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new products
New High Performance Optical Sensor for
Heart Rate Monitoring Ideal for Wearables
ROHM has recently announced the availability of an optical
sensor for heart rate monitoring optimized for wearable
devices such as sports bands and smart watches. The
BH1790GLC leverages proprietary analog circuit technology
and optical sensor expertise to improve sensitivity, allowing
pulse waves to be detected with high accuracy, even with
low LED brightness, resulting in class-leading low power
consumption.
Recent years have seen an increasing demand for portable
devices featuring greater energy savings and miniaturization.
Among wearables such as sports bands and smart watches
pulse sensing capability has become mainstream, with
new functions continually being added. However, their
limited battery capacity makes it necessary to reduce
power consumption as much as possible in order to prolong
operating time.
In response, ROHM utilizes optical sensor development
expertise and IR removal technology cultivated over many
years to develop an optical sensor for heart rate monitoring
optimized for wearables that meets market needs for low
power consumption and high accuracy. A specialized optical
filter enables high accuracy detection, extending battery life
while reducing the effects of IR rays by 10x vs conventional
products. This makes it possible to acquire high quality
pulse signals even in environments with strong IR presence,
such as outdoors, or under intense movements (i.e. sports),
contributing to increased performance and further evolution
in the wearable device market.
In addition, an optical heart rate monitor expansion board
(BH1790GLC-EVK-001) is available for purchase online that
can collect and process sensor information by connecting to
an open platform (general MCU board) such as Arduino Uno.
Key Features
Achieves class-leading low power consumption
ROHM combines considerable optical sensor development
expertise with original analog circuit technology to improve
sensitivity, making it possible to accurately detect pulse
waves even with low LED brightness. This reduces power
consumption by approx. 74% – the lowest in its class –
contributing to longer battery life in wearable devices.
Superior IR removal characteristics enable high accuracy
detection
A photodiode matched to the green wavelength ideal for
pulse detection is used, along with a filter structure optimized
for pulse detection that integrates green and IR cut filters in
the receiver block. As a result, high accuracy is achieved
while susceptibility to IR rays reduced by 10x compared with
conventional products, enabling stable pulse detection even
under noisy IR conditions such as direct sunlight or strenuous
activity (i.e. sports).
Decreases mounting area by 30%, reducing design load
The BH1790GLC is capable of detecting high quality
pulse signals using low VF low brightness LED elements,
eliminating the need for DC/DC circuits for LED power supply
conventionally required. This decreases mounting area by
30%, lightening development load.
Applications
Sports bands, smartwatches, and other wearables
Smartphones
Devices requiring pulse sensing
Online Sales Information
Products: Optical Heart Rate Monitor Expansion Board
STMicroelectronics Delivers Superior-
Performing NFC Technology for Secure
Contactless Payments and IoT Applications
STMicroelectronics has announced availability of its latest-
generation NFC devices for contactless payments and data
exchange.The new devices include the ST21NFCD NFC
controller featuring the market-proven booster technology
ST has recently acquired, and two new members in the ST54
System-in-Package (SiP) family that integrate the Company’s
latest Secure Element technology.
The ST21NFCD chip features active load modulation
for faster, smoother transactions over longer distances,
delivering better user experiences in mobiles, wearables,
or IoT devices. It supports card emulation, reader/writer and
peer-to-peer communication modes, and contains eFlash
to permit full firmware update. It supports the NFC Forum’s
NCI 2.0 specification, which simplifies software development
for interacting with NFC tags and supports batching and
autonomous exchanges to minimize communication
80 l New-Tech Magazine Europe