Zilog launches ZMOTION Detection and Control solutions

Zilog, an IXYS company, (Nasdaq:IXYS) and a trusted supplier of application specific, embedded micro controller (MCU) system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for industrial and consumer markets, today introduced its latest sensing and control technology for motion detection applications, including intrusion, security alarm industry, customer sensing and lighting control, medical patient monitoring, and other energy management applications.

The Zilog® ZMOTION™ Detection and Control Family featuring advance sensing and control technology consists of a series of high-performance microcontrollers specifically designed for the rapid development and deployment of products requiring control based on Passive Infrared (PIR) motion detection.

The solutions combine the programmability and rich peripheral set of Zilog's Flash Z8 Encore XP™ F082A series of microcontrollers with a revolutionary new software design that has expanded motion detection capabilities with powerful built-in software algorithms. The combination is then tuned with quality lens and pyros combinations for a complete solution package that is optimized for multiple motion sensing and control applications. The customer benefits with the new solutions include unparalleled performance and flexibility when designing their devices, faster product development cycles, more flexible manufacturing and firmware changes in the field.

"Zilog's ZMOTION™ Detection and Control solutions build on the success of our Zdots® Single Board Computers with PIR Motion Detection Technology and offer our customers a dramatic improvement in both sensitivity and stability over traditional designs," said Steve Darrough, Zilog's Director of Worldwide Marketing. "Coupled with the IXYS and Clare products for the LED based lighting and the security industry, this technology offers a complete system solution for motion activated lights, motion activated motors in doors and escalators, and occupancy based power management products."

Enhanced Support for Lens and Pyro-Electric Sensor Capabilities

Today's traditional sensor designs have significant limitations originating from the filter and gain stage. By filtering the signal, information that is critical to making a reliable decision is removed. Any signal discontinuity between the pyro-electric sensor and the filter stage will look no different from a low-level infrared energy signature at the output of the gain stage. This impacts the detectors maximum range, sensitivity and stability.

The architecture of Zilog's new ZMOTION™ Detection and Control solutions provides a greatly simplified design compared to the traditional approach. The pyro-electric sensor is interfaced directly to the high-resolution Sigma/Delta Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) input on the microcontroller without any AC coupling, gain, filtering or temperature compensation. This allows the microcontroller to work with the true, unmodified signal and see the real-time effects caused by shifts in DC offset, transients and other non-motion-based signal changes.

For example, a transient or white light event can generate a fast rise in output voltage from the pyro-electric sensor. The ZMOTION™ architecture can sense this event and respond to it accordingly, significantly reducing false detections.

Additionally, the new statistical processing algorithms provided by the ePIR motion detection engine eliminates the need for a discrete temperature compensation circuit. White light immunity is also supported by the status LED, eliminating the need for a special lens or a dedicated ambient light sensor. This leads to a simpler and smaller circuit design with reduced component count, providing better reliability, sensitivity and stability than traditional designs.

The ePIR engine in the ZMOTION™ solutions can be configured to support various pyro-electric sensors and lens types required by different motion detection applications. Recommended software application programmer interface (API) settings are available for a range of commercially available lens and pyro-electric sensor types. The motion detection algorithms in the new technology comprise the ePIR engine and run in the background of the microcontroller, while control and status of the engine is accessed through an API. This allows the designer to create their own application-specific software using the available 4 kilobytes of on-chip flash memory while taking advantage of Zilog's ZMOTION™ technology.

The Zilog ZMOTION™ Detection and Control Family featuring ePIR Technology is in production and now available to ship to customers that place orders through distributors.