founded by senior people who have been engaged in the sensor industry for many years, and they continue to absorb outstanding talents in all aspects of sensor manufacturing to strengthen the entire team, which also fundamentally guarantees the quality and accuracy of the products. When it comes to the current layout of the portable product field, we know that Shenzhen has always been at the forefront of the country, with a bit of imbalance between the north and the south. Moreover, the Pearl River Delta has been overdeveloped in recent years, so we have set our sights on the Yangtze River Delta. In addition, Premier Wen has appointed Wuxi as the leader of the national Internet of Things industry. Therefore, under the promotion of this environment, we hope to radiate the entire Yangtze River Delta through Wuxi, and then use the Yangtze River Delta as a starting point to balance the portable product industry in the north and south, thereby driving the prosperity and development of portable products across the country.

J: Through your introduction, we have a better understanding of your company's scale, products and vision. Next, can you introduce your company's products, their performance and application range?

L: Consensic’s main products at the exhibition are the atmospheric pressure sensor (ordinary version) CPS120, the atmospheric pressure sensor (waterproof version) CPS130 and the atmospheric pressure sensor (ceramic substrate) CPS150. I will introduce them to you in detail below.

Let's talk about the common CPS120 first. It is a high-quality, low-cost capacitive absolute pressure sensor that uses a single-crystal silicon structure as the sensor unit. The pressure port is located on the back of the sensor, so that it can be used normally in extreme temperatures and other harsh environments. Its main features are: fully calibrated temperature and pressure output, adjustable temperature and pressure sampling frequency and resolution (8, 10, 12 or 14 bits), short sampling time: 0.7ms (8 bits), 1.6ms (10 bits), 5.0ms (12 bits), 8.5ms (14 bits), power supply voltage is 3.0V±10%, absolute temperature range is -40℃～125℃, pressure accuracy is <±0.2kPa@25℃, temperature accuracy is ±1.0℃, and it has an automatic sleep function. The CPS100 series has a wide range of applications, such as portable/fixed barometers, altimeters, sports watches, weather stations, industrial medical equipment, smart phones, automobiles, etc.

Let's look at the waterproof CPS130, which is a capacitive pressure sensor with waterproof function and fully calibrated pressure and temperature compensated digital output. CPS130 has all the features of CPS120, except that the biggest difference is that it is waterproof, has a ceramic substrate, and is larger than CPS120 and 150. Its packaging is SMD, which is different from the LGA packaging of CPS120 and 150.

Finally, let me briefly talk about CPS150. The only difference between it and CPS120 is that CPS150 is a ceramic substrate, while CPS120 is a PCB substrate. In addition, the performance of 150 is better than 120, because ceramic is a recognized material with high elasticity, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, shock resistance and vibration resistance, which can ensure the high precision and long-term stability of the product. If you are interested, you can also pay attention to our official website or refer to our brochure.

J: Mr. Lu, could you please analyze for us what technological innovations your company's products will bring to mobile terminal products? I think this is also an issue that many mobile terminal manufacturers are paying close attention to.

L: We are paying close attention to and have started to work on indoor navigation, which is electronic and dynamic, and you can get relevant information through your mobile phone. People who often travel abroad may notice that this kind of indoor navigation has been widely popularized in the United States and Japan. For example, when we are in a shopping mall, it will automatically display and update which floor we are on and which stores are on that floor. This will be of great help to those who have a poor sense of direction. But as far as I know, in China's large shopping malls, there are only floor plans, and similar technologies are rare.

Another thing we want to do is to introduce IMU, usually called "inertial measurement unit", into mobile phones. For example, we can place gravity sensors, gyroscopes, magnetic sensors and pressure sensors inside the mobile phone through certain technologies, so that the mobile phone has the function of measuring or distinguishing acceleration, angular velocity, direction and environmental pressure. I believe that the advent of this mobile terminal will save many professionals or enthusiasts a lot of trouble in carrying equipment.

J: After hearing what you said, we are looking forward to the launch of this mobile terminal. Nowadays, the development of electronic products is really too fast, and it is becoming more and more convenient for people's lives. By the way, how is the performance of your company's products in the market? At the same time, compared with competitors, what are the outstanding advantages of your products?

L: As I mentioned just now, we are an emerging company. After we improved our company website, we received calls from companies asking for product inquiries, purchasing or seeking cooperation. There are also companies that came to visit us in person, to exchange ideas or to seek cooperation. This shows that our products are eye-catching and very active in the market.

When it comes to the outstanding advantages of the products, the CPS100 series are all capacitive pressure sensors. Consensic's unique TSV (through silicon via) technology can transfer charge from the upper end of the electrode to the silicon body. TSV technology enables Consensic to break away from the ranks of traditional sensors and is used in many fields due to its high stability and high reliability. Whether it is pressure accuracy or temperature accuracy, our errors are lower than or at least the same as those of international manufacturers. It is especially worth mentioning that the temperature characteristics of the CPS100 series are very strong.

J: We sincerely hope that your company's products will have a large market share in the future. Mr. Lu, can you tell us a little about the future market expectations of existing products and new R&D plans for the next year?

L: I often say how important it is for a marketing person to have a pair of eyes that are good at discovering the market. Based on my personal experience and market acumen over the years, our products are very optimistic about the future market. We mainly put our products into the fields of consumer electronics and industrial medical equipment, and gradually transition to the automotive industry and white goods industry to form our own industrial chain. For example, the pressure sensor CPS170 that we plan to launch next year is a sensor specifically used in automobile engines; for example, the humidity sensor CPS300 series that we are about to put into production will bring huge technological changes to electrical products that replace our housework, such as washing machines, some kitchen appliances, air conditioners, washing machines, etc. I still hope that interested companies or individuals can pay more attention to the new products that our company will launch later.

J: Please give us your comments on the demand prospects of the mobile terminal product application market in the coming year.

L: OK. I would like to say that the pursuit of mobile terminal products by young people nowadays is no less passionate than chasing stars. Take the iPhone 4S and Xiaomi mobile phones for example. They were sold out during the ordering period. It is not only because of the brand reputation, but also because of the convenience of product operation and the diversity of applications. So I believe that if we can enrich the applications of mobile terminal products, make the products more comprehensive, more practical, and more closely related to daily life, then they will not only be sought after by young people.