Powercast & InPlay Team on Battery-free BLE Sensor Beacon Powered over 120 Feet

With both companies experts in power efficiency, Powercast sends power over an unprecedented 120 feet to power InPlay's Bluetooth beacon which can communicate using only microwatts, together enabling battery-free, maintenance-free, long-range smart IoT sensor systems

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sensors Converge – Powercast Corporation, the leader in radio-frequency (RF)-based over-the-air wireless power technology, and InPlay, inventor of the programming-free, ultra-low-cost and low-power Bluetooth sensor NanoBeacon system-on-chip (SoC) technology, have created a platform for designing battery-free, maintenance-free, long-range wireless IoT sensor systems that deploy easily for monitoring in the retail, medical, warehousing and industrial IoT markets.

Powercast (booth #641) and InPlay (booth #333) will both demonstrate at Sensors Converge in San Jose how Powercast's RF-to-DC power harvesting technology is a compelling new option to power InPlay's active Bluetooth sensor IN100, the first of InPlay's NanoBeacon SoC family. The IN100 can be attached to nearly anything for real-time location monitoring, and paired with sensors to monitor conditions such as light, humidity and temperature. 

Previously documented to power sensors over 80 feet, Powercast's far-field wireless technology has now powered the NanoBeacon IN100 from 120 feet away from the commercially-available PowerSpot^® transmitter, enabling a beacon signal every minute. NanoBeacon's low-power design, which features fast start-up and data transmission using only microwatts of power, supports Powercast in achieving this performance. As the NanoBeacon moves farther from Powercast's RF transmitter, beacon signals become less frequent, while moving it closer allows more frequency if the application requires it.

The new distance achievement is also due to Powercast's new reference design for its PCC110 Powerharvester^® chip and companion PCC210 boost converter, which join forces to harvest RF out of the air with up to 75 percent efficiency. The company recently increased its R&D department to push the boundaries of RF power-over-distance technology and reduce costs so it can become ubiquitous. Contact Hank Gasbarro for reference designs: [email protected].

"Powercast's and InPlay's technologies combine to make every microwatt of power count in efficient and green IoT networks powered over the air, now at unprecedented distances, without batteries," said Charles Goetz, CEO of Powercast. "Together we are advancing the IoT, creating the opportunity for new battery-free sensor types, low-power intelligent endpoints, and smart tracking tags used in retail, asset tracking and industrial sensing."

InPlay's NanoBeacon SoC family aims to make smart sensor systems using active RFID technology affordable and easy to deploy, via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It's easily configured via an app, requires no software programming, transmits data up to 300 feet, and features software-defined radio (SDR) edge networking to connect tens of thousands of IoT devices.

"Maintaining billions of battery-powered IoT devices in the field is an expensive challenge, but with Powercast's technology, our customers can design battery-free wireless sensors to avoid downtime and maintenance issues," said Jason Wu, co-founder and CEO of InPlay. "Our technology is already easy and affordable to deploy vs. traditional RFID deployments which normally require technical experts. Now customers can also eliminate battery maintenance, and monitor more asset conditions when adding sensors to the system."

About Powercast
Powercast is the established leader in RF wireless power-over-distance solutions. Since its founding in 2003, Powercast has led the industry in RF wireless power innovations that meet FCC and other global standards. Powercast's technologies eliminate or reduce the need for wires and batteries, working at distances of 120 feet. The company's collaborative approach and expertise in all aspects of product design, from vision through prototyping and commercialization, has resulted in dozens of applications, extensive commercial success in both industrial and consumer applications, and over 10 million units shipped. With more than 100 customers and partner companies globally, Powercast leads the RF wireless power market with 77 early and fundamental patents worldwide and 27 patents pending. www.powercastco.com

About InPlay
InPlay Inc is a fabless semiconductor company whose mission is to provide highly scalable, low-latency, low-power wireless communications technologies that unlock the vast potential of the VR/AR, healthcare and wireless industrial IoT markets. The company was founded by a group of wireless engineers experienced in wireless and mobile communication systems with unique technologies in RF, analog mixed-signal circuits and low-power circuit design. InPlay has a research and development team in Irvine, California, with operations and business development in both the United States and China. https://inplay-tech.com

SOURCE Powercast