Jennic demos low-power ZigBee with the energy harvested from an electro- mechanical switch

Jennic has demonstrated the capability of its JN5148 to perform low-power ZigBee based multiple packet transmissions from 100 micro Joules of energy harvested from an electro-mechanical switch.

The JN5148 wireless microcontroller integrates a high-performance 32-bit RISC CPU core with mixed-signal peripherals and an IEEE802.15.4, 2.4GHz transceiver. The 98dB link budget supports indoor communication over distances of up to 50 metres, whilst 128-bit AES encryption ensures a high level of security. The JN5148 also offers current consumption of just 15mA when transmitting, 17.5mA when receiving, and 200nA in sleep.

Jennic says, the demonstrator shows how a single switch press is all that is required to enable the JN5148 to carry out system startup and initialisation, followed by a succession of packet transmissions to increase the probability of packet delivery to the receiver.

The key features of the JN5148 microcontroller are,

Single chip integrates transceiver and microcontroller for wireless sensor networks
Large memory footprint to run ZigBee PRO together with an application
Very low current solution for long battery life
Extensive user peripherals

The suggested applications of this JN5148 microcontroller include robust and secure low power wireless applications, ZigBee PRO networks, utilities metering (e.g. AMR), home and commercial building automation, location aware services (eg Asset Tracking), industrial systems, telemetry, remote control, toys and gaming peripherals.

Jimi Simpson, Jennic Product Marketing, explained, "Utilising the limited and instantaneous energy from an electro-mechanical switch harvester presented many design challenges. By optimizing system initialization speeds and developing an enhanced communications infrastructure to support energy constrained sensor nodes, Jennic's engineers ensured sufficient energy was left over for a minimum of three packet transmissions to increase the probability of packet delivery to the receiver. The JN5148 totally hit the mark, consuming what in essence equates to an average of 7mA at 2volts for 7ms, the 100µJ budget."

"The solution, being IEEE802.15.4 standards based, enables the technology to be applied to ZigBee, 6LoWPAN and our proprietary JenNet solutions. Our Proxy Server Router approach is the real enabler for energy harvesting sensor nodes and is a key component of our Green Power architecture." He went on to say; "We are committed to driving our roadmap of Green Powered wireless networking solutions and year end will see the first of a series of planned product releases."

Operating temperature range: -40°C to +85°C
Package: 8x8mm 56-lead punched QFN package

For more details visit www.jennic.com