An integrated fully programmable EEPROM memory allows different configurations to be supported, such as independent setting of diagnostic functions for over-voltage or under-voltage supply conditions and over-pressure or under-pressure conditions, as well as selectable digital filter settings to further reduce output noise or alternatively to decrease sensor response time. It also permits sensor compensation data and unit identity to be stored.
“As the MEMS technology employed is fully compatible with standard CMOS processes, we have been able to fabricate a completely monolithic sensor, where the sensing element and its signal conditioning circuitry are processed on the same wafer,” Laurent Otte, Product Marketing Manager for Pressure Sensors at Melexis, explains. “This gives the device a huge advantage over non-integrated pressure sensor offerings, where the signal conditioning is normally several millimeters away from the sensing element and therefore exhibits inferior signal integrity and greater susceptibility to electro-magnetic interference (EMI). It also allows us to reduce the die area to less than half that of our previous generation of integrated MEMs based pressure sensors.”
Offered in a highly robust, plastic molded, 16-pin surface mount package, the MLX90809 sensor device can deliver pressure data via an analog output voltage ratiometric to the supply voltage or using the SENT digital protocol. It has an operational temperature range of -40 °C to +150 °C, enabling it to cope with the most demanding automotive environments.