Energy harvesting embedded controller operates on untouched current levels

RENESAS R7F0E energy-harvesting embedded controller eliminates the need to use or replace batteries in IoT devices. Developed on firm’s SOTB (silicon-on-thin-buried-oxide) process technology, device achieves extreme reduction in both active and standby current consumption, a combination that was not previously possible to achieve in conventional microcontrollers (MCUs). This enables system manufacturers to completely eliminate the need for batteries in some of their products through harvesting ambient energy sources such as light, vibration and flow. The 32-bit, Arm Cortex-based device is capable of operating up to 64MHz for rapid local processing of sensor data and execution of complex analysis and control functions. Device consumes 20μA/MHz active current and 150nA deep standby current, approximately one-tenth that of conventional low-power MCUs.