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Dev Kit for Battery-Free Smart Passive Sensors for the IoT

January 08, 2018 by Paul Shepard

ON Semiconductor has announced a complete wireless battery free sensing solution kit (SPSDEVK1) that allows the company's innovative Smart Passive Sensors™(SPS) to be rapidly integrated into Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. The SPSDEVK1 solution kit is plug and play ready for users to immediately measure, aggregate and analyze the data for various IoT applications.

SPS™ wireless and battery-free sensors enable the monitoring of various parameters such as temperature, pressure, moisture or proximity at the network edge where running wires or replacing batteries may be impractical.

When interrogated by an RF reader (the ON Semiconductor TagReader), the SPS "‘harvests" energy from the measuring signal, and then delivers a rapid and highly accurate reading from the sensor. This cost-effective solution has significant benefits over other technologies, and offers the potential to revolutionize low-power IoT sensing designs.

The newly announced SPSDEVK1 is a complete sensing solution that includes a UHF SPS reader hub (SPSDEVR1-8), eight UHF antennas (SPS1DEVA1-W), 50 temperature sensors (SPS1T001PCB), a 12VdcC power supply, and an Ethernet cable.

SPSDEVK1-PCB-GEVK: Smart Passive Sensor Dev Kit

Also included is ON Semiconductor's TagReader software, an application specifically developed for reading SPS that enables the full functionality of the tags, giving a comprehensive system solution.

The TagReader software automatically detects the type of tag that is connected and reads sensor data graphically over time. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows all system parameters related to the measurement process to be configured and re-configured as needed.

As a result, with the SPSDEVK1, even first-time users can quickly and easily configure a system to measure, aggregate and analyze data for multiple fully wireless, battery-free IoT applications.

Commenting on the launch of the kit, Gary Straker, Vice President of the Protection and Signal Division at ON Semiconductor, said: "This comprehensive turnkey solution removes the need to source IoT solutions from multiple vendors and saves both time and money due to the ability to rapidly configure and modify multi-sensor IoT applications.

Our innovative SPS sensors allow reading over greater distances than is possible with NFC and do not require a battery - a limitation of Bluetooth-based technologies. With the SPSDEVK1, both experienced and inexperienced designers can rapidly configure and deploy advanced energy-harvesting sensing solutions at the network edge," concluded Straker.

ON Semiconductor will be demonstrating the new Smart Passive Sensor turnkey solution, plus a wide range of other leading edge semiconductor-based solutions for IoT, Automotive and other sectors at the Sands Convention Center/Venetian (Murano 3302) during CES 2018, January 9-12 in Las Vegas.