Sector News

Weighing 0.2mg and with a profile of 0.2mm, the PLW138003 MaGIC (Manufactured on GaN-on-Si I/C) LED is for wearable electronics. It is in a 1005 SMT package, designed specifically to meet the demand for ever smaller LED components producing highly collimated light. Plessey offers the 1×0.5mm LED in a standard electronic component size, that can be handled by the common surface-mount machines used in high-volume consumer electronics. This first product in the dotLED family delivers up to 0.7Lm of white light with a 130̊viewing angle from a 5mA drive current. A blue version, the PLB138003 is also available. Colour variants will be added to the family and there will also be a series in the larger 1608 footprint. A blue LED die is also available -the PLB030003 is just 200x200x75µm. Proprietary MaGICtechnology uses standard silicon semiconductor production techniques, to produce high-volume high-quality industry standard LEDs. http://www.plesseysemiconductors.com

Wearable enclosures from OKW in its Ergo-Case range, now include six smaller XS models, giving designers a choice of 42 individual housings. The small cases are suitable for compact handheld electronic devices and have an ergonomically contoured design which is very comfortable to hold or wear, says the company. Typical applications include personal electronics such as medical and wellness equipment, security devices, building access and dosage detectors. The XS enclosures consist of a top, base and intermediate ring and are assembled with two self-tapping screws. They can be specified with no eyelets (Type I), one eyelet for a lanyard (Type II) or two lateral eyelets (Type III) for fitting the device to a wrist strap or belt. The extended range now includes four plan sizes: XS, S, M and L in flat and high models with external dimensions from 82x56x24mm to 150x200x69mm. The XS and S models are designed for wearing on straps or lanyards. The M and L models can be fitted to arm and belt straps or wall mounted using the accessory eyelets and wall mounting elements. L models are also available with a clear display window. All models feature a recessed area in the top for mounting a membrane keypad or product label. Screw pillars in the top section and location pillars in the base section are provided for fitting PCBs  and battery assemblies.

For the Android 4.4 (KitKat) OS, QuickLogic has released the Always-on Context Aware Sensor Hub CSSP (Customer Specific Standard Product). It has Sensor Platform’s FreeMotion sensor fusion and context awareness library which is optimised for smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices.

Current sensors, audio amplifiers, op amps, analogue switches, and battery gas gauges from STMicroelectronics are designed to be a set of building blocks for wearable applications.   Examples of devices suitable for wearable applications include the single, dual, and quad op amps, such as the OA4NP33 quad  low-power op amp, that offer a low-power typical consumption of just 580nA/channel (at 1.8V power supply), suitable for functions such as sensor signal-conditioning in battery-operated wearable devices.