IEC 60747-19-1:2019

Overview

IEC 60747-19-1:2019 - "Semiconductor devices - Part 19-1: Smart sensors - Control scheme of smart sensors" defines a standardized control scheme for smart sensors. The standard covers devices or modules that combine sensing, analog‑to‑digital conversion, on‑device digital processing and bidirectional communication with an external terminal module. Its purpose is to harmonize how terminal modules control smart sensors, how registers and status information are exposed, and how physical connections and optional functions (interrupts, multi‑sensor support) are organized to facilitate interoperable smart sensing units.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Scope and definitions: formalizes terms such as smart sensor, smart sensing unit, terminal module, register, operation mode, sleep mode, data ready and error flag.
• Control scheme architecture: specifies a block‑level hardware control scheme for interactions between the terminal module and the smart sensor (register access, control flow).
• Register assignment & operation procedure: describes how registers in the sensor’s digital processing circuit are allocated and used to control sensing, status reporting and data transfer (see Table 1 and Annex tables for practical examples).
• Communication interfaces: recognizes common serial buses (I2C/inter‑integrated circuit and SPI/serial peripheral interface) as means for bidirectional communication between sensor and terminal module.
• Physical connections & optional configurations: details recommended connection lines, optional interrupt input/output lines and configurations for low‑power operation and event signaling.
• Optional functions & multi‑sensor handling: recommends optional control features (interrupts, multi‑sensor register mapping) and includes informative annexes with practical examples (single accelerometer example and multi‑sensor examples).
• No normative references: the document is self‑contained for the control scheme content.

Applications

• Designing interoperable smart sensing units used in IoT, industrial monitoring, building automation and consumer devices.
• Defining register maps, firmware interfaces and hardware interconnects between sensor ICs and terminal modules (gateways, microcontrollers, wireless modules).
• Enabling low‑power and energy‑harvesting systems by clarifying sleep modes, data‑ready signaling and power control interactions (detailed power-specification guidance is addressed in Part 19‑2).

Who should use this standard

• Semiconductor and MEMS sensor manufacturers creating smart sensors with on‑chip processing.
• Module and terminal designers (wireless modules, MCUs, gateways) integrating and controlling smart sensors.
• System architects, test engineers and integrators developing scalable smart sensing networks for predictive maintenance, environmental monitoring and factory automation.
• Standards practitioners and procurement teams seeking interoperability and clear device documentation.

Related standards

• IEC 60747-19 series: Part 19‑1 (control scheme) and Part 19‑2 (indication of sensor and power‑supply specifications, including time‑axis power profiles for autonomous power designs).