Health and fitness-oriented devices account for a large portion of the current wearables market. The current generation of devices can track information such as steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned but real-time health monitoring is often limited to heart rate monitoring. Samsung is looking to improve that in future devices thanks to its new all-in-one Bio-Processor that promises to track a greater range of vital signs in a more compact solution than today’s offerings.
The single chip solution will include a microcontroller unit (MCU), a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), a digital signal processor (DSP) and eFlash memory. It will also sport five Analog Front Ends (AFE), allowing it to process bio-signals from a greater number of sensors without the need for an external processing.
“With improvements in smart, fitness devices and an increase in consumer health consciousness, more and more people are looking for ways to monitor various personal bio-data, or fitness data, to constantly manage their health” said Ben K. Hur, Vice President of marketing, System LSI business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s Bio-Processor, which can process five different biometric signals, is the most versatile health and fitness monitoring chip available on the market today and is expected to open up many new health-based service options for our customers.”
The Samsung Bio-Processor’s five AFEs will measure bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), photoplethysmogram (PPG), electrocardiogram (ECG), skin temperature, and galvanic skin response (GSR). It will allow it to track body fat, skeletal muscle mass, heart rate, heart rhythm and skin temperature and stress level respectively.
The Bio-Processor will be particularly well suited to wearables thanks to its small size. The integrated solution is about a quarter of the size of what it would be if the different components were all separate.
The Samsung Bio-Processor is already in mass production and should make its way into new fitness and health devices within the first half of 2016.
Source : Samsung