Spansion Eliminates Need for Batteries and Fuels a Greener Internet of Things with Energy Harvesting Solution

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Spansion Inc. (NYSE: CODE), a global leader in embedded systems, today announced a new family of power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for energy harvesting that can enable a greener Internet of Things (IoT) by eliminating the need for or extending the life of batteries in a multitude of IoT devices from individual wearable electronics to the nodes in wireless sensor networks.

Energy harvesting is the process of capturing and storing energy from ambient sources—including light, vibration and temperature changes—and converting this energy to electricity to be used in place of or to supplement battery power.  Battery maintenance can be expensive and batteries can be difficult to replace, unreliable, present a danger to children¹ and produce greenhouse gases. Natural resources such as solar, vibration, and thermal variations are inexhaustible, green sources of energy that can be harvested to fully power or extend battery life in embedded applications.

"Spansion has a long-standing commitment to the environment and has been recognized globally and formally as a green partner by customers, governments and industry watchdogs for our policies, processes, and results in reducing waste and resources," said Tom Sparkman, senior vice president of Spansion's Analog Business Unit. "Our customers can say goodbye to battery usage in their next-generation electronics.  Coupled with our low-power MCUs and the energy-budget calculator in the Spansion Easy DesignSim™ support tool, the Spansion Energy Harvesting PMICs offer a differentiated solution that can help our customers offer more eco-friendly devices across a broad spectrum of applications."

The Spansion Energy Harvesting family includes the MB39C811, an ultra-low-power buck² PMIC with dual input that enables efficient harvesting from both solar and vibration energy; and the MB39C831, an ultra-low-voltage boost PMIC for solar or thermal. The Spansion Energy Harvesting family of devices works seamlessly with Spansion FM0+ microcontrollers (MCUs), ultra-low-power microcontrollers (based on the ARM® Cortex®-M0+ core) for industrial and cost-sensitive applications with low-power requirements. 

The Spansion Easy DesignSim™, a comprehensive online design support tool with the industry's only energy-budget calculator, simplifies application design by calculating the energy-budget balance while providing a recommended bill of materials (BOM) list that can be purchased online.

Industry Support

Spansion has a strong ecosystem of energy harvesting and storage device partners around the globe. 

"Spansion's Energy Harvesting PMICs will bring a positive impact to the IoT market. These PMICs harvest natural energy to enable wireless sensor terminal/node to operate without batteries," said Atsushi Hitomi, department head of EDLC Business Unit of TDK. "Combining Spansion's solution with TDK EDLC, Amorphous Silicon Film Solar Cell and RF modules, we can enable wireless sensors to connect to the network everywhere and accelerate cloud-based services." 

Spansion Resources:

• Ultra Low Power Buck PMIC for Solar and Vibrations Energy Harvesting (MB39C811)
  Catalog: http://www.spansion.com/fjdocuments/downloads/EDG/binary/pdf/catalogs/AD405-00007.pdf
  Datasheet: http://www.spansion.com/fjdocuments/fj/DATASHEET/e-ds/MB39C811_DS405-00013.pdf  
• Spansion Solar/Thermal Energy Harvesting Solution (MB39C831)
  Catalog: http://www.spansion.com/fjdocuments/downloads/EDG/binary/pdf/catalogs/AD405-00008.pdf
  Datasheet: http://www.spansion.com/fjdocuments/fj/DATASHEET/e-ds/MB39C831_DS405-00014.pdf  
• Spansion Energy Harvesting presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/Spansion/spansion-energy-harvesting-pmics
• Spansion Energy Harvesting video demonstrations: http://www.youtube.com/spansioninc
• Spansion newsroom: http://news.spansion.com/
• Spansion blog: http://core.spansion.com/blog/
• Spansion on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Spansion
• Spansion on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Spansion

About Spansion
Spansion (NYSE: CODE) is a global leader in Flash memory-based embedded systems solutions. Spansion's Flash memory, microcontrollers, analog and mixed-signal products drive the development of faster, intelligent, secure and energy efficient electronics. Spansion is at the heart of electronics systems, connecting, controlling, storing and powering everything from automotive electronics and industrial systems to the highly interactive and immersive consumer devices that are enriching people's daily lives. For more information, visit http://www.spansion.com

Spansion(R), the Spansion logo, MirrorBit(R), Easy DesignSim™, and combinations thereof, are trademarks and registered trademarks of Spansion LLC in the United States and other countries. ARM and Cortex are registered trademarks of ARM Limited.  Other names used are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. 

1. Button cell batteries are attractive to small children and often ingested. In the past 20 years, although there has not been an increase in the total number of button cell batteries ingested in a year, researchers have noted a 6.7-fold increase in the risk that an ingestion would result in a moderate or major complication.  LItovitz, Toby; Whitaker N, Clark L, White NC, Marsolek M (June 2010). "Emerging battery-ingestion hazard: clinical implications." Pediatrics 125 (6): 1168–77. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-3037. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
2. A buck converter or buck regulator is a voltage step down and current step up converter.

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SOURCE Spansion Inc.