The last few years have seen a remarkable increase in the number of use cases involving barometric pressure sensors in consumer electronics devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearable devices, and various home appliances. Barometric pressure sensors have been used for ambient air pressure measurement for several decades, however, recent developments and improvements in both these sensors and the devices in which they are installed have paved the way to superior performance and lower costs. The barometric pressure sensor has found its place across a wide range of products, no longer limited to traditional "weather stations". Today’s barometric pressure sensors are so incredibly accurate that they can determine altitude to within just a few centimeters. This, coupled with low-cost manufacture, has made these sensors the mainstays for motion tracking, enabling what had previously been solely the realm of science fiction.
This paper will describe the two primary types of technologies used for pressure sensors, capacitive and piezoresistive, and subsequently, focus on several applications and key requirements.
