ON Semiconductor’s Bluetooth Low Energy Switch reference design operates entirely from harvested energy. The platform demonstrates an RSL10 System-in-Package (SIP) enabling Bluetooth 5 devices that are battery-less and entirely self-powered. The Energy Harvesting Bluetooth Low Energy Switch brings together the low-power RSL10 SIP with energy-harvesting technology developed by ZF Friedrichshafen AG. Featuring a fully-integrated antenna, RSL10 radio, and all passive components; the RSL10 SIP promises to simplify system design and minimize the Bill of Materials. Applications include wall and lighting control, building automation, and asset tracking.
The Switch reference design is provided with complete BoM, schematics, PCB layout and Gerber files, as well as free use of the switch-side firmware. The source code included provides a platform from which to develop application code, and the documentation includes detailed explanations of how to customize the firmware and connect the reference design to a Bluetooth Low Energy scanner application running on a smart phone or tablet. Exclusive new features of the switch include the absence of a buck/boost converter for simplified design-in and improved performance, as well as a smart dimming function.
The technology developed by ZF captures the energy transferred when a user presses a button. The switch converts energy from kinetic to electromagnetic and stores it for use by the RSL10 SIP. Each time the button is pressed the fully integrated energy harvesting solution generates 300 μJ. This is enough to meet the extremely low power requirements of the RSL10 SIP, which is just 62.5nW in deep sleep and only 10 mW when transceiving. For more details, peruse the product page.