Samsung integrates hardware for biometric sensors into soc for wearables

Samsung has placed the necessary chips for processing the input from sensors on a soc for wearables. For example, skin temperature and sweat can be measured. The soc must therefore offer a way to integrate such sensors in wearables.

In addition to the sweat and skin temperature sensors, there is also hardware for processing signals from a BIA for measuring fat, PPG for monitoring breathing and an EKG heart monitor.

The soc has a Cortex M4 processor on board, a low-power processor core intended for devices that require little processing power. The working memory of the soc is 256KB, the built-in flash memory 512KB, according to the specs of the S3FBP5A. Samsung gives the soc the marketing name Bio-Processor and it will be next to the Exynos line of mobile socs.

Because the soc has the hardware on board to process the input from various sensors, manufacturers could develop wearables that have these sensors with less effort. The mass production of the soc has already started. The first products based on the S3FBP5A should appear in the first half of next year.