Silicon Labs is uniquely positioned to be the only supplier able to offer capacitive touch (C8051F7xx/8xx/99x) and infrared touchless (Si11xx) human interface technologies. The QuickSense family of products offers industry leading capacitive and infrared sensing devices to meet the demands of advanced user interfaces. The QuickSense products offer the fastest sensing rates, the highest sensitivity and an intuitive, easy-to-use development tool. QuickSense Studio is a common software environment to program, debug and analyze proximity sense, ambient light sense and capacitive touch sense solutions.

The latest addition to Silicon Labs’ QuickSense™ family of human interface solutions is the Si114x, the industry’s most sensitive and lowest power active infrared proximity sensors. The monolithic Si114x family of devices features an all-digital I2C control interface and up to three infrared LED drivers in an impressively small 2 mm x 2 mm clear QFN package. Capable of controlling 1-, 2- and 3- infrared LED systems, you have the freedom to implement one-dimensional systems with a range of up to 50 cm or multi-dimensional systems capable of advanced motion sensing with a range of up to 15 cm. The robust infrared sensing architecture works in direct sunlight and includes an ambient light sensor capable of sensing light levels up to 128 kLux. 

Any product with a human interface or display screen (such as an LCD display) is a suitable candidate for infrared proximity sensing and the complete QuickSense solution. Examples include handsets, e-Readers, netbooks, web tablets, portable consumer electronics, office equipment, toys, industrial equipment, security equipment, smoke detectors and point-of-sale stations. Sensor module manufacturers are also prime targets for this technology.

Si114x QuickSense infrared sensors are a powerful tool for advanced motion and gesture detection when sold with a companion Silicon Labs microcontroller. Competitors in the optical products space are unable to offer a companion MCU solution such as Silicon Labs’ C8051F800. The Si114x’s various sensing modes provide valuable information to a controller in order to algorithmically determine the background light type (sunlight, fluorescent, incandescent, etc.) This information is useful in many applications for improving the infrared proximity result, for optimizing infrared sensing power, for improving the backlight dimming functions in a display and for controlling other devices within the system.