6 Axis Electronic Compass Chip - AK8976A - Asahi Kasei

The Asahi’s 6-axis AK8976A electronic compass chip is an extension of the development work which resulted in the AK8970 and AK8970N, Asahi’s 3-axis electronic compass products sold since 2003. The electronic compasses use Dynamic Offset Estimation (DOE) algorithm to automatically compensate for fluctuations of magnetic offset. The new 6-axis electronic compass provides the ideal solution, combining a 3-axis geomagnetic sensor with a 3-axis acceleration sensor in tiny package.

In a GPS-enabled cell phone, application includes: pedestrian navigation system, 2D mapping, the direction finder and 3D mapping

Features and specifications include:

• Automatically adjusts for offset and sensitivity of the sensors
• Dedicated hardware for pedometer
• Digital interface with internal A/D converter compatible with both 2-line I2C bus and 4-line SPI
• Hall-effect geomagnetic sensor in three axes, piezoresistive accelerometer in three axes
• Low power consumption – 6.7 mA during sensor operation, 460 µA average with measurement at 100 ms intervals
• Internal 8-bit, 12-word EEPROM for recording geomagnetic sensor sensitivity adjustment data, etc.
• Internal temperature sensor with 8-bit digital output
• 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm × 0.9 mm (1.0 mm max) 20-pin LCC package

Applications includes navigation systems on cell phones and PDAs; geomagnetic measurement,  motion input controllers for videogames, digital still cameras shake controller.

Source: Tiny 6-axis electronic compass chip