sensor

Converts a physical quantity (temperature, acceleration, light, pressure) into an electrical signal.

Converts a physical quantity (temperature, acceleration, light, pressure) into an electrical signal.

Raw analog output is digitized by an ADC for processing.

A smart sensor integrates signal conditioning and a local processor on one die.

Feeds data to MCU or SoC platforms in IoT and industrial systems.

Often connects via MMIO or serial buses.

Look like chips (tiny black squares) with tiny modifications on top (hole, moving part, light screen)

Apple ⟶ BOSCH ⟶ sensor (doesn't require the latest 3nm node)

FIFO buffers on sensors save MCU battery by batching data.

Analogic sensors are only used in extreme environments.

ASIC pre-processing on sensors standardizes signals for any MCU

Signal chain

In smartphones: sensor_1, sensor_2, ... ⟶ MCU (decides what to report) ⟶ MPU

Sensors integrate ASIC for single mathematical threshold/filter (e.g. FFT) at minimal consumption.

On-sensor processing: ASIC (FFT/ML) saves battery; MCU (FFT/TinyML) can be updated.