Do some of our experts know which sensor capabilities POET can offer - besides light/IR detection?

From the latest newsletter of Synopsys:

http://insight.synopsys.com/synopsysinsight/issue_4_2014?elq_mid=6055&elq_cid=573393&elq=eb44682519d24a1e9535218de1f1f3cb&elqCampaignId=38#pg29

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Ultra Low Power Sensor and Control Processing for SoCs

An increasing range of applications, such as those in mobile, automotive and Internet of Things (loT) markets, depend on the ability to sense and interpret a combination of environmental conditions such as pressure, temperature, motion and proximity. Combining and analyzing multiple inputs derived from various sensors enables developers to create increasingly sophisticated and useful applications.

For example, a wearable device may combine data from a gyroscope, e-compass, accelerometer and pressure sensor in order to calculate elevation, linear translation, gravity, direction and rotation. The device can combine this information to derive 3D rotation and translation, which it uses to control screen rotation, inform gesture recognition, step counting and personal navigation. Using sensor fusion techniques, designers are looking to make more use of features such as voice activation, biometric information like face detection, and other sensor measurements to augment their applications.

Increasing Complexity

Sensor fusion techniques that bring together data from multiple analog and digital sensors require more processing and higher levels of integration. As a result of these trends, designers are looking for ways to move from discrete ICs to integrated sensor control within their SoCs without further burdening the application processor.

The move toward more sophisticated multi-sensor data fusion is increasing the complexity of the embedded control logic that design teams have to develop and integrate into their SoCs. This added complexity extends project lead times and increases development risk, which is why many design teams are looking to adopt complete, pre-verified subsystems that incorporate the sensor technology they need alongside programmable control logic.

Integrated IP subsystems, consisting of pre-verified hardware and software, allow designers to quickly incorporate advanced sensor and control functionality with less risk, while meetingtheir tight project schedules.

Interfacing SoC Sensors

Design teams today usually treat sensor interfaces as standard peripheral devices when integrating them into their SoC designs. A typical architecture consists of a shared bus that connects on-chip memories, peripherals and sensor interfaces to the CPU (Figure 1). With latency and traffic, transactions across the bus typically take three to seven clock cycles, which slows performance and increases power consumption. The DesignWare® Sensor and Control IP Subsystem offers design teams an alternative low-power, high-performance approach to implementing sensor processing solutions within their SoCs.