ICU-20201 HIGHLIGHTS

ICU-20201 is a miniature, ultra-low power, long-range

ultrasonic Time-of-Flight (ToF) transceiver. Based on Chirp’s

patented MEMS technology, the ICU-20201 is a system-inpackage that integrates a nominally 85kHz PMUT

(Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer) together

with a 2

nd generation ultra-low power SoC (System on Chip) in

a miniature, reflowable package.

The SoC is designed for overall low system power and for ease

of use with external host processors. Low power is achieved

through custom digital circuitry to process and buffer the raw

sensor readings. This keeps the integrated microcontroller in a

low power idle state until needed. For ease of use, the

microcontroller can process the raw sensor readings into high

level signals, such as range to nearby target(s), or events, such

as presence, which can be directly read by the host processor.

The SoC communicates with the host processor over SPI at up

to 13MHz.

Complementing Chirp’s other ultrasonic ToF sensor products,

ICU-20201 provides accurate range measurements to targets

at distances up to 5m. Based on ultrasonic pulse-echo

measurements, the sensor works in any lighting condition,

including full sunlight, and provides millimeter-accurate range

measurements independent of the target’s color and optical

transparency. The sensor’s Field-Of-View (FOV) can be

customized and enables simultaneous range measurements to

multiple objects in the FOV. Several available algorithms can

further process the echo information for a variety of usage

cases in a range of applications (listed below).

APPLICATIONS

• Low power user presence in consumer electronics

• Parking lot sensors for vehicle counting

• Smart door lock wake-on-approach

• Obstacle avoidance and wall following

• Ground level measurement in drones

FEATURES

• Fast, accurate range-finding

• 40MHz integrated CPU enables on-chip

algorithms including rangefinding, human

presence, and wake-on approach

• Operating range from 20 cm to 5m

• Detection of moving objects closer than 20cm

• Programmable modes optimized for long or

short-range sensing applications

• Customizable field of view (FoV) up to 180°

• Multi-object detection

• Works in any lighting condition, including full

sunlight to complete darkness

• Insensitive to object color, detects optically

transparent surfaces (glass, clear plastics etc.)

• Easy to integrate

• Single sound port for receive and transmit

• Flexible 1.71V to 3.63V I/O voltage

• Low power 1.8V core operating voltage

• 13MHz SPI interface allows baseband data

stream out at full measurement rate

• Optional 32kHz reference clock input

• Two programmable open drain I/O for

triggering the sensor or waking the host

• Platform-independent software driver enables

turnkey range-finding

• Miniature integrated package

• 3.5 mm x 3.5mm x 1.26mm, 14-pin LGA

• Compatible with standard SMD reflow

• Operating temperature range: -40°C to 85°C

• Low supply current

• 1 sample/s:

o 18 µA (1 m max range)

o 26 µA (5 m max range)

• 25 samples/s:

o 130 µA (1 m max range)

o 300 µA (5 m max range)