Bosch Sensortec has announced the BHI260 and BHA260, the first two members of a new generation of smart sensor hubs. These new devices are optimised for 24/7, always-on sensor processing and feature ultra-low power consumption.
With the help of its integrated sensor coprocessor and MEMS sensors, the BHI260 and BHA260 can handle sophisticated processing tasks and data buffering without waking up the main application processor, and can even run entirely standalone. Their low power consumption translates into significantly extended battery lifetimes in wearables, hearables, AR/VR devices and smartphones.
"Compared to existing hub solutions, our second-generation sensor hubs offer a significant increase in processing power, whilst further reducing power consumption," said Dr Stefan Finkbeiner, CEO of Bosch Sensortec. "These new sensor hubs are the ideal solution for always-on applications such as fitness tracking, step counting, indoor navigation and gesture recognition. Further members of the family will follow to further expand the already impressive feature set. This will enable manufacturers to noticeably differentiate their products to gain a decisive competitive advantage."
To cut time-to-market and reduce design effort for OEMs, Bosch Sensortec has created an open development platform for these devices. This includes a comprehensive integrated software framework in ROM, evaluation kits and a Software Development Kit (SDK).