L3GD20

MEMS motion sensor:

three-axis digital output gyroscope
Datasheet - production data

Applications
• Gaming and virtual reality input devices
• Motion control with MMI (man-machine
interface)
• GPS navigation systems
LGA-16 (4x4x1 mm) • Appliances and robotics

Description
Features The L3GD20 is a low-power three-axis angular
rate sensor.
• Three selectable full scales (250/500/2000
dps) It includes a sensing element and an IC interface
capable of providing the measured angular rate to
• I2C/SPI digital output interface the external world through a digital interface
• 16 bit-rate value data output (I2C/SPI).
• 8-bit temperature data output The sensing element is manufactured using a
• Two digital output lines (interrupt and data dedicated micro-machining process developed by
ready) STMicroelectronics to produce inertial sensors
• Integrated low- and high-pass filters with user-
and actuators on silicon wafers.
selectable bandwidth The IC interface is manufactured using a CMOS
• Wide supply voltage: 2.4 V to 3.6 V process that allows a high level of integration to
design a dedicated circuit which is trimmed to
• Low voltage-compatible IOs (1.8 V) better match the sensing element characteristics.
• Embedded power-down and sleep mode The L3GD20 has a full scale of ±250/±500/ ±2000
• Embedded temperature sensor dps and is capable of measuring rates with a
user-selectable bandwidth.
• Embedded FIFO
• High shock survivability
The L3GD20 is available in a plastic land grid
array (LGA) package and can operate within a
• Extended operating temperature range (-40 °C temperature range of -40 °C to +85 °C.
to +85 °C)
• ECOPACK® RoHS and “Green” compliant

Table 1. Device summary

Order code Temperature range (°C) Package Packing

L3GD20 -40 to +85 LGA-16 (4x4x1 mm) Tray

L3GD20TR -40 to +85 LGA-16 (4x4x1 mm) Tape and reel

February 2013 DocID022116 Rev 2 1/44

This is information on a product in full production. www.st.com 44
Contents L3GD20

Contents

1 Block diagram and pin description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.1 Pin description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Mechanical and electrical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.1 Mechanical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Electrical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3 Temperature sensor characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 Communication interface characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.4.1 SPI - serial peripheral interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.4.2 I2C - Inter IC control interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.5 Absolute maximum ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.6 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.6.1 Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.6.2 Zero-rate level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.7 Soldering information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3 Application hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4 Digital main blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.1 Block diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2 FIFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2.1 Bypass mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2.2 FIFO mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2.3 Stream mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2.4 Bypass-to-stream mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2.5 Stream-to-FIFO mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2.6 Retrieve data from FIFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5 Digital interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.1 I2C serial interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.1.1 I2C operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.2 SPI bus interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.2.1 SPI read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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5.2.2 SPI write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5.2.3 SPI read in 3-wire mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

6 Output register mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

7 Register description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7.1 WHO_AM_I (0Fh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7.2 CTRL_REG1 (20h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7.3 CTRL_REG2 (21h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7.4 CTRL_REG3 (22h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
7.5 CTRL_REG4 (23h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.6 CTRL_REG5 (24h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.7 REFERENCE/DATACAPTURE (25h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.8 OUT_TEMP (26h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.9 STATUS_REG (27h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.10 OUT_X_L (28h), OUT_X_H (29h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.11 OUT_Y_L (2Ah), OUT_Y_H (2Bh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.12 OUT_Z_L (2Ch), OUT_Z_H (2Dh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.13 FIFO_CTRL_REG (2Eh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.14 FIFO_SRC_REG (2Fh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
7.15 INT1_CFG (30h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
7.16 INT1_SRC (31h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.17 INT1_THS_XH (32h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.18 INT1_THS_XL (33h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.19 INT1_THS_YH (34h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.20 INT1_THS_YL (35h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.21 INT1_THS_ZH (36h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7.22 INT1_THS_ZL (37h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7.23 INT1_DURATION (38h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

8 Package information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

9 Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

DocID022116 Rev 2 3/44

List of tables L3GD20

List of tables

Table 2. Pin description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Table 4. Mechanical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Table 5. Electrical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Table 6. Electrical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Table 7. SPI slave timing values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table 8. I2C slave timing values (TBC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table 9. Absolute maximum ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table 10. Serial interface pin description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Table 11. I2C terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Table 12. SAD+read/write patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Table 13. Transfer when master is writing one byte to slave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Table 14. Transfer when master is writing multiple bytes to slave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Table 15. Transfer when master is receiving (reading) one byte of data from slave . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Table 16. Transfer when master is receiving (reading) multiple bytes of data from slave . . . . . . . . . 22
Table 17. Register address map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Table 18. WHO_AM_I register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 19. CTRL_REG1 register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 20. CTRL_REG1 description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 21. DR and BW configuration setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 22. Power mode selection configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Table 23. CTRL_REG2 register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Table 24. CTRL_REG2 description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Table 25. High-pass filter mode configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Table 26. High-pass filter cut off frequency configuration [Hz] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Table 27. CTRL_REG1 register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Table 28. CTRL_REG3 description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Table 29. CTRL_REG4 register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Table 30. CTRL_REG4 description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Table 31. CTRL_REG5 register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Table 32. CTRL_REG5 description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Table 33. REFERENCE register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Table 34. REFERENCE register description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Table 35. OUT_TEMP register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Table 36. OUT_TEMP register description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Table 37. STATUS_REG register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Table 38. STATUS_REG description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Table 39. REFERENCE register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Table 40. REFERENCE register description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 41. FIFO mode configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 42. FIFO_SRC register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 43. FIFO_SRC register description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 44. INT1_CFG register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 45. INT1_CFG description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Table 46. INT1_SRC register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Table 47. INT1_SRC description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Table 48. INT1_THS_XH register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table 49. INT1_THS_XH description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table 50. INT1_THS_XL register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

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L3GD20 List of tables

Table 51. INT1_THS_XL description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Table 52. INT1_THS_YH register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table 53. INT1_THS_YH description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table 54. INT1_THS_YL register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table 55. INT1_THS_YL description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table 56. INT1_THS_ZH register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 57. INT1_THS_ZH description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 58. INT1_THS_ZL register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 59. INT1_THS_ZL description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 60. INT1_DURATION register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 61. INT1_DURATION description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 62. Document revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

DocID022116 Rev 2 5/44

List of figures L3GD20

List of figures

Figure 1. Block diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 2. Pin connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Figure 3. SPI slave timing diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 4. I2C slave timing diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 5. L3GD20 electrical connections and external component values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figure 6. Block diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 7. Bypass mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Figure 8. FIFO mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Figure 9. Stream mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 10. Bypass-to-stream mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 11. Trigger stream mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 12. Read and write protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Figure 13. SPI read protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Figure 14. Multiple byte SPI read protocol (2-byte example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Figure 15. SPI write protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Figure 16. Multiple byte SPI write protocol (2-byte example). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Figure 17. SPI read protocol in 3-wire mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Figure 18. INT1_Sel and Out_Sel configuration block diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Figure 19. Wait disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Figure 20. Wait enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Figure 21. LGA-16: mechanical data and package dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

6/44 DocID022116 Rev 2

L3GD20 Block diagram and pin description

1 Block diagram and pin description

Figure 1. Block diagram

+Ω
x,y,z
X+
CHARGE MIXER LOW-PASS
Y+
AMP FILTER F
Z+ D
I I
L CS
M A G
D T I2C SCL/SPC
U I
X C E SPI SDA/SDO/SDI
Z- T SDO
1 A R
Y- I
L N
X- G

T
E
M
S
P
E E A
N D
DRIVING MASS R
S C
A
O 2
T
R
U
Feedback loop R
E

CLOCK CONTROL LOGIC INT1

TRIMMING
REFERENCE FIFO & &
CIRCUITS PHASE GENERATOR DRDY/INT2
INTERRUPT GEN.

AM10126V1

Note: The vibration of the structure is maintained by drive circuitry in a feedback loop. The sensing
signal is filtered and appears as a digital signal at the output.

1.1 Pin description

Figure 2. Pin connection

+Ω
Z
GND
RES
RES
Vdd

X 13 16
+Ω
Y RES 12 1 Vdd_IO
RES BOTTOM SCL/SPC
VIEW
RES SDA/SDI/SDO
+Ω RES 9 4 SDO/SA0
X 8 5
RES
INT1
DRDY/INT2
CS

(TOP VIEW)
DIRECTIONS OF THE
DETECTABLE
ANGULAR RATES
AM10127V1

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Block diagram and pin description L3GD20

Table 2. Pin description

Table 3.
Pin# Name Function

1 Vdd_IO(1) Power supply for I/O pins

SCL I2C serial clock (SCL)
2
SPC SPI serial port clock (SPC)
SDA I2C serial data (SDA)
3 SDI SPI serial data input (SDI)
SDO 3-wire interface serial data output (SDO)
SDO SPI serial data output (SDO)
4
SA0 I2C less significant bit of the device address (SA0)
I2C/SPI mode selection (1: SPI idle mode / I2C communication
5 CS
enabled; 0: SPI communication mode / I2C disabled)
6 DRDY/INT2 Data ready/FIFO interrupt (Watermark/Overrun/Empty)
7 INT1 Programmable interrupt
8 Reserved Connect to GND
9 Reserved Connect to GND
10 Reserved Connect to GND
11 Reserved Connect to GND
12 Reserved Connect to GND
13 GND 0 V supply
14 Reserved Connect to GND with ceramic capacitor(2)
15 Reserved Connect to Vdd
(3)
16 Vdd Power supply
1. 100 nF filter capacitor recommended.
2. 1 nF min value must be guaranteed under 11 V bias condition.
3. 100 nF plus 10 μF capacitors recommended.

8/44 DocID022116 Rev 2

L3GD20 Mechanical and electrical specifications

2 Mechanical and electrical specifications

2.1 Mechanical characteristics

@ Vdd = 3.0 V, T = 25 °C unless otherwise noted.

Table 4. Mechanical characteristics(1)

Symbol Parameter Test condition Min. Typ.(2) Max. Unit

±250
FS Measurement range User-selectable ±500 dps
±2000
FS = 250 dps 8.75
So Sensitivity FS = 500 dps 17.50 mdps/digit
FS = 2000 dps 70
Sensitivity change vs.
SoDr From -40 °C to +85 °C ±2 %
temperature
FS = 250 dps ±10
DVoff Digital zero-rate level FS = 500 dps ±15 dps
FS = 2000 dps ±75

Zero-rate level change FS = 250 dps ±0.03 dps/°C

OffDr
vs. temperature FS = 2000 dps ±0.04 dps/°C
NL Non linearity Best fit straight line 0.2 % FS

Rn Rate noise density 0.03 dps ⁄ ( Hz )

95/190/
ODR Digital output data rate Hz
380/760
Operating temperature
Top -40 +85 °C
range
1. The product is factory calibrated at 3.0 V. The operational power supply range is specified in Table 5.
2. Typical specifications are not guaranteed.

DocID022116 Rev 2 9/44

Mechanical and electrical specifications L3GD20

2.2 Electrical characteristics

@ Vdd =3.0 V, T=25 °C unless otherwise noted.

Table 5. Electrical characteristics (1)

Symbol Parameter Test condition Min. Typ.(2) Max. Unit

Vdd Supply voltage 2.4 3.0 3.6 V

(3)
Vdd_IO I/O pins supply voltage 1.71 Vdd+0.1 V
Idd Supply current 6.1 mA
Supply current Selectable by digital
IddSL 2 mA
in sleep mode(4) interface

Supply current in Selectable by digital

IddPdn 5 μA
power-down mode interface
Digital high level input 0.8*Vdd_I
VIH V
voltage O
Digital low level input 0.2*Vdd_I
VIL V
voltage O
Operating temperature
Top -40 +85 °C
range
1. The product is factory calibrated at 3.0 V.
2. Typical specifications are not guaranteed.
3. It is possible to remove Vdd maintaining Vdd_IO without blocking the communication busses; in this condition the
measurement chain is powered off.
4. Sleep mode introduces a faster turn-on time relative to power-down mode.

2.3 Temperature sensor characteristics

@ Vdd =3.0 V, T=25 °C unless otherwise noted.

Table 6. Electrical characteristics (1)

Symbol Parameter Test condition Min. Typ.(2) Max. Unit

Temperature sensor
TSDr output change vs. -1 °C/digit
temperature
-
TODR Temperature refresh rate 1 Hz
Operating temperature
Top -40 +85 °C
range
1. The product is factory calibrated at 3.0 V.
2. Typical specifications are not guaranteed.

10/44 DocID022116 Rev 2

L3GD20 Mechanical and electrical specifications

2.4 Communication interface characteristics

2.4.1 SPI - serial peripheral interface

Subject to general operating conditions for Vdd and Top.

Table 7. SPI slave timing values

Value(1)
Symbol Parameter Unit
Min Max

tc(SPC) SPI clock cycle 100 ns

fc(SPC) SPI clock frequency 10 MHz
tsu(CS) CS setup time 5
th(CS) CS hold time 8
tsu(SI) SDI input setup time 5
th(SI) SDI input hold time 15 ns
tv(SO) SDO valid output time 50
th(SO) SDO output hold time 6
tdis(SO) SDO output disable time 50
1. Values are guaranteed at a 10 MHz clock frequency for SPI with both 4 and 3 wires, based on characterization results; not
tested in production.

Figure 3. SPI slave timing diagram (a)

&6 Ć 

WVX&6 WF63& WK&6

63& Ć 

WVX6, WK6,

6', Ć 06%,1 /6%,1 

WY62 WK62 WGLV62

6'2 Ć 06%287 /6%287 

$0Y

a. Measurement points are at 0.2·Vdd_IO and 0.8·Vdd_IO, for both input and output port.

DocID022116 Rev 2 11/44

Mechanical and electrical specifications L3GD20

2.4.2 I2C - Inter IC control interface

Subject to general operating conditions for Vdd and Top.

Table 8. I2C slave timing values (TBC)

I2C standard mode(1) I2C fast mode (1)
Symbol Parameter Unit
Min Max Min Max
f(SCL) SCL clock frequency 0 100 0 400 kHz
tw(SCLL) SCL clock low time 4.7 1.3
μs
tw(SCLH) SCL clock high time 4.0 0.6
tsu(SDA) SDA setup time 250 100 ns
th(SDA) SDA data hold time 0 3.45 0 0.9 μs
tr(SDA) tr(SCL) SDA and SCL rise time 1000 20 + 0.1Cb (2) 300
ns
tf(SDA) tf(SCL) SDA and SCL fall time 300 20 + 0.1Cb (2) 300
th(ST) START condition hold time 4 0.6
Repeated START condition
tsu(SR) 4.7 0.6
setup time
μs
tsu(SP) STOP condition setup time 4 0.6
Bus free time between STOP
tw(SP:SR) 4.7 1.3
and START condition
1. Data based on standard I2C protocol requirement; not tested in production.
2. Cb = total capacitance of one bus line, in pF.

Figure 4. I2C slave timing diagram (b)

5(3($7('
67$57
67$57

WVX65
WZ6365 67$57
6'$

WI6'$ WU6'$ WVX6'$ WK6'$

WVX63 6723

6&/

WK67 WZ6&// WZ6&/+ WU6&/ WI6&/ $0Y

b. Measurement points are at 0.2·Vdd_IO and 0.8·Vdd_IO, for both ports.

12/44 DocID022116 Rev 2

L3GD20 Mechanical and electrical specifications

2.5 Absolute maximum ratings

Stresses above those listed as “Absolute maximum ratings” may cause permanent damage
to the device. This is a stress rating only and functional operation of the device under these
conditions is not implied. Exposure to maximum rating conditions for extended periods may
affect device reliability.

Table 9. Absolute maximum ratings

Symbol Ratings Maximum value Unit

Vdd Supply voltage -0.3 to 4.8 V

TSTG Storage temperature range -40 to +125 °C
Sg Acceleration g for 0.1 ms 10,000 g
2 (HBM) kV
ESD Electrostatic discharge protection 1.5 (CDM) kV
200 (MM) V
Input voltage on any control pin
Vin -0.3 to Vdd_IO +0.3 V
(CS, SCL/SPC, SDA/SDI/SDO, SDO/SA0)

Note: Supply voltage on any pin should never exceed 4.8 V

This is a mechanical shock sensitive device, improper handling can cause permanent
damage to the part
This is an ESD sensitive device, improper handling can cause permanent damage to
the part

DocID022116 Rev 2 13/44

Mechanical and electrical specifications L3GD20

2.6 Terminology

2.6.1 Sensitivity
An angular rate gyroscope is a device that produces a positive-going digital output for
counter-clockwise rotation around the sensitive axis considered. Sensitivity describes the
gain of the sensor and can be determined by applying a defined angular velocity to it. This
value changes very little over temperature and time.

2.6.2 Zero-rate level

Zero-rate level describes the actual output signal if there is no angular rate present. Zero-
rate level of precise MEMS sensors is, to some extent, a result of stress to the sensor and
therefore zero-rate level can slightly change after mounting the sensor onto a printed circuit
board or after exposing it to extensive mechanical stress. This value changes very little over
temperature and time.

2.7 Soldering information

The LGA package is compliant with the ECOPACK®, RoHS and “Green” standard.
It is qualified for soldering heat resistance according to JEDEC J-STD-020.
Leave “Pin 1 Indicator” unconnected during soldering.
Land pattern and soldering recommendations are available at www.st.com/mems.

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L3GD20 Application hints

3 Application hints

Figure 5. L3GD20 electrical

9nF
connections and external component values

Vdd GND GND

+Ω
Z 10nF(25V)*
100 nF
C1
10 µF
X
+Ω
Y

Vdd
GND

16 14 13
+Ω Vdd_IO
X 1 12

(TOP VIEW) SCL/SPC TOP

DIRECTIONS OF THE VIEW
DETECTABLE SDA_SDI_SDO
ANGULAR RATES
SDO/SA0 4 9
5 8

GND
CS DR INT

Vdd I2C bus

Rpu = 10kOhm
Rpu

SCL/SPC
* C1 must guarantee 1 nF value under SDA_SDI_SDO
11 V bias condition
Pull-up to be added when I2C interface is used

AM10128V1

Power supply decoupling capacitors (100 nF + 10 μF) should be placed as near as possible
to the device (common design practice).
If Vdd and Vdd_IO are not connected together, 100 nF and 10 μF decoupling capacitors
must be placed between Vdd and common ground, and 100 nF between Vdd_IO and
common ground. Capacitors should be placed as near as possible to the device (common
design practice).

DocID022116 Rev 2 15/44

Digital main blocks L3GD20

4 Digital main blocks

4.1 Block diagram

Figure 6. Block diagram
Out_Sel

00
01 DataReg

0
FIFO
LPF2 10 32x16x3
11
ADC LPF1 HPF 1 I2C
SPI
HPen INT_Sel

10
11
Interrupt
01 generator
00

SCR REG

CONF REG

INT1

AM07230v1

4.2 FIFO
The L3GD20 embeds 32 slots of 16-bit data FIFO for each of the three output channels:
yaw, pitch and roll. This allows consistent power saving for the system, since the host
processor does not need to continuously poll data from the sensor, but can wake up only
when needed and burst the significant data out from the FIFO. This buffer can work
accordingly in five different modes: Bypass mode, FIFO mode, Stream mode, Bypass-to-
Stream mode and Stream-to-FIFO mode. Each mode is selected by the FIFO_MODE bits in
the FIFO_CTRL_REG (2Eh). Programmable Watermark level, FIFO_empty or FIFO_Full
events can be enabled to generate dedicated interrupts on the DRDY/INT2 pin (configured
through CTRL_REG3 (22h) and event detection information is available in FIFO_SRC_REG
(2Fh). Watermark level can be configured to WTM4:0 in FIFO_CTRL_REG (2Eh).

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L3GD20 Digital main blocks

4.2.1 Bypass mode

In Bypass mode, the FIFO is not operational and for this reason it remains empty. As
described in Figure 7 below, for each channel only the first address is used. The remaining
FIFO slots are empty. When new data is available, the old data is overwritten.

Figure 7. Bypass mode

xi,yi,zi
x0 y 0i z0

x1 y1 z1

x2 y2 z2

l
empty

x 31 y 31 z31

AM07231v1

4.2.2 FIFO mode

In FIFO mode, data from the yaw, pitch and roll channels is stored in the FIFO. A watermark
interrupt can be enabled (I2_WMK bit into CTRL_REG3 (22h)) in order to be raised when
the FIFO is filled to the level specified in the WTM 4:0 bits of FIFO_CTRL_REG (2Eh). The
FIFO continues filling until it is full (32 slots of 16-bit data for yaw, pitch and roll). When full,
the FIFO stops collecting data from the input channels. To restart data collection, the
FIFO_CTRL_REG (2Eh) must be written back to Bypass mode.
FIFO mode is represented in Figure 8: FIFO mode.

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Digital main blocks L3GD20

Figure 8. FIFO mode

xi,yi,zi
x0 y 0i z0

x1 y1 z1

x2 y2 z2

x 31 y 31 z31

AM07232v1

4.2.3 Stream mode

In Stream mode, data from yaw, pitch and roll measurement are stored in the FIFO. A
watermark interrupt can be enabled and set as in the FIFO mode.The FIFO continues filling
until it is full (32 slots of 16-bit data for yaw, pitch and roll). When full, the FIFO discards the
older data as the new data arrives. Programmable watermark level events can be enabled
to generate dedicated interrupts on the DRDY/INT2 pin (configured through CTRL_REG3
(22h).
Stream mode is represented in Figure 9: Stream mode.

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L3GD20 Digital main blocks

Figure 9. Stream mode

xi,yi,zi
x0 y0 z0

x1 y1 z1

x2 y2 z2

x 30 y 30 z30

x 31 y 31 z31

AM07234v1

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Digital main blocks L3GD20

4.2.4 Bypass-to-stream mode

In Bypass-to-stream mode, the FIFO begins operating in Bypass mode and once a trigger
event occurs (related to INT1_CFG (30h) register events), the FIFO starts operating in
Stream mode. Refer to Figure 10 below.

Figure 10. Bypass-to-stream mode

xi,yi,zi xi,yi,zi
x0 y 0i z0 x0 y0 z0

x1 y1 z1
x1 y1 z1
x2 y2 z2
x2 y2 z2
Empty
x 30 y 30 z30

x 31 y 31 z31
x 31 y 31 z31

Bypass mode Stream mode

Trigger event AM07235v1

4.2.5 Stream-to-FIFO mode

In Stream-to-FIFO mode, data from yaw, pitch and roll measurement is stored in the FIFO. A
watermark interrupt can be enabled on pin DRDY/INT2 by setting the I2_WTM bit in
CTRL_REG3 (22h) in order to be raised when the FIFO is filled to the level specified in the
WTM4:0 bits of FIFO_CTRL_REG (2Eh). The FIFO continues filling until it is full (32 slots of
16-bit data for yaw, pitch and roll). When full, the FIFO discards the older data as the new
data arrives. Once a trigger event occurs (related to INT1_CFG (30h) register events), the
FIFO starts operating in FIFO mode. Refer to Figure 11 below.

Figure 11. Trigger stream mode

xi,yi,zi xi,yi,zi
x0 y0 z0
x0 y 0i z0

x1 y1 z1
x1 y1 z1
x2 y2 z2
x2 y2 z2
x 30 y 30 z30

x 31 y 31 z31
x 31 y 31 z31

Stream Mode FIFO Mode

Trigger event
AM07236v1

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L3GD20 Digital main blocks

4.2.6 Retrieve data from FIFO

FIFO data is read through OUT_X (Addr reg 28h,29h), OUT_Y (Addr reg 2Ah,2Bh) and
OUT_Z (Addr reg 2Ch,2Dh). When the FIFO is in Stream, Trigger or FIFO mode, a read
operation of the OUT_X, OUT_Y or OUT_Z registers provides the data stored in the FIFO.
Each time data is read from the FIFO, the oldest pitch, roll and yaw data is placed in the
OUT_X, OUT_Y and OUT_Z registers and both single read and read_burst (X,Y & Z with
auto-incrementing address) operations can be used. When data included in OUT_Z_H
(2Dh) is read, the system restarts to read information from addr OUT_X_L (28h).

DocID022116 Rev 2 21/44

Digital interfaces L3GD20

5 Digital interfaces

The registers embedded in the L3GD20 may be accessed through both the I2C and SPI
serial interfaces. The latter may be SW-configured to operate either in 3-wire or 4-wire
interface mode.
The serial interfaces are mapped onto the same pins. To select/exploit the I2C interface, the
CS line must be tied high (i.e connected to Vdd_IO).

Table 10. Serial interface pin description

Pin name Pin description

I2C/SPI mode selection (1: SPI idle mode / I2C communication enabled; 0: SPI
CS
communication mode / I2C disabled)
I2C serial clock (SCL)
SCL/SPC
SPI serial port clock (SPC)
I2C serial data (SDA)
SDA/SDI/SDO SPI serial data input (SDI)
3-wire interface serial data output (SDO)
SPI serial data output (SDO)
SDO
I2C less significant bit of the device address

5.1 I2C serial interface

The L3GD20 I2C is a bus slave. The I2C is employed to write data into registers whose
content can also be read back.
The relevant I2C terminology is given in the table below.

Table 11. I2C terminology

Term Description

Transmitter The device which sends data to the bus

Receiver The device which receives data from the bus
The device which initiates a transfer, generates clock signals and terminates a
Master
transfer
Slave The device addressed by the master

There are two signals associated with the I2C bus: the serial clock line (SCL) and the serial
data line (SDA). The latter is a bidirectional line used for sending and receiving the data
to/from the interface. Both lines must be connected to Vdd_IO through external pull-up
resistors. When the bus is free, both lines are high.
The I2C interface is compliant with fast mode (400 kHz) I2C standards as well as with
normal mode.

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L3GD20 Digital interfaces

5.1.1 I2C operation

The transaction on the bus is started through a START (ST) signal. A START condition is
defined as a HIGH to LOW transition on the data line while the SCL line is held HIGH. After
this has been transmitted by the Master, the bus is considered busy. The next byte of data
transmitted after the start condition contains the address of the slave in the first 7 bits and
the eighth bit tells whether the Master is receiving data from the slave or transmitting data to
the slave. When an address is sent, each device in the system compares the first seven bits
after a start condition with its address. If they match, the device considers itself addressed
by the Master.
The Slave ADdress (SAD) associated with the L3GD20 is 110101xb. The SDO pin can be
used to modify the less significant bit of the device address. If the SDO pin is connected to
voltage supply, LSb is ‘1’ (address 1101011b). Otherwise, if the SDO pin is connected to
ground, the LSb value is ‘0’ (address 1101010b). This solution allows to connect and
address two different gyroscopes to the same I2C bus.
Data transfer with acknowledge is mandatory. The transmitter must release the SDA line
during the acknowledge pulse. The receiver must then pull the data line LOW so that it
remains stable low during the HIGH period of the acknowledge clock pulse. A receiver
which has been addressed is obligated to generate an acknowledge after each byte of data
received.
The I2C embedded in the L3GD20 behaves like a slave device and the following protocol
must be adhered to. After the start condition (ST) a slave address is sent, once a slave
acknowledge (SAK) has been returned, an 8-bit sub-address is transmitted: the 7 LSb
represent the actual register address while the MSb enables address auto-increment. If the
MSb of the SUB field is 1, the SUB (register address) will be automatically incremented to
allow multiple data read/write.
The slave address is completed with a Read/Write bit. If the bit was ‘1’ (Read), a repeated
START (SR) condition must be issued after the two sub-address bytes; if the bit is ‘0’ (Write)
the master will transmit to the slave with direction unchanged. Table 12 explains how the
SAD+Read/Write bit pattern is composed, listing all the possible configurations.

Table 12. SAD+read/write patterns

Command SAD[6:1] SAD[0] = SDO R/W SAD+R/W

Read 110101 0 1 11010101 (D5)

Write 110101 0 0 11010100 (D4)
Read 110101 1 1 11010111 (D7)
Write 110101 1 0 11010110 (D6)

Table 13. Transfer when master is writing one byte to slave

Master ST SAD + W SUB DATA SP
Slave SAK SAK SAK

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Digital interfaces L3GD20

Table 14. Transfer when master is writing multiple bytes to slave

Master ST SAD + W SUB DATA DATA SP
Slave SAK SAK SAK SAK

Table 15. Transfer when master is receiving (reading) one byte of data from slave
Master ST SAD + W SUB SR SAD + R NMAK SP
Slave SAK SAK SAK DATA

Table 16. Transfer when master is receiving (reading) multiple bytes of data from slave
Master ST SAD+W SUB SR SAD+R MAK MAK NMAK SP
Slave SAK SAK SAK DATA DATA DATA

Data is transmitted in byte format (DATA). Each data transfer contains 8 bits. The number of
bytes sent per transfer is unlimited. Data is transferred with the most significant bit (MSb)
first. If a receiver cannot receive another complete byte of data until it has performed some
other function, it can hold the clock line, SCL, LOW to force the transmitter into a wait state.
Data transfer only continues when the receiver is ready for another byte and releases the
data line. If a slave receiver does not acknowledge the slave address (i.e. it is not able to
receive because it is performing some real-time function) the data line must be left HIGH by
the slave. The Master can then abort the transfer. A LOW to HIGH transition on the SDA line
while the SCL line is HIGH is defined as a STOP condition. Each data transfer must be
terminated by the generation of a STOP (SP) condition.
In order to read multiple bytes, it is necessary to assert the most significant bit of the sub-
address field. In other words, SUB(7) must be equal to ‘1’ while SUB(6-0) represents the
address of the first register to be read.
In the communication format presented, MAK is Master Acknowledge and NMAK is No
Master Acknowledge.

5.2 SPI bus interface

The SPI is a bus slave. The SPI allows writing and reading the registers of the device.
The serial interface interacts with the outside world through 4 wires: CS, SPC, SDI and
SDO.

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L3GD20 Digital interfaces

Figure 12. Read and write protocol

CS

SPC

SDI
RW DI7 DI6 DI5 DI4 DI3 DI2 DI1 DI0
MS AD5 AD4 AD3 AD2 AD1 AD0

SDO
DO7 DO6 DO5 DO4 DO3 DO2 DO1 DO0

AM10129V1

CS is the Serial Port Enable and is controlled by the SPI master. It goes low at the start of
the transmission and goes back high at the end. SPC is the Serial Port Clock and it is
controlled by the SPI master. It is stopped high when CS is high (no transmission). SDI and
SDO are respectively the Serial Port Data Input and Output. Those lines are driven at the
falling edge of SPC and should be captured at the rising edge of SPC.
Both the Read Register and Write Register commands are completed in 16 clock pulses or
in multiples of 8 in case of multiple bytes read/write. Bit duration is the time between two
falling edges of SPC. The first bit (bit 0) starts at the first falling edge of SPC after the falling
edge of CS while the last bit (bit 15, bit 23, ...) starts at the last falling edge of SPC just
before the rising edge of CS.
bit 0: RW bit. When 0, the data DI(7:0) is written to the device. When 1, the data DO(7:0)
from the device is read. In the latter case, the chip will drive SDO at the start of bit 8.
bit 1: MS bit. When 0, the address remains unchanged in multiple read/write commands.
When 1, the address will be auto-incremented in multiple read/write commands.
bit 2-7: address AD(5:0). This is the address field of the indexed register.
bit 8-15: data DI(7:0) (write mode). This is the data that will be written to the device (MSb
first).
bit 8-15: data DO(7:0) (read mode). This is the data that will be read from the device (MSb
first).
In multiple read/write commands, further blocks of 8 clock periods will be added. When the
MS bit is 0, the address used to read/write data remains the same for every block. When the
MS bit is 1, the address used to read/write data is incremented at every block.
The function and the behavior of SDI and SDO remain unchanged.

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Digital interfaces L3GD20

5.2.1 SPI read

Figure 13. SPI read protocol

CS

SPC

SDI
RW
MS AD5 AD4 AD3 AD2 AD1 AD0

SDO
DO7 DO6 DO5 DO4 DO3 DO2 DO1 DO0

AM10130V1

The SPI read command is performed with 16 clock pulses. The multiple byte read command
is performed by adding blocks of 8 clock pulses to the previous one.
bit 0: READ bit. The value is 1.
bit 1: MS bit. When 0 do not increment address; when 1 increment address in multiple
reading.
bit 2-7: address AD(5:0). This is the address field of the indexed register.
bit 8-15: data DO(7:0) (read mode). This is the data that will be read from the device (MSb
first).
bit 16-... : data DO(...-8). Further data in multiple byte reading.

Figure 14. Multiple byte SPI read protocol (2-byte example)

CS

SPC

SDI
RW
M S A D5 A D4 AD 3 A D2 A D1 A D0

SD O
DO 7 DO 6 DO 5 DO 4 DO 3 DO 2 DO 1 DO 0 DO 15 DO 14 DO 13 DO 12 DO 11 DO 10 D O9 D O8

AM10131V1

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L3GD20 Digital interfaces

5.2.2 SPI write

Figure 15. SPI write protocol

CS

SPC

SDI
RW D I7 D I6 D I5 D I4 DI3 DI2 DI1 DI0
MS AD5 AD 4 AD 3 AD2 AD 1 AD0

AM10132V1

The SPI Write command is performed with 16 clock pulses. The multiple byte write
command is performed by adding blocks of 8 clock pulses to the previous one.
bit 0: WRITE bit. The value is 0.
bit 1: MS bit. When 0, do not increment address; when 1, increment address in multiple
writing.
bit 2 -7: address AD(5:0). This is the address field of the indexed register.
bit 8-15: data DI(7:0) (write mode). This is the data that will be written to the device (MSb
first).
bit 16-... : data DI(...-8). Further data in multiple byte writing.

Figure 16. Multiple byte SPI write protocol (2-byte example)

CS

SPC

SDI
DI7 D I6 DI5 D I4 DI3 DI2 DI1 DI0 DI15 D I1 4DI13 D I1 2DI11 DI10 DI9 DI8
RW
MS AD5 AD4 AD3 AD2 AD1 AD 0

AM10133V1

5.2.3 SPI read in 3-wire mode

3-wire mode is entered by setting the bit SIM (SPI serial interface mode selection) to ‘1’ in
CTRL_REG2.

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Digital interfaces L3GD20

Figure 17. SPI read protocol in 3-wire mode

CS

SPC

SDI/O
RW D O7 D O6 D O5 DO4 DO3 DO2 DO1 DO0
MS AD5 AD 4 AD 3 AD2 AD1 AD 0

AM10134V1

The SPI Read command is performed with 16 clock pulses:

bit 0: READ bit. The value is 1.
bit 1: MS bit. When 0, do not increment address; when 1, increment address in multiple
reading.
bit 2-7: address AD(5:0). This is the address field of the indexed register.
bit 8-15: data DO(7:0) (read mode). This is the data that will be read from the device (MSb
first).
Multiple read command is also available in 3-wire mode.

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L3GD20 Output register mapping

6 Output register mapping

The table below provides a listing of the 8-bit registers embedded in the device, and the
related addresses:

Table 17. Register address map

Register address
Name Type Default
Hex Binary

Reserved - 00-0E - -
WHO_AM_I r 0F 000 1111 11010100
Reserved - 10-1F - -
CTRL_REG1 rw 20 010 0000 00000111
CTRL_REG2 rw 21 010 0001 00000000
CTRL_REG3 rw 22 010 0010 00000000
CTRL_REG4 rw 23 010 0011 00000000
CTRL_REG5 rw 24 010 0100 00000000
REFERENCE rw 25 010 0101 00000000
OUT_TEMP r 26 010 0110 output
STATUS_REG r 27 010 0111 output
OUT_X_L r 28 010 1000 output
OUT_X_H r 29 010 1001 output
OUT_Y_L r 2A 010 1010 output
OUT_Y_H r 2B 010 1011 output
OUT_Z_L r 2C 010 1100 output
OUT_Z_H r 2D 010 1101 output
FIFO_CTRL_REG rw 2E 010 1110 00000000
FIFO_SRC_REG r 2F 010 1111 output
INT1_CFG rw 30 011 0000 00000000
INT1_SRC r 31 011 0001 output
INT1_TSH_XH rw 32 011 0010 00000000
INT1_TSH_XL rw 33 011 0011 00000000
INT1_TSH_YH rw 34 011 0100 00000000
INT1_TSH_YL rw 35 011 0101 00000000
INT1_TSH_ZH rw 36 011 0110 00000000
INT1_TSH_ZL rw 37 011 0111 00000000
INT1_DURATION rw 38 011 1000 00000000

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Output register mapping L3GD20

Registers marked as Reserved must not be changed. Writing to these registers may cause
permanent damage to the device.
The content of the registers that are loaded at boot should not be changed. They contain the
factory calibration values. Their content is automatically restored when the device is
powered up.

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L3GD20 Register description

7 Register description

The device contains a set of registers which are used to control its behavior and to retrieve
angular rate data. The register address, consisting of 7 bits, is used to identify them and to
write the data through the serial interface.

7.1 WHO_AM_I (0Fh)

Table 18. WHO_AM_I register

1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0

Device identification register.

7.2 CTRL_REG1 (20h)

Table 19. CTRL_REG1 register

DR1 DR0 BW1 BW0 PD Zen Xen Yen

Table 20. CTRL_REG1 description

DR1-DR0 Output data rate selection. Refer to Table 21
BW1-BW0 Bandwidth selection. Refer to Table 21
Power-down mode enable. Default value: 0
PD
(0: power-down mode, 1: normal mode or sleep mode)
Zen Z axis enable. Default value: 1
(0: Z axis disabled; 1: Z axis enabled)
Yen Y axis enable. Default value: 1
(0: Y axis disabled; 1: Y axis enabled)
Xen X axis enable. Default value: 1
(0: X axis disabled; 1: X axis enabled)

DR<1:0> is used for ODR selection. BW <1:0> is used for Bandwidth selection.
In the Table 21 all frequencies resulting in combinations of DR / BW bits are reported.

Table 21. DR and BW configuration setting

DR <1:0> BW <1:0> ODR [Hz] Cut-Off

00 00 95 12.5
00 01 95 25
00 10 95 25

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Register description L3GD20

Table 21. DR and BW configuration setting (continued)

DR <1:0> BW <1:0> ODR [Hz] Cut-Off

00 11 95 25
01 00 190 12.5
01 01 190 25
01 10 190 50
01 11 190 70
10 00 380 20
10 01 380 25
10 10 380 50
10 11 380 100
11 00 760 30
11 01 760 35
11 10 760 50
11 11 760 100

A combination of PD, Zen, Yen, Xen is used to set device to different modes (power-down /
normal / sleep mode) in accordance with Table 22 below.

Table 22. Power mode selection configuration

Mode PD Zen Yen Xen

Power-down 0 - - -
Sleep 1 0 0 0
Normal 1 - - -

7.3 CTRL_REG2 (21h)

Table 23. CTRL_REG2 register

0(1) 0(1) HPM1 HPM0 HPCF3 HPCF2 HPCF1 HPCF0
1. These bits must be set to ‘0’ to ensure proper operation of the device

Table 24. CTRL_REG2 description

HPM1- High-pass filter mode selection. Default value: 00
HPM0 Refer to Table 25
HPCF3- High-pass filter cutoff frequency selection
HPCF0 Refer to Table 26

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L3GD20 Register description

Table 25. High-pass filter mode configuration

HPM1 HPM0 High-pass filter mode

0 0 Normal mode (reset reading HP_RESET_FILTER)

0 1 Reference signal for filtering
1 0 Normal mode
1 1 Autoreset on interrupt event

Table 26. High-pass filter cut off frequency configuration [Hz]

HPCF3-0 ODR=95 Hz ODR=190 Hz ODR=380 Hz ODR=760 Hz

0000 7.2 13.5 27 51.4

0001 3.5 7.2 13.5 27
0010 1.8 3.5 7.2 13.5
0011 0.9 1.8 3.5 7.2
0100 0.45 0.9 1.8 3.5
0101 0.18 0.45 0.9 1.8
0110 0.09 0.18 0.45 0.9
0111 0.045 0.09 0.18 0.45
1000 0.018 0.045 0.09 0.18
1001 0.009 0.018 0.045 0.09

7.4 CTRL_REG3 (22h)

Table 27. CTRL_REG1 register

I1_Int1 I1_Boot H_Lactive PP_OD I2_DRDY I2_WTM I2_ORun I2_Empty

Table 28. CTRL_REG3 description

I1_Int1 Interrupt enable on INT1 pin. Default value 0. (0: disable; 1: enable)
I1_Boot Boot status available on INT1. Default value 0. (0: disable; 1: enable)
H_Lactive Interrupt active configuration on INT1. Default value 0. (0: high; 1:low)
PP_OD Push-pull / Open drain. Default value: 0. (0: push- pull; 1: open drain)
I2_DRDY Date-ready on DRDY/INT2. Default value 0. (0: disable; 1: enable)
I2_WTM FIFO watermark interrupt on DRDY/INT2. Default value: 0. (0: disable; 1: enable)
I2_ORun FIFO overrun interrupt on DRDY/INT2 Default value: 0. (0: disable; 1: enable)
I2_Empty FIFO empty interrupt on DRDY/INT2. Default value: 0. (0: disable; 1: enable)

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Register description L3GD20

7.5 CTRL_REG4 (23h)

Table 29. CTRL_REG4 register

BDU BLE FS1 FS0 - 0(1) 0(1) SIM
1. This value must not be changed.

Table 30. CTRL_REG4 description

BDU Block data update. Default value: 0
(0: continuos update; 1: output registers not updated until MSb and LSb read-
ing)
BLE Big/little endian data selection. Default value 0.
(0: Data LSb @ lower address; 1: Data MSb @ lower address)
FS1-FS0 Full scale selection. Default value: 00
(00: 250 dps; 01: 500 dps; 10: 2000 dps; 11: 2000 dps)
SIM SPI serial interface mode selection. Default value: 0
(0: 4-wire interface; 1: 3-wire interface).

7.6 CTRL_REG5 (24h)

Table 31. CTRL_REG5 register

BOOT FIFO_EN -- HPen INT1_Sel1 INT1_Sel0 Out_Sel1 Out_Sel0

Table 32. CTRL_REG5 description

BOOT Reboot memory content. Default value: 0
(0: normal mode; 1: reboot memory content)
FIFO_EN FIFO enable. Default value: 0
(0: FIFO disable; 1: FIFO Enable)
HPen High-pass filter enable. Default value: 0
(0: HPF disabled; 1: HPF enabled See Figure 20)
INT1_Sel1-INT1_- INT1 selection configuration. Default value: 0
Sel0 (See Figure 20)
Out_Sel1-Out_- Out selection configuration. Default value: 0
Sel1 (See Figure 20)

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L3GD20 Register description

Figure 18. INT1_Sel and Out_Sel configuration block diagram

Out_Sel <1:0>

00
01 DataReg

0 FIFO
10 32x16x3
LPF2
11
ADC LPF1 HPF 1

HPen INT1_Sel <1:0>

10
11
Interrupt
01 generator
00

AM07949V2

7.7 REFERENCE/DATACAPTURE (25h)

Table 33. REFERENCE register

Ref7 Ref6 Ref5 Ref4 Ref3 Ref2 Ref1 Ref0

Table 34. REFERENCE register description

Ref 7-Ref0 Reference value for interrupt generation. Default value: 0

7.8 OUT_TEMP (26h)

Table 35. OUT_TEMP register

Temp7 Temp6 Temp5 Temp4 Temp3 Temp2 Temp1 Temp0

Table 36. OUT_TEMP register description

Temp7-Temp0 Temperature data

Temperature data (1LSB/deg - 8-bit resolution). The value is expressed as two's

complement.

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Register description L3GD20

7.9 STATUS_REG (27h)

Table 37. STATUS_REG register

ZYXOR ZOR YOR XOR ZYXDA ZDA YDA XDA

Table 38. STATUS_REG description

X, Y, Z -axis data overrun. Default value: 0
ZYXOR (0: no overrun has occurred; 1: new data has overwritten the previous data before it was
read)
Z axis data overrun. Default value: 0
ZOR
(0: no overrun has occurred; 1: new data for the Z-axis has overwritten the previous data)
Y axis data overrun. Default value: 0
YOR
(0: no overrun has occurred; 1: new data for the Y-axis has overwritten the previous data)
X axis data overrun. Default value: 0
XOR
(0: no overrun has occurred; 1: new data for the X-axis has overwritten the previous data)
ZYXDA X, Y, Z -axis new data available. Default value: 0
(0: a new set of data is not yet available; 1: a new set of data is available)
ZDA Z axis new data available. Default value: 0
(0: new data for the Z-axis is not yet available; 1: new data for the Z-axis is available)
YDA Y axis new data available. Default value: 0
(0: new data for the Y-axis is not yet available;1: new data for the Y-axis is available)
XDA X axis new data available. Default value: 0
(0: new data for the X-axis is not yet available; 1: new data for the X-axis is available)

7.10 OUT_X_L (28h), OUT_X_H (29h)

X-axis angular rate data. The value is expressed as two’s complement.

7.11 OUT_Y_L (2Ah), OUT_Y_H (2Bh)

Y-axis angular rate data. The value is expressed as two’s complement.

7.12 OUT_Z_L (2Ch), OUT_Z_H (2Dh)

Z-axis angular rate data. The value is expressed as two’s complement.

7.13 FIFO_CTRL_REG (2Eh)

Table 39. REFERENCE register

FM2 FM1 FM0 WTM4 WTM3 WTM2 WTM1 WTM0

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L3GD20 Register description

Table 40. REFERENCE register description

FM2-FM0 FIFO mode selection. Default value: 00 (see Table 41)
WTM4-WTM0 FIFO threshold. Watermark level setting

Table 41. FIFO mode configuration

FM2 FM1 FM0 FIFO mode

0 0 0 Bypass mode
0 0 1 FIFO mode
0 1 0 Stream mode
0 1 1 Stream-to-FIFO mode
1 0 0 Bypass-to-Stream mode

7.14 FIFO_SRC_REG (2Fh)

Table 42. FIFO_SRC register

WTM OVRN EMPTY FSS4 FSS3 FSS2 FSS1 FSS0

Table 43. FIFO_SRC register description

WTM Watermark status. (0: FIFO filling is lower than WTM level; 1: FIFO filling is equal
or higher than WTM level)
OVRN Overrun bit status.
(0: FIFO is not completely filled; 1:FIFO is completely filled)
EMPTY FIFO empty bit.
(0: FIFO not empty; 1: FIFO empty)
FSS4-FSS1 FIFO stored data level

7.15 INT1_CFG (30h)

Table 44. INT1_CFG register

AND/OR LIR ZHIE ZLIE YHIE YLIE XHIE XLIE

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Register description L3GD20

Table 45. INT1_CFG description

AND/OR combination of interrupt events. Default value: 0
AND/OR
(0: OR combination of interrupt events 1: AND combination of interrupt events
Latch interrupt request. Default value: 0
LIR (0: interrupt request not latched; 1: interrupt request latched)
Cleared by reading INT1_SRC reg.
Enable interrupt generation on Z high event. Default value: 0
ZHIE (0: disable interrupt request; 1: enable interrupt request on measured value higher
than preset threshold)
Enable interrupt generation on Z low event. Default value: 0
ZLIE (0: disable interrupt request; 1: enable interrupt request on measured value lower
than preset threshold)
Enable interrupt generation on Y high event. Default value: 0
YHIE (0: disable interrupt request; 1: enable interrupt request on measured value higher
than preset threshold)
Enable interrupt generation on Y low event. Default value: 0
YLIE (0: disable interrupt request; 1: enable interrupt request on measured value lower
than preset threshold)
Enable interrupt generation on X high event. Default value: 0
XHIE (0: disable interrupt request; 1: enable interrupt request on measured value higher
than preset threshold)
Enable interrupt generation on X low event. Default value: 0
XLIE (0: disable interrupt request; 1: enable interrupt request on measured value lower
than preset threshold)

7.16 INT1_SRC (31h)

Interrupt source register. Read only register.

Table 46. INT1_SRC register

0 IA ZH ZL YH YL XH XL

Table 47. INT1_SRC description

Interrupt active. Default value: 0
IA
(0: no interrupt has been generated; 1: one or more interrupts have been generated)
ZH Z high. Default value: 0 (0: no interrupt, 1: Z high event has occurred)
ZL Z low. Default value: 0 (0: no interrupt; 1: Z low event has occurred)
YH Y high. Default value: 0 (0: no interrupt, 1: Y high event has occurred)
YL Y low. Default value: 0 (0: no interrupt, 1: Y low event has occurred)
XH X high. Default value: 0 (0: no interrupt, 1: X High event has occurred)
XL X low. Default value: 0 (0: no interrupt, 1: X Low event has occurred)

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L3GD20 Register description

Reading at this address clears INT1_SRC IA bit (and eventually the interrupt signal on the
INT1 pin) and allows the refresh of data in the INT1_SRC register if the latched option was
chosen.

7.17 INT1_THS_XH (32h)

Table 48. INT1_THS_XH register

- THSX14 THSX13 THSX12 THSX11 THSX10 THSX9 THSX8

Table 49. INT1_THS_XH description

THSX14 - THSX9 Interrupt threshold. Default value: 0000 0000

7.18 INT1_THS_XL (33h)

Table 50. INT1_THS_XL register

THSX7 THSX6 THSX5 THSX4 THSX3 THSX2 THSX1 THSX0

Table 51. INT1_THS_XL description

THSX7 - THSX0 Interrupt threshold. Default value: 0000 0000

7.19 INT1_THS_YH (34h)

Table 52. INT1_THS_YH register

- THSY14 THSY13 THSY12 THSY11 THSY10 THSY9 THSY8

Table 53. INT1_THS_YH description

THSY14 - THSY9 Interrupt threshold. Default value: 0000 0000

7.20 INT1_THS_YL (35h)

Table 54. INT1_THS_YL register

THSY7 THSY6 THSY5 THSY4 THSY3 THSY2 THSY1 THSY0

Table 55. INT1_THS_YL description

THSY7 - THSY0 Interrupt threshold. Default value: 0000 0000

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Register description L3GD20

7.21 INT1_THS_ZH (36h)

Table 56. INT1_THS_ZH register

- THSZ14 THSZ13 THSZ12 THSZ11 THSZ10 THSZ9 THSZ8

Table 57. INT1_THS_ZH description

THSZ14 - THSZ9 Interrupt threshold. Default value: 0000 0000

7.22 INT1_THS_ZL (37h)

Table 58. INT1_THS_ZL register

THSZ7 THSZ6 THSZ5 THSZ4 THSZ3 THSZ2 THSZ1 THSZ0

Table 59. INT1_THS_ZL description

THSZ7 - THSZ0 Interrupt threshold. Default value: 0000 0000

7.23 INT1_DURATION (38h)

Table 60. INT1_DURATION register

WAIT D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0

Table 61. INT1_DURATION description

WAIT WAIT enable. Default value: 0 (0: disable; 1: enable)
D6 - D0 Duration value. Default value: 000 0000

The D6 - D0 bits set the minimum duration of the interrupt event to be recognized. Duration
steps and maximum values depend on the ODR chosen.
The WAIT bit has the following definitions:
Wait = ‘0’: the interrupt falls immediately if the signal crosses the selected threshold
Wait = ‘1’: if the signal crosses the selected threshold, the interrupt falls only after the
duration has counted the number of samples at the selected data rate, written into the
duration counter register.

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L3GD20 Register description

Figure 19. Wait disabled

Figure 20. Wait enabled

DocID022116 Rev 2 41/44

Package information L3GD20

8 Package information

In order to meet environmental requirements, ST offers these devices in different grades of

ECOPACK® packages, depending on their level of environmental compliance. ECOPACK®
specifications, grade definitions and product status are available at: www.st.com.
ECOPACK is an ST trademark.

Figure 21. LGA-16: mechanical data and package dimensions

Dimensions

Ref.
mm inch Outline and
Min. Typ. Max. Min. Typ. Max. mechanical data
A1 1.000 0.0394
A2 0.785 0.0309
A3 0.200 0.0079
d 0.300 0.0118
D1 3.850 4.000 4.150 0.1516 0.1575 0.1634
E1 3.850 4.000 4.150 0.1516 0.1575 0.1634
L2 1.950 0.0768
M 0.100 0.0039
N1 0.650 0.0256
N2 0.975 0.0384
P1 1.750 0.0689
P2 1.525 0.0600
LGA-16 (4x4x1mm)
T1 0.400 0.0157
T2 0.300 0.0118
Land Grid Array Package
k 0.050 0.0020

8125097_A

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L3GD20 Revision history

9 Revision history

Table 62. Document revision history

Date Revision Changes

18-Aug-2011 1 Initial release.

Updated Table 12: SAD+read/write patterns and Table 23:
27-Feb-2013 2
CTRL_REG2 register.

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 L3GD20

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44/44 DocID022116 Rev 2