User modules ease interface design

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Apr 3, 2007

Cypress Semiconductor Corp has added two new sensing methods for its PSoC CapSense capacitive sensing solution offering designers best-in-class performance.

Cypress Semiconductor Corp has added two new sensing methods for its PSoC CapSense capacitive sensing solution offering designers best-in-class performance.

The new methods are provided in the PSoC Designer integrated development environment as user modules - CapSense Sigma-Delta Modulator (CSD) and CapSense Successive Approximation (CSA).

The CSD user module delivers the ability for buttons, sliders, touchpads and touch screens to operate flawlessly in wet conditions, and offers superb temperature response, positioning it for excellent performance in white goods and other moisture-sensitive systems.

High-level decision logic provides compensation for environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, and power supply voltage change.

A separate shield electrode can be used to reduce stray capacitance, providing more reliable operation in the presence of a water film or droplets.

The CSA user module offers significant improvements in performance, by delivering 45x better interference immunity and 60% lower power consumption, making it ideal for portable consumer applications.

It supports a combination of buttons, sliders, touchpads and touch screens in union with high-level software routines that compensate for environmental and physical sensor variations.

"Cypress's initial CapSense Relaxation Oscillator (CSR) user module offered excellent performance across a broad range of applications, and was one of the reasons for the phenomenal success of CapSense", said Carl Brasek, Business Unit Director for Cypress's CapSense products.

"These new user modules provide sensing methods to overcome harsh environmental conditions, enabling an even wider range of applications to use capacitive sensing".

The CSA user module is available in the CY8C20x34 device family and as part of the CY3203A-CapSense development kit.

The CSD user module is available in the CY8C21x34 and CY8C24x94 device families and as part of the CY3213A-CapSense development kit.

Each kit is priced at US $89.