A year after their first collaboration, HiSilicon (Shanghai) and Nowi Energy B.V. today unveiled the second generation of their energy autonomous NB-IoT platform.
The device acts as a sensor hub which can transmit via NB-IoT while operating indefinitely through its energy harvesting capabilities. It is based on HiSilicon’s Hi2115 NB-IoT solution and Nowi’s NH2 energy harvesting power management IC. The solution removes the need for manual intervention (changing batteries) or cabling to supply power in applications which become zero maintenance.
HiSilicon and Nowi have optimised the design to resolve customers’ challenges and satisfy new, stricter market requirements to broaden the variety of applications addressed. The platform combines connectivity and energy harvesting in the smallest size possible and offers an open slot on which various sensors can be placed depending on the application need. As such the platform can act as the backbone of countless connected sensor solutions.
HiSilicon and Nowi are offering the reference design and the corresponding schematics for others to build their solutions upon.
“Many IoT applications require super long deployment lifecycles and direct power connectivity is often not possible. As such, energy autonomy is becoming an important factor. Our collaboration with Nowi addresses these demands as their next generation NH2 device reaches efficiency and size targets which are changing the rule-book on energy harvesting. At HiSilicon, we aim towards a fully connected, intelligent world and such partnerships are crucial to achieve this vision,” said Charles Sturman, senior director for product marketing, HiSilicon.
According to both companies, the energy autonomous NB-IoT V2 Platform solves multiple challenges:
- Provides a “Plug & Forget” solution capable of multiple transmissions per day indefinitely
- Offers a platform that can be tailored to fit many sensor applications with minimal effort
- Enables applications that were previously unable to use NB-IoT with energy harvesting due to size constraints
- Enables both indoor and outdoor applications
“From industrial IoT to Smart Home applications we see a strong need for ease-of-use, reduction in device maintenance and small form factor solutions,” said Simon van der Jagt, CEO at Nowi. “As such, integrated energy harvesting solutions are playing a key role in the future of connectivity. Our energy harvesting power management technology uniquely offers these advantages owing to its extremely small PCB assembly footprint, top energy harvesting performance and ease of implementation. We are excited to team up with HiSilicon and help customers on their way by offering the schematics of this new reference design platform. Nowi’s NH2 PMIC is becoming available in Q4 of 2020 for high volume customers.”
The second-generation energy autonomous NB-IoT board has a significantly decreased PCB size and bill of materials. This powerful new design enables new IoT applications that require continuous operation and have fundamental constraints in form factor.
Some of the key technical specifications includes:
- 3 Transmissions per day in indoor conditions*
- 6 Transmissions per day in outdoor conditions*
- Can operate with a range of photo voltaic (multiple) cells
- Dimensions: 5.5cm x 3.5cm
* Depending on the size of PV
