Contextual awareness - The senses of IoT

Infineon believes in creating IoT technology that is unobtrusively integrated into our lives – in a world where we no longer need to push buttons because our devices intuitively understand what we want them to do. The key to this intuitive understanding lies in emulating the human senses. In other words, giving human-like senses to everything from > smart devices and > home appliances to > robots, > machines, and building automation systems. This contextual awareness allows “things” to finally detect and understand their surroundings, and to respond to human gestures and voice commands like never before.

Reflecting our holistic approach to IoT design, our vision is to complement our
> XENSIV™ sensors with state-of-the-art software to create a comprehensive picture of the world around us. Our broad sensor portfolio spans > MEMS microphones,
plus > pressure, > radar, > environmental, and > 3D image sensors (REAL3™). All of which enable designers to create more intelligent, contextually aware devices equipped with:

Giving eyes to things with REAL3™
time-of-flight sensors

Vision is one of the core senses in the move to smartify electronics and take the complexity out of interaction with humans. Similar to the human eye, a > ToF-based 3D imager measures how long it takes for light to bounce back off a subject.
It uses this feedback to create a 3D map of objects, rooms, and people in real time. Enabling secure, password-free, contactless mobile user experiences, our > REAL3™ ToF 3D image sensors are ideal for fast, seamless, and spoof-proof facial identification in applications like phone/app unlocking, mobile payments, and much.

For instance, in gaming and e-commerce applications, instant augmented reality and 3D scanning/mapping based on ToF sensors are opening up endless new possibilities.
> Watch here our latest webinar on the possibilities of ToF for mobile applications.

Now in its 10th generation, this mature ToF image sensing technology offers a unique advantage by increasing the frequency as it shrinks the pixels. This sets these imagers apart from standard imaging technologies, which typically collect less light as they shrink in size.

Another key advantage of this collaborative venture is the fact that customers can look forward to accelerated time-to-market with a combined, turnkey offering spanning hardware, reference designs, software algorithms, and support.

And because it’s all about the camera …

Sharper and brighter results, perfect picture quality, and advanced visual effects are must-haves for today’s user.
Our REAL3™ ToF sensors are taking smartphone cameras to the next level. Users can expect nearly-professional photography results with special effects like bokeh for photo and video, improved resolution in low-light conditions, and more beautiful night-mode portraits. Our solutions enable a wider pixel scan with more pixels than the competition for even better results.<br>

Latest happenings …

The next big thing in the ToF space is under-display time of flight (udToF), eliminating the need for a recess and notch on the screen.

This is not just a mechanical tweak – full software and algorithmic integration of the 3D camera module behind the screen results in a larger screen but the same functionality for secure face authentication to the highest industry standards. Other trends to keep an eye on include new materials, higher wavelengths for longer ranges and even lower power consumption.

In other words, smaller designs, smaller price tags, and bigger performance.

Giving ears to things with XENSIV™ MEMS microphones
time-of-flight sensors

Moving on to another one of the key senses for contextually aware IoT devices, we have partnered with RØDE Microphones to build smarter ears into consumer devices. Our low-noise MEMS microphones combined with advanced beam forming and signal processing technology from RØDE are enriching every consumer device with the highest-end audio experiences.

Finally – audio capture on a par with advances in video capture!
Our MEMS microphones bring best-in-class performance – with the lowest possible self-noise (high SNR) and lowest distortion – to more and more IoT applications. Complementing our XENSIV™ MEMS microphones, RØDE contributes proprietary beamforming and processing technologies for advanced direction of arrival detection, noise reduction, and de-reverberation.

Thanks to audio zoom, consumers can now hone in on the sound they want and dim the rest.