Multifaceted IoT sensor platform supports battery-free operation

This streamlined and flexible solution takes the approach of moving much of the system’s intelligence away from where the sensors are situated and placing it on the cloud.

Each IoT Platform Development Kit incorporates ON Semiconductor’s battery-free wireless sensor tags, which use RFMicron’s Magnus S2 Sensor IC, and can perform temperature, moisture, pressure, or proximity sensing functions. The platform also features a UHF RFID reader module with 32dBm power rating and an 860 to 960MHz frequency range. Localised data processing is performed by the ARM Cortex-A8 based AM335x SoC. The platform has the capacity to transfer captured data either wirelessly (via WLAN, Zigbee, Z-Wave, UHF Gen 2, etc.) or using wireline infrastructure (via KNX, CAN, SPI, Ethernet). This development kit complements ON Semiconductor’s existing wireless sensor evaluation kit, SPS1M-EVK, which provides a set of tools test our sensor capabilities.

“This IoT Platform Development Kit opens up greater opportunities for IoT-based data-acquisition/monitoring enabling the implementation of wireless sensors quickly and effectively into many applications. Using it, the data from multiple sensors can rapidly be accessed, analysed and used on multiple backend networks,” states Gary Straker, Vice President and General Manager of Protection and Signal Division, ON Semiconductor. “As a result of this platform, wireless sensing technology can now be deployed into application scenarios where a mains supply is simply not available or where replacing batteries would be too difficult and costly to undertake. This ground-breaking product will markedly broaden the scope of IoT deployment and this development kit offers a tool that makes evaluating the technology simple for multiple application use cases. Through this wireless sensing technology we will be able to connect what was previously un-connectable.”

The platform also possesses an intuitive touch-enabled user interface, plus LEDs, headers and switches designed to enhance its configurability and expand its operational potential. The sophisticated accompanying software allows the platform to fit seamless into any supported network, serving as a dedicated node. Built-in application firmware will assist engineers in implementing more effective IoT-based data-acquisition/monitoring systems irrespective of their experience level.

The combination of all the functions above in a single self-contained board creates an integration tool IoT platforms can use to easily evaluate wireless sensing technology in their ecosystems.