Its small size provides more space for designs and is well suited for industrial applications including building automation and asset tracking
With the goal of providing a complete set of all the essential components required for RF energy harvesting, e-peas has now added an antenna solution to its expanding product portfolio. The antenna will complement the company’s established series of energy harvesting dedicated power management ICs.
The e-peas energy harvesting antenna is 10 times smaller than a standard off-the-shelf component, providing more space for customers’ designs. It has been developed in conjunction with technology experts at Ignion – and is well suited to a wide variety of industrial applications including building automation, smart metering, asset tracking and other logistics applications.
The same antenna can be used for any band and for any device form factor with a proper matching network design. Through use of this antenna, it will be possible to harvest energy at all frequencies within the 0.4GHz to 10.6GHz range. Integrated alongside the AEM30940, AEM30330 or AEM30300 radio frequency ambient energy managers (AEMs) it has the ability to capture energy from a distance of up to 17 meters when using a 1W source and achieves an energy capturing range of 31 meters when using a 3W source. Energy can be captured from any direction, as the antenna is orientation independent.
The e-peas antenna will be added to the company’s evaluation kits – allowing engineers to experiment with all the key elements on an intuitive platform, before ordering them in bundle pack with their AEMs. The antenna is fully optimised for pick-and-place manufacturing automation assembly, making it easy to install into all devices and keeping production cost down.
As e-peas CMO Christian Ferrier explains; “This antenna is another vital piece of hardware that we can now present to our customer base. This sees us continue our evolution from being a component supplier towards becoming a full-scale solutions provider.”
“At Ignion we are excited to contribute to the future of zero maintenance IoT solutions together with e-peas, powered by Virtual Antenna technology. By enabling predictable high RF performance in an easy to implement off-the-shelf component, Ignion and e-peas are lowering the entry barriers towards a more sustainable IoT industry,” adds Johan Pedersen, Senior Director Business Development at Ignion.
