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The QuickSenseTM C8051F990 Low Power MCU with Capacitive Sensing

Agenda
The new Silicon Labs low power capacitive sensing Low power systems Silicon Labs capacitive sensing methodology New capacitive sensing features System level implementation of low power capacitive sensing

F9xx MCUs: Designed For Power Efficiency

Designed from the ground up to be the most power efficient MCUs Extends battery life
Industrys lowest power in both active mode and sleep mode

Integrated LDO and boost converter improve power efficiency

Maintains industrys lowest active power from 1.8 3.6 1 8 3 6 V with LDO ith Even greater power efficiency when boost converter is in use from 0.9 1.8 V

Broad portfolio of ultra low power devices

Complete family of 2 kB 64 kB ultra low power devices devices, including RF, capacitive touch sense and low voltage MCUs

Introducing the Ultra Low Power C8051F99x

Industrys lowest power capacitive sensing solution
<1A wake-on-touch 150A / MHz over the entire 1.8 to 3.6V operating range 1 8 3 6V Integrated LDO for extended battery life

Patent-pending hardware capacitance to digital converter

Highly responsive and accurate 14 capacitive touch channels iti t h h l Ultra-fast 40s acquisition time Worry-free interference immunity Easy-to-use QuickSense Studio API
Control Wheel Touch S C t l Wh l T h Sensor

High performance MCU & peripherals

25 MIPS core & Flash memory g eso u o b C, o age e e e ce, comparator, e a High resolution 12-bit ADC, voltage reference, co pa a o , internal oscillators, temperature sensor, and 6-bit current DAC
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C8051F99x Features and Benefits Summary

C8051F99x Key Features
I d Industrys l lowest power i active and in i d sleep modes Ultra low power (<1A) wake-on-touch High SNR capacitance-to-digital converter with ultra-fast 40us scan time Highly integrated 12-bit ADC, VREF, oscillators, 4 timers, 25 MIPS CPU all in 3x3mm package

Customer Benefit
Enables significant battery life savings Highly responsive and reliable cap-touch buttons, buttons sliders, and wheels Reliable even in noisy environments Saves BOM cost and enables a complete system solution for both cap-touch and MCU applications in a small form factor QuickSense Studio provides a rapid and p p trustworthy path to development success Single environment for all human interface functions reduces time to market

Proven algorithms provided in QuickSense Studio

QuickSense Studio Tools

QuickSense launcher QuickSense configuration wizard
Configure human interface components and parameters Generates complete working projects

Hardware configuration wizard

Tightly integrated with the QuickSense Configuration Wi d C fi ti Wizard

Calibration tools
Performance analysis tool
Quickly and easily set thresholds

Automatic calibration utilities

Quick builder

Broad Portfolio of Ultra Low Power MCUs

64 kB 32 kB 16 kB
F93x DC-DC, 10b ADC F92x DC-DC, 10b ADC F91x DC-DC, DC DC 12b ADC F90x DC-DC, 12b ADC F90x DC-DC, 12b ADC F99x 13 ch CDC, 12b ADC F98x 12b ADC F98x 12b ADC F93x DC-DC, 10b ADC F92x DC-DC, 10b ADC Si100x RF, DC-DC, ADC Si100x RF, DC-DC, ADC Si101x RF, DC-DC, RF DC DC ADC Si101x RF, DC-DC, ADC

8 kB

F99x 13 ch CDC, 12b ADC F98x 12b ADC

F99x 13 ch CDC, 12b ADC F98x 12b ADC F98x 12b ADC

4 kB

F98x 12b ADC F98x

2 kB

20p QFN 3 mm x3 mm

24p QFN 4 mm x 4 mm

24p QSOP

32p QFN / TQFP

42p QFN 5 mm x 7 mm

Standard
7

Cap touch

DC-DC

Wireless

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Low Power Systems

Operating Modes (1 of 2)
Active mode
Perform calculations, decision making, I/O operations, etc. g CPU executing instructions from flash All peripherals and clocks active

IDLE
Can be used as a low power technique while peripherals are active
Example: place CPU into the idle mode while UART is transmitting

CPU d does not execute i t ti t t instructions All peripherals and clocks active

Operating Modes (2 of 2)
Suspend
Can be used as a low power technique while peripherals are active
Example: place CPU into the suspend mode while CS0 module is measuring the pad capacitance

CPU does not execute instructions All internal oscillators disabled y gated System clock g

Sleep
Lowest power mode MCU uses for the inactive period CPU does not execute instructions Peripherals and clocks turned off RTC either on or off Brownout detector on or off

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Wake-up Time
Time interval between an event used to start the CPU and the first instruction executed T i ll i l d regulator stabilization time when integrated Typically includes l t t bili ti ti h i t t d Analog wake up time must be considered for some applications
VREF voltage stabilization varies greatly between devices
Only 1.5 us for C8051F990 devices

Different measurement technique examples q p

Silicon Labs
After wake event MCU immediately begins executing code AND can take an analog measurement Digital wake up time measured from wake event to first instruction
C8051F990 has a 2 us wake up time from sleep which includes the analog wake up time

Wake up from sleep does not reset the device

Wake up is dependent on many factors. Read the manual to determine wake up requirements. For example some competing MCUs require requirements example, complete reset to come out of low power modes.
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Wake-up Events
Several different methods are available to wake the MCU from the low power modes

Silicon Labs Wake Events

Mode
Normal

Wake-Up p Source
None

Power Savings
Excellent MIPS/mW Good No Code Execution Very Good No Code Execution All Internal Oscillators Disabled System Clock Gated Excellent Power Supply Gated All Oscillators except SmaRTClock Disabled

Wake-Up p Time
N/A

Idle

Any Interrupt , CS0, SmaRTClock, Port Match, Comparator0, RST pin SmaRTClock port match Comparator0

23 SYSCLKs

Suspend

400 ns

Sleep

2 us

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Frequency Sensitivity
Measure of the dynamic current of the MCU

PFS CV 2 F
Determines the active mode current
CPU at highest frequency for code dependent execution q y CPU at a reduced frequency for fixed time

Specification in units of uA/MHz

3600uA A Current 147uA / MHz 24.5MHz

C8051F990 Frequency Sensitivity

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Other Specifications to Consider

Supply voltage
Derating may occur due to supply voltage
Example: maximum CPU speed may only be achieved at maximum supply voltage

Peripheral operation may be dependent on supply voltage

Some peripherals may only operate if supply voltage exceeds a threshold

Temperature
Peripheral operation may be affected by temperature variation
Example: oscillator tolerance

General specmanship
Be aware of what the specification p p provided actually represents y p
Example: consider all parameters required for waking up (reset required)

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Developing a Low-Power Strategy

Most systems will have at least 2 power modes
Active mode(s)CPU is performing required tasks (can be more than one MCU power mode) Inactive modeMCU is conserving energy

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Minimize Active Time

For most applications, the optimum strategy for minimizing the average current is:
Minimize the time spent in the active modes Maximize the time spent in the inactive mode

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In many cases operating from a faster clock results in a lower cases, power consumption

Low Power Activity Profiles

Typical Application
Wake-up periodically (digital and analog) Measure analog inputs Digital processing Go to sleep
Wake-up time for analog and di it l peripherals d digital i h l Current

Active mode

IAVG IAVG IAVG

Ti Time Sleep mode Wake event: Analog only Digital only Analog and digital High sleep current Slow wake up time High active mode current Low sleep current Fast wake up time Low active mode current

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Capacitive Sensing

Measuring Capacitance
Capacitance
If two metal plates are placed with a gap between them and a voltage is applied to one of the plates, an electric field will exist between the plates Any two conductive objects can be used for the plates of the capacitor When using capacitive sensing for touch applications the capacitor is typically formed by a PCB element and the conductive object in proximity

Capacitor parameters
Areacapacitance is directly proportional to the area of the plates Dielectriccapacitance is directly proportional to the relative permittivity of the material between the plates (air, glass, plastic etc ) (air glass plastic, etc.) Distancecapacitance is indirectly proportional to the distance between the two plates

The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is given by: parallel-plate

A Capacitor plates Dielectric

where: 0 is the permittivity of free space r is the relative permittivity of the dielectric material A is the area of the plates D is the distance between the plates

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Measuring SelfCapacitance
The are various techniques to detect the change
Relaxation oscillator
Builds an oscillator which uses the sensor capacitor as a timing element

Resistor capacitor charge timing

Resistor capacitor charge timing measures how long it takes to charge or discharge a Resistor-capacitor capacitor with a reference voltage applied

Charge transfer
Charging a sensor capacitor and then transferring that charge into an integrating capacitor over several cycles

Capacitor charge timing using successive approximation (SAR)

Varies the current through the sensor capacitor to match a reference ramp

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Measuring Capacitance with the CS0 Module

Successive Approximation (CS Module)

Two current DACs used
First is the variable DAC for the current through the sensor capacitor Second is a constant current source for the internal reference capacitor
Adjustable settings to provide for larger capacitance values

Two comparators are used

First monitors the voltage of the sensor capacitor The second monitors the voltage of the internal reference capacitor The outputs of the comparators determine the logic level of the associated bit

IREF CREF

ISENSOR VREF CSENSOR

CS0 Module Representation

SAR

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Putting Your Finger on the Switch

By touching the switch directly with a finger the capacitance increases The change in voltage of a parallel-plate sensor capacitor is derived from parallel plate the current of the capacitor given by:

I SENSOR C SENSOR

dV dt d

or

dV

I SENSOR dt CSENSOR

This additional capacitance reduces the voltage potential of the sensor capacitor at a given current
Inactive Switch Active Switch

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Charge Time

Successive Approximation
Decision tree based on binary weighted voltages
Start the first comparison at the mid-scale voltage IREF/2 ( (for 16 bit conversion IREF=0x8000) ) Determine MSB value based on the timing of the capacitors S t the next comparison voltage to the next comparison Set th t i lt t th t i value Continue process through all 16 bits
IREF Charge Time Current value for ISENSOR = 0x8000 Current value for ISENSOR = 0x4000

VSENSOR > VREF then MSB = 0 VSENSOR < VREF then MSB = 1

If the bit was a 1 IREF=0xC000 0x4000 If the bit was a 0 IREF=0x4000

Current value for ISENSOR = 0x6000

IREF ISENSOR
Bit 15 = 0 Bit 14 = 1 Bit 13 = 0 Bit 0 = 0

Total Sample Time < 50us

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C8051F99x CS0 Module

Robust architecture and easy-toimplement
Industrys fastest sensing rates (40 Industry s s) for responsive interfaces Wide range of supported capacitance simplifies design No external components reduces PCB space and saves cost Hi h t sensitivity (SNR of 100:1) f Highest iti it f 100 1) for robust implementation Internally connect multiple channels to reduce conversions for wake-ontouch
Conserves system power

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Auto-scan logic reduces overhead Pin monitoring for noise rejection Hardware accumulator to reduce Overhead Wake on suspend

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New Features of the C8051F70x/71x/800/99x CS0 Module

CS0 FeaturesChannel Bonding

CS0 channel bonding
Internally connect pads together to measure the total capacitance of multiple channels using a single conversion
Can wake from low power mode on an any key touch Reduces power by requiring only a single conversion

Connect these CS0 channels internally and scan the single input reduce sampling overhead

Curr rent

IAVG IAVG
27 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 # *

Pad #

Curre ent

CS0 Scan Sequence Without Channel Bonding Capability

CS0 Scan Sequence With Channel Bonding Capability

0-*

Pad #

CS0 FeaturesAuto Scanning

Scan only the enabled channels
Reduces power over original method since only the selected channels get con erted converted Channels determined by bit settings in the CS0SCAN0/1 registers g Each bit represents the CS0 channel to be converted Example: CS0SCAN0 = 0x12 CS0SCAN1 = 0x03
CS0SCAN0 P0.7 P0.0

Port Pin P0.0 P0 0 P0.1 P0.2 P0.3 P0.4 P0.5 P0.6 P0.7 P0 7 P1.0 P1.1 P1.2 P1.3

CS0 Mux Channel 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

CS0SCAN1 P1.5
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P1.0

P1.4 P1.5

CS0 FeaturesPin Monitoring

Provided to eliminate possible interference from high-current output pin switching
Conversions are immune to any change on digital inputs and immune to most output switching Pin monitoring automatically adjust conversion timing if necessary to eliminate any effect from high current output pin switching high-current

Example: The SMBus in a system is heavily loaded with multiple slaves and a long PCB route g Example: Timer2 controls an LED on Port 1, pin 3 to provide variable dimming A SPI port is a typical example where pin monitoring is not needed due to light loads

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CS0 FeaturesGain
CS0 circuit adjusted in integer increments
1x to 8x (8x is the default)
High gain gives the best sensitivity and resolution for small capacitors
Touch sensitive PCB switches

Low gain for larger capacitance values

CS0 Block Diagram

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CS0 FeaturesReset Timing

Capacitive measurements may require higher series impedances
Touch panels ESD protected capacitive pads

Steps for CS0 capacitive measurements

Capacitance measurements done by discharging an external capacitor Provide constant current to charge a capacitor to a timed reference

CS0 now performs a two-stage discharge of the external capacitor

Improves performance in high-noise environments First reset stage
Removes most of the charge through a low-resistance switch low resistance

Second reset stage

Removes ambient noise energy captured at the end of the first reset stage

Most capacitive sensors do not require any modification from the default timer settings

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CS0 FeaturesRamp Timing

Series resistance affects sensitivity
If the source current and the series impedance are both high
CS0 module will see less of the capacitor on the other side of the impedance see Reducing the current allows the pin voltage to more directly reflect the voltage at the capacitive sensor

CS0 provides the capability to change the source current and thus the ramp time
Changes charge timing ISENSOR

dV

I SENSOR dt CSENSOR

VR

CSENSOR

VREF Higher Current Lower Current

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Charge Time

Charge Time

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Interpreting Capacitive Gestures

Capacitive GesturesSingle Touch

Single point touch
Uses a single CS0 channel
Can be a dedicated pad like an On/Off switch Can be one segment of a larger touch sensitive element such as a slider

No relative position indication

Capacitive element (i.e. finger)

Single P d Si l Pad
Each l E h element i th t in the slider can also be interpreted as a single pad

Slider
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Capacitive GesturesSlider
Sliders
Single finger gesture
Finger motion is across multiple pads (CS0 channels)

Position indication determined using adjacent pad signal levels Each pad element connects to a single CS0 channel Wake events
Can do single touch to initiate wake events Can use channel bonding to have any point on the slider wake the MCU
Reduces power

CS0 CS0 Counts 0

CS1

CS2

CS3

CS4

CS5

Capacitive input channels

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Capacitive GesturesPinch
Pinch
Two finger gesture
Each finger movement is unidirectional and in opposite directions

Position indication of multi-touch determined using adjacent pad signal levels of two points Each pad element connect to single CS0 channel Wake events
Can do single touch to initiate wake events Can use channel bonding to have any point on the slider wake the MCU
Reduces power

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Wake On Slider
Slider uses the run time channel bonding to create three pads out of the six connected to the MCU
Sample the first set of dynamically bonded channels for slider start Use combined channels to detect slider movement
CS0 multiple channel enable (CS0MCEN) using the CS0SCAN0/1 bit settings

S Sample th l t set of b d d channels t d t l the last t f bonded h l to determine slider end position i lid d iti

Monitor bonded M it b d d channels to end

Monitor bonded channels to start

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Monitor bonded channels to detect slider motion

Slider Application Flow Diagram

Reset 50 ms 5
Channel Bon nded

Low power scan

Initiate CS0 scan Suspend

RTC Wakeup: 50 ms p Scan 1st pad on the slider

Touch Detected D t t d ?
Y

C Channel Bond ded

Ca d date Candidate Touch

Initiate CS0 scan Suspend

Set RTC Alarm to 10 ms Set th S t the CS0 t b d th next t to bond the t two pads as one d Set CS0 channel index to the pad pair

10 ms m

Next pad?
Y

Finger off?

Channel Bonded

10 ms

Initiate CS0 scan Suspend Y

Confirmed C fi d Touch

RTC alarm remains at 10 ms Set the CS0 to bond the next two pads as one Set CS0 channel index to the pad pair N

Run Application

Next pad?

Finger off?

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Wake On Slider Activity Profile

CPU spends most of the time in the low power sleep mode When the CS0 module is measuring the capacitance the MCU is in the th suspend mode d d CS0 uses the multiple channel capability to minimize power
Determine if a pad is active and compute next action Wake and start CS0 measurement Wake and start CS0 measurement Determine if next pad is active and compute next action

Go to sleep

Convert multiple channels (single conversion)

Active Mode

CP Active PU

Suspend Mode Sleep Mode

Sleep Mode CS0 Convert

CP Active PU

Sleep Mode

Sleep Mode

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CS0 Convert

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Using the C8051F99x Slider

Ultra Low Power Capacitive Slider Capacitive slider

Wake-on-slide no off switch! Tiny layout with few discrete components save cost of crystal, resistors, capacitors, and board space pinch Gesture recognition such as pinch Thick overlay demonstrates superior sensitivity

F340

Kit contents
F990Slider-EB demo board F990Slider quick start guide

EK P t #: F990Slid EK Part # F990SliderEK

The F990SliderEK Evaluation Kit is available f $29 99 USD il bl for $29.99

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Intro to the Slider Board

The slider board has three modes
Mode 0: slider demo
LED will track finger position on the slider for a slowly moving finger If the finger performs a gliding motion across the slider, then the LED will continue moving in the direction of the glide

Mode 1: battery meter

System measures the battery voltage and slowly blinks an LED to indicate the approximate battery life remaining blinking, When max LED is blinking then the battery is fully charged When min LED is blinking, then the battery is nearly depleted

Mode 2: dimmer demo

Allows the user to set the LED brightness When max LED is lit, the dim level is set at maximum brightness When min LED is lit, the dim level is set at minimum brightness The LED brightness set by the dimmer demo is preserved and used throughout all three modes
MIN LED C8051F99x
42

MAX LED

Turning On the Slider

Turn on the slider using the wake on slider capability of the board
The two LEDs corresponding to MODE 0: SLIDER DEMO will flash four times indicating that the system is in slider demo mode

Start with the finger on the location denoted by the A

Slide finger towards the location denoted by the B

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Slider Mode
The LEDs act as a ball in motion and will continue rotating until it is stopped
The LEDs may be stopped by pressing one (slow stop) or two fingers (fast stop) on the slider Continuing slider motions cause the enabled LED to rotate faster Th rotating LED slow d The t ti LEDs l down until it comes to a complete stop with no til t l t t ith gestures

44

Changing Modes
The user may cycle through the modes by performing a pinch gesture
The slider may be pinched by placing one finger on the A button and another finger on the B button then simultaneously sliding both fingers towards the middle of the slider

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Battery Meter Mode

From the slider demo mode, the system will enter battery meter mode when the slider is pinched once
Board remains battery meter mode for approximately 10 seconds The system may be held in battery meter mode for longer than 10 seconds by touching the slider Th system will remain i b tt The t ill i in battery meter mode as l t d long as th slider i t the lid is touched h d Upon exit from battery meter mode, the system goes back into slider demo mode

LEDs light b LED li h based on battery voltage d b l

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LED Dimmer Mode

To enter dimmer mode from the slider demo mode, pinch the slider twice and wait for the Mode 2: Dimmer Demo LEDs to stop blinking Touch the slider at the desired position to set the LED brightness
The selected position will be saved 5 seconds after removing y p g your finger from g the slider The system will automatically switch back to the slider demo mode The LED brightness set by the dimmer demo is preserved and used throughout all three modes
1
Select position on the slider to t the dimmer value t set th di l

LEDs flash i di LED fl h to indicate the mode h d setting

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Turning Off the Slider

Turn off the slider by pressing the B button Automatic turn off by leaving the buttons untouched for 60 seconds

Press th B b tt P the button

Leave the slider pads L th lid d untouched for 60 seconds

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Development Kits

Turnkey Tools Get You Started Today

C8051F700/800/990 development kits ($99.00 MSRP)
E Everything you need b i d thi d begin development! l t! C8051F700/800/990 target board and touch sense demo CD-ROM includes software and documentation

ToolStick daughter cards ($9.90 MSRP)

Tool for easy, inexpensive evaluation Used with ToolStickBA ($17 50 MSRP) ($17.50

QuickSense Studio support

Configuration wizard MCU control APIs Advanced sensing algorithms Performance analysis tool

C8051F700DK, C8051F800DK, C8051F996DK

Data sheets, user guides, app notes

www.silabs.com/QuickSense

ToolStick990DC

50

Other Capacitive Sensing Resources

To help inspire your imagination and creativity
Development Kit p Description p F7xx Set-top-box Front Panel Demo Price (MSRP) $39.99 Photo

FrontPanel1EB

FrontPanel2EK

F8xx & Si1120 Front Panel Demo

$39.99

KeymatEK

F8xx Keymat Demo

$79.99

C8051F700DK C8051F800DK

C8051F700 Development Kit C8051F800 Development Kit

$99.00

AN366: Capacitive Sensing APIA Guide to the API firmware library AN367: Understanding Capacitive Sensing SNR and Setting Reliable Thresholds AN418: Baselining in the Capacitive Sensing Firmware API
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www.silabs.com/QuickSense