Partnership aims for ultra-low power IoT connectivity

Following the growth of mobile devices, the rapidly upcoming IoT is widely predicted to experience impressive growth in the coming years. Small, battery-operated sensor devices are integrated everywhere, from homes and automobiles to human bodies, ultimately yielding up to hundreds of sensors per person, supporting and augmenting daily lives. As these wireless sensors become internet-connected and operate in heterogeneous networks, they enable percipient systems which act on all available data from own sensors as well as from the cloud.

By 2020, some models predict that roughly 50bn connected devices will be in use. These battery operated or energy-harvesting sensors will communicate with each other and with the internet via small short range radios that consume small amounts of power, not only when active but also in the stand-by mode.

In professional applications such as smart factories, smart grid and smart buildings, ULP wireless connectivity will enable maintenance-free monitoring of infrastructure and resources. Today, this critical infrastructure is, in the best case, monitored at just a few locations and regarding limited parameters, with expensive, cabled setups.

The availability of reliable autonomous wireless sensor nodes opens up a huge potential for cost saving by avoiding down-time of machines in factories, or shortages of energy or water.

Together, researchers from imec/Holst Centre and MegaChips will develop a ULP multi-standard sub-GHz radio solution (compatible with ZigBee 900MHz and IEEE802.15.4g) on CMOS technology, achieving a transmit power two times lower than current state-of-the-art (60mW) and a receive power five to ten times lower (6mW). Ultimately, energy harvested solutions will enable autonomous sensors. Even within this modest power consumption, a programmable output transmitter of up to 13dBm is provided. Together with the -120dBm sensitivity, this performance enables a communication distance of up to 2km in free space and guarantees reliable coverage in large industrial premises, in smart metering applications and in non-line-of-sight situations.

“We are pleased that MegaChips has joined our ULP radio R&D program to strengthen our research ecosystem,” commented Harmke de Groot, Programme Director, ULP Circuits & Devices, imec/Holst Centre. “Combining our partners’ know-how with our expertise in radio design and technology enables innovative IoT products while significantly shortening time-to-market for our industrial partners".

"This ultra-low power wireless chip project will become nucleus of our IoT strategy," added Akira Takata, President & CEO, MegaChips. "We are going to lead the IoT market by combining our development capabilities of intelligent Sensor Hub and MEMS technology with imec's most advanced RF technology."