1/17/2017 Energy-harvesting devices replace batteries in IoT sensors | Core & Code

EnergyharvestingdevicesreplacebatteriesinIoTsensors
KeitaSekine
EnergyharvestingtechnologieswithpowermanagementICseliminatetheneedforbatteries,removinganobstacletothe
successoftheInternetofThings.

TAKEAWAYS

Powermanagementtechnologymustbematchedtotheapplication.
Energyharvestingcanreplacebatteryorextendbatterylife.
Powergenerationmustbebalancedwithpowerconsumptionoftheclientdevice.

Inrecentyears,muchattentionhasbeenplacedontheInternetofThings(IoT)andmachinetomachine(M2M)markets
andtechnologies.IoTandM2MrefernotonlytopersonalcomputersandmobilephonesconnectedthroughtheInternet
buttothewirelessinterconnectionofallofthebillionsofthingsanddevicesthroughtheInternetorlocalareanetworks,
toincreaseefficientutilization.Withthosebillionsofthingscomebillionsofbatteriesthatmustbepurchased,maintained,
anddisposedof.Energyharvestingpresentsastraightforwardsolutionforeasilypoweringthoseremotedevicesusing
cleanenergy.Letstakeacloserlook.

WirelessterminalsequippedwithsensorsareincludedamongthethingsanddevicesontheIoT.Wirelesssensorterminals
connectedtoanetworkwillcollectinformationabouttheenvironmentsurroundingthesensorterminal.Manytypesof
sensorsareusedbywirelesssensorterminals,includingthosefortemperature,humidity,illumination,motion,pressure,
stress,distortion,position,flowrate,andgas.Themorenumerousthesensorterminalsplaced,thegreaterthevarietyand
accuracythecollecteddatawillbe.Thisinformation,oftencalledbigdata,willhelprealizedevicecontrol,monitoring,and
predictionthatwereformerlyunachievable,aswellasnewcloudbasedservicesandbusinesses.

ThedevelopmentofIoTandM2Mpromisestohaveagreatimpactonourworld,thankstotheevolutionofsemiconductor
devicesandtheadvancementofwirelesstechnology.Thisisbecausedevicelevelchangeswillenableequipmentto
becomewireless,smaller,andmoreefficient.Bymountingabattery,itwillbepossibletoplaceequipmentinvariousplaces
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withoutwiring.

Thebatteryproblem
Asmentionedabove,akeyrequirementforIoTandM2Mistheabilitytoplacewirelesssensorterminalsinallkindsof
locationstocollectdata.Butthereisonebigissue:theinstallationofpowerdistributionwires,or,inthecaseofbattery
use,thebatterylifeorthetimeperiodforbatteryreplacement.Nobodywouldfindthisaproblemwith10or20batteries,
butwhenthereare10,000oramillionorahundredmillion,thereareconcernsnotonlyforbatterycostsbutalsothe
enormousscaleofmaintenanceexpenses.Thisisonereasonthedisseminationofwirelesssensorterminalshasbecome
aconcern.
Energyharvestingmayprovideasolution.Energyharvestingtechnologiesusepowergeneratingelementssuchassolar
cells,piezoelectricelements,andthermoelectricelementstoconvertlight,vibration,andheatenergyintoelectricity,then
usethatelectricityefficiently.

Thesetechnologiescanbeproducednowbecausesemiconductorshaveachievedabalancebetweentheimproving
performanceofpowergeneratingelementsandfallingpowerconsumptionofactivedevices.Thisisthereasonattentionis
beingshoweredonthiskeytechnologythatcansolvethedisseminationproblemforwirelesssensorterminalsaspartof
theIoT.

Insideanenergyharvestingterminal
Awirelesssensorterminalconsistsofasensorforsensingthesurroundingenvironment,anMCUforprocessingcollected
dataandforsystemcontrol,andawirelesschipforperformingwirelesscommunications.ApowerICmatchedtothe
powergeneratingelementreplacesthepreviouscoinbatteryordrycellbattery(seefigure1).

Figure1:Inanenergyharvestingwirelesssensorterminal,anenergyharvesterandpowermanagementICreplacethe
coinbatteryordrycellbattery.

Thepowergeneratingelementmustbeselectedafterconsideringthetypeofenergytobecollectedfromthesurrounding
environment,whethervibration,light,orheat.Themostcommonelementsusedaresolar,piezoelectric,orthermoelectric.
ItisalsoimportantthatthepowerICforusewiththepowergeneratingelementefficientlycollectsthepowerfromthat
elementwithoutloss,andthatitsuppliesthestabilizedpowertoalatterstageIC(seeFigure2).

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Figure2:PowerICsmatchedtothesepowergeneratingelementsincludetheMB39C811,astepdownDC/DCconverter
withultralowpowerconsumptionforlightandvibrationpowergeneratingelementsandtheMB39C831,astepupDC/DC
converterwithultralowinputvoltagesupportforlightandthermalpowergeneratingelements.

Powergeneratingelements
Letstakeacloserlookatthegeneratedpower,outputvoltage,andgeneratingenvironmentforasolarcell,piezoelectric
elementandthermoelectricelement(seeFigure3).Thegeneratedpowerforeachelementchangesaccordingtothesize
andgeneratingenvironment.Whenintegratingitintoadevice,itisnecessarytocomprehensivelyinvestigatethefollowing:

Whatkindofenergysourcewillbeobtained
Whatsizecanactuallyfitonthedevice
Whatbalancebetweenconsumptionpowerandgenerationpowerwillbepresentinthedevice.

ItisalsonecessarytoselectapowerICthatismatchedtothepowergeneratingelement.Inparticular,the
voltage/current/outputcharacteristics(ACorDC)ofthepowergeneratingelementoutputwilldifferaccordingtothe
element,anditisnecessarytochooseapowerICthatwillprovideoptimalresults.


Wirelesspowerrequirements
Regardingtheselectionofwirelesscommunicationsforawirelesssensornetworkterminal,theselectionmustbematched
tothepurpose(seefigure4),justasforthepowergeneratingelement.Keyaspectsincludethecommunicationdistance,
thetypeofnetworktobebuilt,thedatatransmissionamount,theapplication,andthepowerconsumption.Whenusedin
combinationwithenergyharvesting,thekeypointislowpowerconsumption,sowirelesstechnologiesinfocusare
EnOcean,ZigBeeandBluetoothLE.


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Figure3:Thegeneratedpower,outputvoltage,andtheenvironmentalfactorsthatcreateenergydifferforthecommon
typesofenergyharvestingtechnology.

Figure4:Thewirelessprotocolchosenforasensorterminalshouldmatchtheneedsoftheapplication.Thistablegives
moreinsightintothevariousmetrics.

Balancinggenerationwithconsumption
Whenusingenergyharvesting,thereisapointtobeconsideredstrikingabalancebetweenpowergenerationandpower
consumption.Thisisbecausethedevicewillnotworkifthepowergenerationissmallerthanthepowertobeconsumedby
thedevice.Althoughthegeneratingcharacteristicsofpowergeneratingelementsareimprovingyearbyyear,itisdifficult
tocontinuouslydeliversufficientpowertoadeviceonanongoingbasis.Awaytosolvethisistocollectthegenerated
powerinacapacitorandexecutesensoroperationatintervals,resultinginamethodthatbalancesthepowergeneration
withthepowerconsumption.

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Todothis,thedesignerneedstohaveanaccurateunderstandingofthegeneratingenvironmentforthepowergenerating
element,thepowergenerated,andthetimerequired,aswellasthedevicepowerconsumptionandconsumptiontime.
Figure5illustratestheimportantpointsusingpowergeneratingtime,powercollectingtime,andpowerconsumptiontimeto
solvethebalanceofpowergeneration,powercollection,andconsumption.

Figure5:Onewaytobalancetheenergyharvestedwiththepowerdemandedbythedeviceistocollectenergy
continuouslybutoperatethewirelesssensorterminalatintervals.

Toolsforenergyharvestingdevelopment
Inordertobalancepowergenerationandpowerconsumption,designersneedtocalculatefactorssuchasthepower
collectiontimeforthepowercollectingelement(capacitor)andtheusableelectricload,andtherebydeterminetheoptimal
capacitorsize.Thisoperationrequirestrialanderror,evenwhenestimatesofpowergenerationandpowerconsumption
canbeaccuratelycalculated.Inaddition,whenpowergenerationandpowerconsumptionestimatesarenotaccurate,itis
necessarytocalculateoptimalvaluesineachinstance,ortoconfirmwithanactualdevice.Spansionhaspreparedaweb
basedEasyDesignSimtoolthatallowsanyonetoeasilycalculateandinvestigateenergyharvesting.Thiscanbeused
afterashortregistrationprocess,sopleasetryit.

Implementingthepreviouslydescribeddevelopmentandinvestigationfromsteponewouldbeconsiderablychallenging.
TheEnergyHarvestingStarterKitsimplifiesandspeedsthedevelopmentofawirelesssensorterminalthatusesenergy
harvesting(seeFigure6).TheRFcomponentoperatesat2.4GHz,anditincludesanoriginalprotocoloptimizedforlow
powerconsumption.ThosewishingtosubstitutetheZigBeeorBluetoothlowenergywirelessprotocolscanjustchangethe
RFcomponenttothecorrespondingchipormodule.TheMCUisanFM3MCUwithaSpansionARMCortexM3core
base,sovariouscustomizationsarepossibleifusedinanARMdevelopmentenvironment.



AnotherstarterkitallowstheembeddeddesignertoinvestigateusingenergyharvestingtodriveaBLEBeacon.Asolar
cellorpiezoelectricelementcanbeconnectedasthepowergeneratingelement,andthekitcanalsouseawirelesspower
supplybyACinput,USBpower,orantennaconnection.

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1/17/2017 Energy-harvesting devices replace batteries in IoT sensors | Core & Code

Figure6:TheEnergyHarvestingStarterKitincludesanoriginalwirelessprotocoloptimizedforminimalpowerconsumption
andanFM3MCUwithaSpansionARMCoretexM3corebase.

Figure7:AstarterkitforusingenergyharvestingtodriveaBLEBeaconworkswithasolarcellorpiezoelectricelement,as
wellasmoreconventionaloptions.

DevelopmentofactualdevicesthatuseenergyharvestingpowerICsismovingforwardinmanylocationsandapplications.
Insomecases,energyharvestingyieldsbatteryfreewirelesssensorterminals.Inothercases,usingbatteriesandenergy
harvestingtogetherextendsbatterylife.Inthisway,thereisanaccelerationofthedevelopmentofwirelesssensor
terminalsthatincorporateenergyharvestingtechnology.Inthecomingyears,weshouldseetheplacementofwireless

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1/17/2017 Energy-harvesting devices replace batteries in IoT sensors | Core & Code

sensorterminalshavingthistechnologyinallmanneroflocations.PowermanagementICsdesignedforenergyharvesting,
aswellaslowpowerMCUs,willhelpadvancethegrowthoftheInternetofThings.

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SpansionLLCintheUnitedStatesandothercountries.Othernamesusedareforinformationalpurposesonlyandmaybe
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