The push is on to add internet capability to everything, and the challenge for design engineers is to figure out how to power each of these IoT nodes. If there is an AC power line or conventional long-life battery available, the decision is greatly simplified, of course. But such power is unavailable in many cases, and energy harvesting can look like an attractive, free, no-headache alternative. However, there are many facets and limitations with this type of “free” energy, beyond the initial component cost. First, before even looking at harvesting as an option, it’s critical to put together a power budget. How much current and voltage will the IoT node need? What power is needed at each phase of operation? To get all of the answers to your power questions and to discover the latest green solutions, visit Avnet.com.
Most Recent Articles
The Cavalry has arrived for automotive cybersecurity. What's next?
After the publication of Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek's remote commandeering of a Jeep's CAN bus brought national attention to the issue of automo...
Difficulties in calculating MTBF and reliability
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is an important metric for determining the lifetime of embedded system components, but it’s difficult to calcul...
Design management system eliminates ASIC shortcut risk
Taking shortcuts can be a risky endeavor when designing an ASIC. However, there are avenues to streamlining a design project and reducing the risk whe...
Verifying vital designs
Device certification, software analysis, reduced power consumption are all ubiquitous issues in the embedded design industry. Here, Warren introduces...
Mechatronics aids in embedded system design
By looking at embedded systems from a different perspective, a mechatronics perspective, systems can be improved while saving cost. Over the last few...
Securing the edge with ARM TrustZone for v8-M
ARM's new 32-bit ARMv8-M architecture was introduced in 2015, adding TrustZone security extensions for Cortex-M microcontrollers (MCUs), among other f...
Signal- and power-integrity fundamentals are essential in a high-speed PCB
In today's digital design world, speed is often the main factor determining a product's performance. Many designs are packed with too many high-speed...
100 Gigabit Ethernet tackles backplanes and copper cables
The implementation of the IEEE 100 Gbps Backplane and Copper Cable Task Force precipitates the creation of specifications to increase signaling rates...
Embedded moves to multicore
Power savings and performance enhancement have multicore looking like an SFF "Mighty Mouse" for the embedded industry.
What's in your smart device?
For mobile devices, sub 1 W processors are the choice. For digital home devices, there are choices at 3 W and up. For tablets, something in between mi...
An introduction to FPGA power
Designing the power system for a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is no easy task. FPGAs are highly configurable semiconductor devices that are us...
Analytics-driven embedded systems, part 2 - Developing analytics and prescriptive controls
In Part 1, we motivated the use of analytics within embedded systems using examples such as the BuildingIQ intelligent climate control system and the...
ARM vs x86: Is x86 dead?
The emergence and media domination of ARM technology could be a nail in the coffin for x86, but each has its own place and may continue to be useful i...
Verifying embedded designs with cloud computing
Many industries have recognized the value of cloud computing both in terms of cost reduction through shared resources, and new capability offered by t...
Encryption 101: Choosing the right scheme
This intro to encryption offers some of the pitfalls that can derail the inexperienced user. About six years ago, I started working with a UK crypto c...
Embedded virtualization enables scalability of real-time applications on multicore
Embedded virtualization combats the multicore complex: Global object networking allows real-time processor scalability.
Embedded Application Frameworks: Simplifying the development of M2M devices
A helping hand from Embedded Application Frameworks eases design pressures for M2M developers.
Encryption 301: More extensive encryption subsystems
Using Ethernet protocols requires the proper encryption schemes. In Part 1, we looked at some do's and don'ts on encryption. In Part 2, we introduced...
Choosing the best IoT protocol
While much of the IoT relies on the traditional embedded development skills, the requirement for always-on connectivity is tasking engineers to make d...
Let Snapdragon connect your legacy camera to the Open-Q