Understanding Smart Sensors - Nomads.usp

330 Understanding Smart Sensorsreduced as the semiconductor industry’s roadmap for improved capability iscontinually advanced. Achieving the desired specification will be where costbecomes a factor. A sensor used in a moderate (room temperature) environmentwith only 5% accuracy could have the same internal sensing chip as therugged automotive application that achieves 1% accuracy over a −40°C to125°C ambient temperature. The cost of testing, on-chip calibrating, andpackaging will make the latter more expensive.Unfortunately, the much-too-frequent prefix smart is used to describeanything that is an improvement over a previous version of a technology, product,or service. Examples of smart things include SmartTrading by OLDE,Smart Scrub from Dow, Smart Ones from Weight Watchers ® , Smart-Rate SM from Discover ® Card, Smart Solutions SM from the United States PostalService, and even Smart, Very Smart products from Magnavox. 1 Smart is thelate-twentieth-century term that was used instead of “new and improved.” Andthere is every reason to expect that the term will carry over well into thetwenty-first century.Recent and projected advances in semiconductor technology and designtools will enable tomorrow’s engineers to design, simulate, and verify somethingas complex as an entire vehicle system and probably to “virtually” prototypethe entire vehicle. To effectively utilize those tools, the designmethodology and even the designers’ skill sets must be modified to includeMEMS technology in the systems approach. Standards, such as IEEE 1451,will play a critical role in reducing costs for sensor manufacturers, savings thatcan be passed on to systems manufacturers and, ultimately, to consumers.Achieving increased performance and functionality at costs that were oncethought to be impossible will make future smart sensors possible, limited onlyby the imagination.References[1] Grace, R. H., “The Commercialization of MEMS/MST: Where Do We Go From Here?”Sensors, Feb. 1999, pp. 4–8.[2] Matsumoto, C., “Study calls MEMS Technology ‘Disruptive’ to Industry,”http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?EET19970804S0106[3] The National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors Technology Needs, SemiconductorIndustry Association, San Jose, CA, 1997.1. All trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.