Another photoreceptor is used to detect the amount of ambient brightness. Such sensors are widely used in smartphones to darken the screen when the phone is near the user’s face during a call or to increase the brightness of the screen’s backlight when used outdoor.
The device has an extremely low power profile, consuming only 80uA during proximity sensing. Illuminance sensing angle is ±45° at 50% and sensing distance is up to 70mm with grey card. Operating voltage is +3.3VDC. Communication with the host processor is via I2C serial communications.
Mass production is scheduled to begin in May 2014.