Alps Alpine Develops Waterproof Digital Sensor Measuring Air and Water Pressure

Low Current Consumption Realized with Dedicated ASIC Tapping In-house Design Know-how

Munich, Germany, August 26, 2019 – Alps Alpine Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of high-quality electronic products, has started mass-producing the HSPPAD143A Waterproof Digital Pressure Sensor for wide-ranging applications in wearable devices and IoT equipment such as flow meters for essential utilities.

According to the latest data from the Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker released by IT research firm IDC Japan, the wearable devices market is expected to grow more than 10% on average each year between 2019 and 2022. Shipments are forecast to increase to 200 million units by 2022.

Wearable devices, particularly smart watches, have become increasingly sophisticated and multifunctional and software and applications have emerged to support all kinds of features like navigation, health maintenance and recording of sports data. Those devices are employed in an expanding range of scenarios stretching beyond the everyday commute to work or school to encompass such activities as mountain climbing and diving. This has heightened needs for ascertaining conditions within the surrounding environment, for example at high altitudes or deep underwater.

The newly developed HSPPAD143A has an expanded pressure measurement range of 300 – 2100hPa, compared to 300 – 1100hPa of existing products, and a water-resistant design. This means it works in both low-pressure environments at altitudes up to 9,000 meters and high-pressure conditions down to 10 meters underwater, allowing measurement in both open air and water with a single sensor. The HSPPAD143A also houses a dedicated, fully customized application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) based on IC design know-how accumulated internally over the years at Alps Alpine. This has helped realize low current consumption of 1.8µA (in Low Power mode), contributing to the creation of products able to operate for lengthy periods