MIPI Alliance has formed an open "Birds of a Feather" (BoF) group that will investigate the requirements related to integrating sensors into mobile systems. The group will address challenges facing the sensor and wireless markets, including a fragmented digital interface landscape, a rapidly expanding number of sensors per device, the varied signals per device, and non-scalable architectures.

The Sensor BoF is open to non-MIPI member companies, insuring the group receives input from the broad sensor and wireless device ecosystem.

As one of the group’s first efforts, MIPI Alliance and the MEMS Industry Group (MIG) conducted a member-based market research study of 37 companies, to discover the present and future needs necessary to meet growing mobile sensor demands. While the need for a sensor interface standard was not immediately apparent, there was a clear gap between the technology of today and the needs of the future. Closing that gap will be a primary focus of the Sensor BoF group.

In the study, the reasons that would lead companies to consider having a new sensor standard include: lower cost, better performance, common sensor protocol, and time to market. Reasons for not considering a new sensor standard include: the cost, time, and complexity needed to develop the standard interface. Click here to see all the results.

Revenues for MEMS sensors

According to IHS iSuppli, revenues for MEMS sensors in mobile handsets and consumer products is expected to top $2.5 billion in 2013, up from $1.1 billion in 2008 and reflecting an 18% CAGR in the 2008-2013 timeframe. MIG Managing Director Karen Lightman also sees strong interest among many of her members in advancing sensor technology in wireless applications.

 "The massive proliferation of sensors in diverse applications is driving the trend toward standardization of sensor interfaces," said Lightman. "With MEMS playing a major role in the adoption of sensors worldwide, we recognize the importance of investigating the requirements needed to address this rapidly growing space."