Low power IC for portable measurement equipment and in micro-power sensing applications

Rutronik now offers the low power AFE NJU9101 from JRC. It is designed for portable measurement equipment and for use in micro-power sensing applications, especially electrochemical sensors. Two measurement inputs, potentiostat and auxiliary, enable a broad range of measurement in portable devices. Using 3-Bit chip address function the AFE chip can detect up to seven different types of electrochemical gases by only one sensor. The device provides a complete signal processing solution between sensor and micro-processor as smart-sensor module. The AFE converts a sensor signal into the signal that an MCU or an external EEPROM can process. It also integrates a sensor diagnostic function. The device operates over voltage ranges of 2.4V to 3.6V. Its total average current consumption can be less than 5µA. In stand-by mode, the current consumption is 0.5µA, so the power consumption is as low as possible in order to ensure a long battery life. Also the precision, low noise operational amplifiers inside the device and the high precision delta-sigma 16bit A/D converter are designed to consume less power. This high resolution ADC has a programmable gain of 1V/V to 8V/V, 16-Bit and a sample rate of 32sps to 2ksps. The built-in operational amplifiers are immune to RF noise from for example GSM, 3G, Bluetooth, W-LAN for transceiver (150MHz, 5W) which prevent the AFE from malfunction. The operating temperature is between -40C to +85C. It comes in the small package EQFN-24-LE (4mm x 4mm). The device is ideal for use in portable devices and applications like gas monitor, blood glucose meter, current sensing systems, low power systems and photodiode sensing systems.