THINERGY MECs from Infinite Power Solutions are Ideal for Bluetooth Low Energy Applications

LITTLETON, Colo., Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS), a U.S. clean technology company and leader in manufacturing low cost solid-state, rechargeable thin-film batteries, today announced that their award-winning THINERGY® Micro-Energy Cell (MEC) products are the ideal energy storage solution for many Bluetooth® Smart (also known as Bluetooth Low Energy) devices.  The company says its powerful and eco-friendly MECs are particularly well suited to power these emerging devices, thanks to the low power wireless radio protocol.  Bluetooth Smart and Smart Ready devices are enjoying rapid industry adoption as evidenced by the excitement and bustle of activity at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. THINERGY MECs are poised to be the battery of choice to power many Smart devices because they enable smaller, thinner form factors, and provide high power, unrivalled cycle life, and longer service life than conventional batteries. As a result, THINERGY MECs enable a low cost, hassle-free, permanent power solution for a variety of consumer oriented wireless sensors.

Devices using Bluetooth Low Energy technology, a key part of the new Bluetooth 4.0 Specification, consume only a portion of the power required by traditional Bluetooth wireless communication devices. Bluetooth Smart devices will communicate up to 50 meters with Bluetooth Smart Ready devices such as phones, tablets and PCs, which form the epicenter of the consumers' connected world. Raghu Das, CEO at IDTechEx commented that, "Bluetooth Low Energy was developed to allow wireless sensors to operate for up to one year using standard coin-cell batteries. However, these coin-cells still wear out and eventually need to be replaced, burdening the end-user with the inconvenience of battery replacement and loss of service. For longer life, especially in high duty-cycle applications, Bluetooth Smart devices can be powered indefinitely with THINERGY MECs thanks to their unprecedented recharge capability, offering exciting new possibilities for consumer devices." MECs can be autonomously recharged using ambient energy harvesting, such as a small, inexpensive solar cell or other harvesting device.  Designers can implement a 4V THINERGY MEC with an energy harvester to provide permanent, maintenance-free power for the life of the device. Therefore, a MEC-based solution eliminates the aggravation of frequent disposal and recycling of conventional batteries, as well as the logistics and labor costs associated with battery replacement, allowing for the lowest total cost of ownership for a Bluetooth Smart device.

The Bluetooth ecosystem is growing exponentially, creating enormous opportunities for innovation of devices and applications using Bluetooth Low Energy wireless technology. Chris Allen, CEO of iDevices stated, "This gives iDevices Consulting the chance to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by developing ultra-low power consuming Bluetooth Smart devices, and powering them with a thin, eco-friendly, and permanently installed THINERGY MEC." Bluetooth Low Energy will create a revolution in micro-power wireless sensor networks since it enables small wireless sensors, such as those found in Body Area Networks (BAN), to communicate directly with Smart Ready devices without the need for external network bridging devices like USB sticks or wireless routers.

Markets for these new Bluetooth Smart devices include health care, sports and fitness, automotive, security, and home entertainment.  Example devices include heart-rate monitors, glucose meters, health thermometers, key fobs, remote controls, smart watches, wireless keyboards, body sensors and a wide variety of other health and fitness wireless sensors.  According to IMS Research, over 60 million Bluetooth enabled sports, fitness and health and monitoring devices will be shipped between 2010 and 2015. Semiconductor companies who offer Bluetooth Low Energy technology integrated circuits include Broadcom, Cambridge Silicon Radio, EM Microelectronic, Nordic Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments. Texas Instruments is also a strategic investor in IPS.

IPS has a Standard Product Selection Guide that summarizes some of the key specifications and performance metrics surrounding its THINERGY MEC200 product family. This matrix illustrates that THINERGY MECs truly outperform coin cells and other rechargeable micro-batteries across key specifications, including operating temperature range, internal resistance, discharge current, cycle life, fast recharge time, self-discharge current and service life.  THINERGY MEC products are readily available and can be ordered directly from the factory or from a variety of franchised distributors including Alpha Micro Components, Arrow Electronics and Component Distributors, Inc.  Visit the IPS Web site for a complete list of distributors and other product and company information.

About Infinite Power Solutions (www.InfinitePowerSolutions.com)

Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS)—a U.S. clean-technology company—is a global leader in manufacturing solid-state, rechargeable, thin-film micro-energy storage devices. Founded in 2001, IPS is privately held with corporate headquarters and volume manufacturing in Littleton, Colo. The company is the only ISO 9001 certified manufacturer of all-solid-state, thin-film batteries and its energy storage products provide unrivalled performance, size and service life to displace conventional coin cells, supercapacitors, and other printed and solid-state micro-batteries in a variety of applications. THINERGY® Micro-Energy Cell (MEC) products are paper-thin and provide unprecedented efficiency in micro-energy storage and uniquely enable embedded power and ambient energy-harvesting solutions to create miniature, autonomous, perpetual power supply solutions. THINERY MECs uniquely serve battery powered applications such as Bluetooth® Smart devices and other wireless sensors, active RFID tags, real-time clocks, powered cards, medical devices, and consumer electronics.

THINERGY and MEC are trademarks of IPS.

SOURCE Infinite Power Solutions, Inc.