We announced our latest sensor hub platform today, the ArcticLink® 3 S2.   While I’ll be blogging numerous times over the next few weeks about the various capabilities and advantages of the platform (in depth in some cases), I’ll focus today on some high-level talking points that should be of interest to our customers and investors.

• Greatly expanded capabilities: 4X the computational capacity, 4X the algorithm memory, 8X the sensor data buffer memory

The demands placed on sensor hubs are growing considerably.  Formerly, being able to run a simple pedometer might have been enough for some OEMs — that just isn’t the case anymore.  Our FFE offers 400% the computational capacity of the previous generation, allowing us to run algorithms quicker.  We are able to store (on-device, of course) 400% more sensor algorithms, allowing OEMs to expand the functions of devices that use our S2 sensor hub.  Finally, we have 800% the sensor data buffer memory, allowing us to store 8X the number of time-stamped events (a lot more on this in a later blog).

• Significantly lower power versus competition and previous generation extends battery life of smartphone and wearable devices

While the generation improvements mentioned in the previous bullet offer significant advantages to OEMs, garnering those improvements at the expense of greatly-increased power consumption would be a non-starter for most.  We’re happy that through extremely clever design, including hardening of specific functions previously residing in the programmable fabric, we’ve been able to reduce our power consumption to the 150µW level.  And yes, that’s active power consumption.

• Programmable Fabric – allows hardware differentiation and possible integration of discrete components into sensor hub

With the hardening of key technologies that I mentioned above, we can offer more available programmable fabric space to the user in the S2.  OEMs can use this fabric (with our assistance, of course!) to implement additional sensor hub features, or to integrate PSBs like remote control or bar code transmission into our S2 device, lessening PCB constraints and lowering overall BOM cost.

• Catalog CSSPs allow for immediate integration of proven devices into OEM system with known good algorithms

We announced the S2 Gesture and Context Catalog CSSP as well.   OEMs can immediately develop products around this with no need to customize algorithms.

• Pin and Software Compatibility

The S2 is designed to be pin-compatible to the S1.  Additionally, any and all algorithms designed for the S1 using our FFEAT tool are immediately transferable to the S2, allowing for an easy transition.

And, finally, a video on the product.  Pardon the narrator though…