InvenSense Inc. is an American consumer electronics company, founded in 2003 in San Jose, California by Steve Nasiri. They are the provider of the MotionTracking sensor

system on chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...

(SoC) which functions as a gyroscope for consumer electronic devices such as

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s, tablets,

wearables A wearable computer, also known as a body-borne computer, is a computing device worn on the body. The definition of 'wearable computer' may be narrow or broad, extending to smartphones or even ordinary wristwatches. Wearables may be for general ...

, gaming devices,

optical image stabilization Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure. Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...

, and remote controls for Smart TVs. InvenSense provides the motion controller in the

Nintendo Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

game controller and the Oculus Rift DK1. Its motion controllers are found in the

Samsung Galaxy Samsung Galaxy (, stylised as SΛMSUNG Galaxy since 2015 (except Japan where it omits the Samsung branding), previously stylised as Samsung GALAXY; abbreviated as SG) is a series of computing and mobile computing devices that are designed, ...

smartphones and most recently in the

Apple iPhone 6 The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and were announced on September 9, 2014, and rel ...

."Inside The Apple iPhone 6 Plus: Invensense Makes The Grade", ''Forbes.com'', September 19, 2014. retrieved October 7, 2014
/ref>

History

Founded in 2003, InvenSense is headquartered in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

with offices in

Wilmington, Massachusetts Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census. History Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Readi ...

, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, France, Canada,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and Italy."Apple's next big thing is even bigger for Invensense", ''BetaNews'', September 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014
/ref> In December 2016, the company was acquired by electronics company

TDK is a Japanese multinational electronics corporation that manufactures electronic components and recording and data-storage media. Its motto is "Contribute to culture and industry through creativity". "TDK" is an initialism of the original Ja ...

for US$1.3 billion. InvenSense became part of the

MEMS Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also written as micro-electro-mechanical systems (or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, ...

Sensors Business Group in 2017. In February 2018, Chirp Microsystems joined InvenSense through its acquisition by TDK.

Technical capabilities

InvenSense MotionTracking tracks complex user motions with the use of motion sensors such as microelectromechanical

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rota ...

s, (including 3-axis gyroscopes),

accelerometer An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is accele ...

s, compasses, and pressure sensors. the system then calibrates data, and creates a single data stream. With complex movement tracking comes a drain on battery life. In June, 2014, the company announced a low power gyroscope chip that used just under six milliwatts of power in a chip and was just 0.75 millimeters thick. InvenSense also provides Optical Image Stabilisation for

Smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

cameras, which are important to detect hand movements and reduce shake in photographs. InvenSense's compact gyroscope was designed to provide antishake features on the smallest camera phones."Really, really tiny image stabilization systems for camera phones" C/Net., May 24, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2014
/ref>

References

{{Authority control Companies based in San Jose, California 2003 establishments in California Accelerometers Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area System on a chip Microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems Electronics companies of the United States Image stabilization

History

Technical capabilities

See also

References