See you at CES!

MIG looks forward to advancing MEMS across global markets at next week’s 2012 International CES®.  It’s not too late to make your plans to attend!

MEMS TechZone LVCC, South Hall 2, Booth #25218 January 10 – 13, 2012 Stop by the booth to register to win MOD Live from Recon Instruments (winner of the 2011 MEMS Technology Showcase at MEMS Executive Congress®) and see the VGo Robotic Telepresence (enabled by MEMS developed by Freescale Semiconductor.)   MEMS Conference Session Connecting the Real World with the Digital World: Harnessing the Power of MEMS LVCC, North Hall, Room N254 January 11, 2012 | 10:30-11:30amSpread the word to your colleagues and customers to attend this much anticipated session. In this session, you’ll earn how MEMS is truly driving the adoption of new consumer applications and products.   Complimentary MIG Networking Breakfast Sponsored by  Conference Room 7, Second Floor, Las Vegas Hilton January 11, 2012 | 7:00-9:00 am Join press and members of MIG for a complimentary continental breakfast and networking time. (RSVP required)

MEMS at 2012 CES® PressroomIf you can’t make it to the show, be sure to check out the latest press releases related to MEMS at 2012 CES® in our online press room.  MIG members, if you are attending the show and have a press release, make sure to send it to Kacey Wherley at kwherley@memsindustrygroup.org for inclusion.

See you in Las Vegas!

MEMS News Update

• A*STAR IME, University of Washington team up to provide silicon photonics platform
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• Side Exit Accelerometer features built-in temperature sensor; Meggitt Sensing Systems Releases Wilcoxon Research Side Exit Accelerometer with Built In Temperature Sensor
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• Lam Research hires CEO from within
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MEMS News Update

• Explore “MEMS Sensor Fusion/Sensor Networks”
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• The Changing Landscape of MEMS Foundry Models: Understanding In-house, Fab-lite and Fabless
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MEMS News Update

• SEMICON Europa preview
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• STMicroelectronics Accelerates Integration of Motion and Orientation Sensors
  (tags: mems news member sensor)

Consumer MEMS to See Highest Growth Yet This Year at 37 Percent

Smartphones and media tablets drive expansion; 3-axis gyroscope is the star MEMS device

Contributed by Jérémie Bouchaud, Director and Principal Analyst, MEMS, iSuppli

The MEMS market for its largest and most dynamic sector, consumer and mobile devices, is set to generate record growth in 2011 on the back of robust exposure in smart-phone and tablet applications, according to a Consumer & Mobile MEMS Market Tracker report from information and analysis provider IHS.

Revenue in 2011 for consumer and mobile MEMS will hit $2.25 billion, up a best-ever expansion level of 37 percent, compared to the previous high-water mark of 27 percent in 2010 when revenue reached $1.64 billion. Consumer MEMS growth slowed to 6 percent in 2009 during the crucial period of recovery following the deep economic crisis of the prior year, but that has proven to be the only soft spot for the market. Overall, the five-year revenue prospects starting from 2010 call for solid growth by a factor of nearly three to $4.54 billion in 2015, equivalent to a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 22.5 percent.

Explore “MEMS Sensor Fusion/Sensor Networks”

November 2-3, 2011
Monterey Plaza Resort & Spa
An annual executive forum promoting the commercialization of MEMS

As engineers combine MEMS devices with integrated circuits to create feature-rich heterogeneous environments, embedded systems have become more complex. Now smartphones may include accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, silicon microphones, RF MEMS, and even micro-displays, to produce a “full package” of intelligence for end-user applications. These new systems require “sensor fusion,” which intelligently combines data, software and processing from different sensors (including MEMS). And while consumer products and automotive systems top the list for high-volume MEMS consumption, biomedical/healthcare, industrial and energy increasingly use MEMS technology as well.

The panel will discuss the critical issues affecting MEMS systems integration such as: What is the future of “MEMS sensor fusion”—integrating MEMS with ICs and software in the same application (and even the same package) while meeting or exceeding cost, power and performance requirements? How are MEMS sensors producing more intelligent, and pervasive, wireless networks? How might technologies such as Hewlett-Packard’s “Central Nervous System of the Earth” (CeNSE) change our information infrastructure—and what is its potential impact on society?

Featured Speakers

Moderator: Michael Jamiolkowski, President & CEO, Coventor

Panelists:

• Dr. Todd Carrico, President, Cougaar Software
• Scott Constien, VP, Product Management and Advanced Development, Enfora
• Peter Hartwell, Distinguished Technologist, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
• Glenn Hauer, Senior Vice President for Product Management, INOVA Geophysical

Please join us Thursday, November 3, 2011, 1:45-2:30 p.m., for the panel, MEMS Sensor Fusion/Sensor Networks, at the seventh annual MEMS Executive Congress.

Register today for MEMS Executive Congress

As a business rather than a technical conference, MEMS Executive Congress provides a unique forum for MEMS solution providers and OEM integrators to exchange ideas and information during panel discussions and networking events. This truly unique two-day event is the year’s must-attend conference for the entire MEMS supply chain.

If you have not registered yet, you can do so via the link below:

For more information, please visit www.memscongress.com.

What is sensor fusion?

By Mike Stanley

Originally posted on Freescale’s The Embedded Beat Blog

When a colleague of mine recently asked me “What is sensor fusion?” I had to stop and think. Like Justice Potter Stewart once said, “I know it when I see it.” But as an engineer dealing with this topic every day, I should be able to do better. Eventually I came up with the following:

Sensor fusion encompasses a variety of techniques which can:

• Trade off strengths and weaknesses of the various sensors to compute something more than can be calculated using the individual components;
• Improve the quality and noise level of computed results by taking advantage of:
  • Known data redundancies between sensors
  • Knowledge of system transfer functions, dynamics and/or kinematics

Good lord! Sounds like something out of one of my textbooks. It’s more fun to look at it by example.