Multi-Sense functionality has been added to Infineon Technologies’ PSOC 4 microcontroller (MCU) family. Infineon adds a new, unique inductive sensing technology and a non-invasive, non-contact liquid sensing solution to its premier capacitive sensing technology, CAPSENSE. Developers now have countless options to create innovative HMI and sensor solutions thanks to PSOC 4.
PSOC 4 Multi-Sense opens up new sensing options with its novel liquid sensing methods, waterproof touch buttons, and sleek metallic product designs with touch-on-metal buttons.
The first device to use Infineon’s fifth-generation CAPSENSE and Multi-Sense is the PSOC 4000T.
To achieve cost savings (e.g., system control plus liquid sensing), enable novel use cases (e.g., underwater inductive sensing buttons), or maximize performance (e.g., combination of capacitive and inductive sensing), the supported sensing technologies can be integrated in a single PSOC 4 MCU.
Furthermore, compared to earlier devices, Infineon’s fifth generation CAPSENSE with “Always On” technology provides a 10x greater signal-to-noise ratio and allows sensing at a 10x lower power consumption.
Infineon’s new Multi-Sense capabilities in the PSOC 4 family include:
Inductive Sensing – Based on a novel, patented process that is more robust and less susceptible to noise than the state-of-the-art methods currently in use, which are plagued by issues with manufacturing and external noise.
New HMI use cases like proximity sensing, force touch surfaces, and touch-over-metal are made possible by Infineon’s inductive sensing technology. Modern, metal-based, waterproof designs with streamlined form factors—like refrigerator touch buttons or sturdy HMI for underwater devices like wearables and cameras—are made possible by it, and it works in perfect harmony with capacitive sensing.
Liquid Sensing – Compared to mechanical sensors and conventional capacitive solutions, PSOC 4’s non-invasive, non-contact liquid sensing capability with AI/ML based processing algorithm allows for more accurate and economical sensing.
It can detect liquid levels in a variety of container forms with a 10-bit resolution and is resistant to environmental influences like temperature and humidity. Additional properties that other liquid sensors are unable to provide include residue and foam rejection, as well as the solution’s ability to function consistently with different air gaps between the sensor and container.
Applications that handle liquids, such robot vacuum cleaners, washing machines that dispense soap, coffee makers, humidifiers, etc., benefit from increased intelligence thanks to PSOC 4’s liquid sensing capabilities.
CAPSENSE Hover Touch – New use cases where a button touch is not necessary are supported via hover touch sensing. In some applications, such as cooktop touch panels, hover touch can remove several parts, including gaskets and springs. Customers benefit from significant bill-of-material (BOM) reductions, improved system performance, simplified design, and accelerated time-to-market by using hover touch to bridge the gap.
At embedded world 2025 in Nuremberg this March Infineon will show the capabilities of PSOC 4 Multi-Sense in a demo. Visitors can experience first-hand how inductive and liquid-level sensing uplevels design and functionality of a coffee machine and contributes to the perfect cup of coffee.
Leadership Comments
“Multi-Sense capability is more than a technology advancement – it’s a paradigm shift and proof that Infineon is committed to supporting customer demands for next-generation devices that support new HMI and sensing use cases,” said Vibheesh Bharathan, Director and Project Lead for PSOC 4 Multi-Sense, Infineon. “As a leader in sense and control for consumer and industrial markets, we continue to bring new features to enable customer designs of tomorrow’s digitalization solutions for home, office and industrial applications.”
Availability
Infineon’s PSOC 4000T with fifth-generation CAPSENSE and new Multi-Sense capability is available now. A second device, the new PSOC 4100T Plus with higher memory and more I/Os, will be Multi-Sense-enabled in the second quarter of 2025, and all subsequent PSOC devices with CAPSENSE will incorporate this technology. The new PSOC 4000T series provides an upgrade path for PSOC 4000, PSOC 4000S and PSOCT 4700S based designs to fifth-generation HMI technology with software and package compatibility.
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