Samsung Bio-Processor launched for health-focused wearables

Samsung Electronics, on Tuesday, said it has started selling a new processor aimed at health-focused wearable products, seeking to tap into a fast-growing market. Called the Samsung Bio-Processor, the new chip is the first that can take multiple measurements - including body fat, skin temperature and heart rate - as well as process the information collected by itself, Samsung said in a statement.

To help clients accelerate product development using the chip, the firm said it has developed "reference platform" products such as a wrist band to demonstrate the chip's capabilities.

The step comes amid a push by tech firms to develop and sell wearable products - such as smartwatches - that offer a variety of health-related features including data collection and monitoring.

Some firms are seeking to launch sophisticated products capable of detecting and monitoring more serious diseases to tap in to a market that Soreon Research says could be worth more than $41 billion (roughly Rs 2,71,930 crores) in 2020.

Samsung began mass production of the new chips in December. It said the processor will power a new device to be launched in the first half of 2016, but declined to elaborate on the maker of the device.

"With improvements in smart, fitness devices and an increase in consumer health consciousness, more and more people are looking for ways to monitor various personal bio-data, or fitness data, to constantly manage their health" said Ben K Hur, vice president of marketing, System LSI business at Samsung Electronics.

"Samsung's Bio-Processor, which can process five different biometric signals, is the most versatile health and fitness monitoring chip available on the market today and is expected to open up many new health-based service options for our customers."

Samsung's Bio-Processor is claimed to be the "industry's first all-in-one health solution chip". It integrates Analog Front Ends (AFE), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), and eFlash memory. Samsung says the chip is able to process the bio-signals it measures without the need of external processing parts.

The five AFEs on board the Samsung Bio-Processor are the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), photoplethysmogram (PPG), electrocardiogram (ECG), skin temperature, and galvanic skin response (GSR). These sensors are able to measure body fat, skeletal muscle mass, heart rate, heart rhythm, skin temperature and stress level, respectively.