New Industry Products

Fujitsu Semiconductor Releases Two Energy Harvesting Power Management ICs

April 21, 2013 by Jeff Shepard

Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited today announced the release of two new power management IC products developed to utilize energy harvesting, the MB39C811 dc-dc buck converter and the MB39C831 dc-dc boost converter. Sample shipments for the two new products are scheduled to start in June of this year. The MB39C811 buck converter features a quiescent current of just 1.5µA and achieves world-leading results in ultra-low power operation. Moreover, the MB39C811 represents the world's first simultaneous use of energy generation from both light and vibration using only one power management IC device.

The MB39C831 boost converter includes a function that automatically responds to changes in the surrounding environment in order to store electrical power, such as harvesting power from light according to variations in ambient light as well as harvesting thermal power according changes in ambient temperature. This function enables the unit to store energy harvested from the different elements at very high levels of efficiency.

The MB39C811 is a highly-efficient dc-dc buck converter that is equipped with an internal low-loss bridge rectifier. By optimizing the circuit design, the MB39C811 achieves ultra-low power operation with a quiescent current of 1.5µA, contributing to the successful development of battery-free technologies in areas such as sensing devices. Furthermore, the MB39C811 is able to be configured to 8 different output voltages, making it able to supply output currents up to 100mA. The MB39C811 is also the world's first power management IC that can individually perform and manage energy harvesting using both light and vibration elements simultaneously. The circuit technology employed by the MB39C811 to achieve ultra-low power operation was jointly developed by Fujitsu Semiconductor and Fujitsu Laboratories Limited.

The MB39C831 is a synchronous rectification dc-dc boost converter that uses power obtained from single- and multi-cell solar batteries or thermal electric generators, in order to charge lithium-ion batteries efficiently. The MB39C831 is equipped with an integrated MPPT function, which enables to collect maximum power by tracking harvester's maximum power point that vary according to differences in light levels and temperature. The MB39C831 is also equipped with a safeguard feature to enable safer charging for lithium-ion batteries. The low-voltage circuitry of the MB39C831 allows the system to start up from only 0.35V, making it well suited to a wide range of applications, including wireless sensor networks.

Features and benefits of the MB39C811 include: Ultra low power consumption buck power management IC utilizing light and vibration-powered energy harvesting; Achieves very stable conversion for output voltages thanks to a quiescent current of just 1.5µA; Reduces power consumption during system standby through ultra-low power energy management operations. Achieves simultaneous utilization of both light and vibration-powered energy harvesting; Can simultaneously manage power from solar batteries as well as vibration-powered energy harvesting elements including piezoelectric elements and electrets. Achieves vibration-powered energy harvesting in 2-dimensions through the use of dual bridge rectifiers; From vibration that occurs in the natural world (along an X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction), the MB39C811 is able to gather energy from the directional vibration elements of two axes, leading to a more efficient use of power.

Features of the MB39C831 include: Ultra low input boost power management IC utilizing light and thermal-powered energy harvesting; Enables highly efficient power collection through MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) functionality; For energy harvesters such as solar batteries and thermal electric generators, the output operation (voltage and current values) required to achieve maximum power vary according to changes in the environment, such as with differences in light levels or temperatures.