Through the release of a three power management ICs (PMICs), Belgian firm E-Peas says it is helping developers implement energy harvesting in IoT applications.

The engineering breakthroughs of these devices include constant input voltage regulation, making them optimised for intermittent and pulsed power inputs, complementing the existing AEM family.

The AEM00330 is a full power management chip, whereas the AEM00300 is a storage element charger. Both are self-configurable, with the ability to switch automatically between buck, buck-boost and boost operation. This enables faster adjustments with different source, storage and load arrangements (step-up, step-down and so on) and increases these devices’ energy transfer capabilities.

They have been designed to respond instantly to the power input once a pre-defined threshold has been exceeded, leading to quick and effective energy extraction.

The operating input goes from 140mV to 4.5V, so power levels of 3µW to 570mW can be managed. Another feature is their ability to swap from powering the load or the storage element, giving flexibility in applications where there should be initial focus on one or the other.

Among the potential uses for these devices are door access systems, smart switches for smart homes or smart buildings, point-of-sales (PoS) units, and smart running shoes.

The AEM00940 is a boost product designed to support high efficiency energy transfer from sources having a lower voltage than the storage element. It has an LDO-based output rather than a DC-DC-based one. The selectable operating input spans from 50mV to 4.5V.

As well as pulsed and intermittent sources, the three PMICs are suitable for use with sources that require a long time to reach their open-circuit.

All three have complete storage element versatility, allowing them to be applied to energy harvesting implementations with single and dual cell supercapacitors, Li-ion, LiFePO4, Li-Po, NiCd, thin film batteries and solid-state batteries. Each has selectable and adjustable storage element protection mechanisms, covering over-charge and over-discharge.

“Not all energy harvesting can rely on longer lasting outputs,” said Christian Ferrier, CMO of E-Peas. “There are many cases where only a short burst will be available. By developing solutions that can quickly react to such sources, we are bringing something truly unique to the market. Our new constant voltage PMICs can capture energy whenever it is present, addressing the needs of home and building automation, and many new use cases”

The AEM00330 is supplied in a 40-pin QFN package format with 5 by 5mm dimensions. The AEM00300 comes in a 4 by 4mm 28-pin QFN package, while the AEM00940 has a 5 by 5mm QFN28 package. They can each be adapted to meet specific packaging needs and are also available in a bare die format for high volume orders. Dedicated evaluation kits for each will be available soon, enabling engineers to test the configuration sets.

Headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, with offices in Switzerland and the USA, E-Peas has a portfolio of energy harvesting power management interface ICs, microcontrollers and sensors.