Infineon Technologies AG has announced the addition of Multi-Sense functionality to its PSOC™ 4 microcontroller (MCU) family. The company is expanding its leading capacitive sensing technology, CAPSENSE™, by introducing new proprietary inductive sensing technology, as well as non-invasive and contactless liquid sensing solutions. PSOCTM 4 opens up endless possibilities for developers in developing new human-machine interfaces (HMI) and sensing solutions. From stylish products with metal touch buttons to waterproof touch buttons and innovative liquid sensing methods, PSOCTM 4 Multi-Sense unlocks many new sensing methods.
PSOCTM 4000T is Infineon's first product to feature the company's fifth-generation CAPSENSE™ technology and Multi-Sense functionality. Its supporting sensing technologies can be integrated in a single PSOCTM 4 MCU to optimize performance (e.g., a combination of capacitive and inductive sensing), enable new use cases (e.g., underwater inductive sensing buttons), or achieve cost savings (e.g., a combination of system control and liquid sensing). In addition, Infineon's fifth-generation CAPSENSE™ uses "always-on" technology, which reduces power consumption to one-tenth of previous devices and improves signal-to-noise ratio tenfold.
"The Multi-Sense feature is not only a technological advancement, but also a paradigm shift, which proves Infineon's commitment to meeting customer needs for next-generation devices that support new HMI and sensing use cases," said Vibheesh Bharathan, Director and Project Leader of Infineon PSOCTM 4 Multi-Sense. As a leader in sensing and control for consumer and industrial markets, we will continue to bring new features to our customers to support them in designing future digital solutions for home, office and industrial applications."
The new Multi-Sense features of Infineon's PSOC™ 4 family include:
? Inductive sensing: Based on a new proprietary method that is less susceptible to noise, more stable than the current state-of-the-art methods, and better in terms of external noise immunity and manufacturing feasibility. Infineon's inductive sensing technology supports new human-machine interaction (HMI) use cases, such as metal surface touch, pressure touch interface and proximity sensing. This technology is highly complementary to capacitive sensing, enabling modern, metallic, and waterproof designs, such as metal touch buttons on refrigerators, and robust human-machine interactions on underwater devices such as cameras and wearables.
? Liquid Sensing: PSOCTM 4 uses non-invasive and contactless liquid sensing based on AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) processing algorithms to provide more cost-effective and stronger sensing capabilities than mechanical sensors and traditional capacitive solutions. This technology is resistant to environmental factors such as changes in temperature and humidity, and can detect liquid levels with up to ten-bit resolution in containers of various shapes. In addition, this solution can solve problems that other liquid sensors cannot cope with, such as foam suppression, residue suppression, etc., and can operate stably with varying spatial gaps between the sensor and the container. The liquid sensing function of PSOCTM 4 brings more intelligence to many liquid management applications, such as sweeping robots, washing machine soap dispensers, coffee machines, humidifiers, etc.
? CAPSENSE™ Floating Touch: Floating touch sensing technology is suitable for new usage scenarios without direct touch buttons. In some applications, floating touch technology can replace multiple components (for example, springs and sealing gaskets can be eliminated in stove touch panels). By filling the air gap with floating touch technology, customers can not only save a lot of bill of materials (BOM), but also improve system performance, reduce design complexity and speed up product launch.
Infineon PSOCTM 4000T with fifth-generation CAPSENSE technology and new Multi-Sense function is now available. Another new product, PSOCTM 4100T Plus, will be launched in the second quarter of 2025, with larger memory and more I/O interfaces, and support Multi-Sense function. After that, all PSOC devices with CAPSENSE technology will integrate this technology. The new PSOCTM 4000T series provides an upgrade path for designs based on PSOCTM 4000, PSOCTM 4000S and PSOCTM 4700S, making them compatible with fifth-generation HMI technology while maintaining software and packaging compatibility.