RFicient® - Ultra-Low-Power Receiver Technology
for the Internet of Things

RFicient® is the solution for all wireless applications that are designed to provide an operating life of several years with a minimal amount of maintenance.

The ultra-low-power receiver technology RFicient® continuously monitors a radio channel while providing a very low power consumption in the order of microwatts and reaction times in the range of milliseconds. This enables around-the-clock operation of wireless applications and increases their operating life significantly - up to ten years without battery replacement or even fully autonomous operation via energy harvesting.

© Fraunhofer IIS/ Manuela Wamser

RFicient® Ultra-Low-Power Receiver Technology - Portfolio

Minimal amount of power consumption is one of the most important criteria for future IoT applications. Continuous wireless connectivity consumes a major part of the available battery power and operating life of IoT-nodes is extremely limited.

The entire RFicient®-Portfolio enables long-term ultra-low-power connectivity. In addition to RFicient®Basic, the portfolio consists of solutions for decentralized acquisition of radio signal spectra (RFicient®Scan) as well as detection of radio signals of certain wireless standards (RFicient®Spot).

 

RFicient®Basic

WakeUp & Data

 

  • Continuous monitoring of the wireless channel
  • Tri-band WakeUp and Data:
    433 MHz, 868/ 915 MHz, 2.4 GHz
  • Supply current: < 3 µA
  • Sensitivity: -80 dBm
  • Selective WakeUp with 16 Bit ID
  • Operation with microcontroller in deep sleep

RFicient®Scan

Spectrum Measurement

 

  • Continuous wideband RF monitoring:
    380 MHz – 950 MHz
  • Supply current: 20 µA @ 61 points
  • Fast sweep < 1.8 ms, 61 points
  • Integrated ULP statistics:
    - Short term ~1 minute
    - Long term ~12 hours

RFicient®Spot

Wireless Standards Recognition

 

  • Continuous 2.4-GHz ISM band
    RF monitoring:
    2400 MHz – 2500 MHz
  • Supply current: typ. 20 µA @ 1.8 V
  • Wireless standards recognition:
    - Bluetooth®
    - Wi-Fi®
    - ZigBee®
    - WirelessHART®
  • Standard recognition time: < 1 s

RFicient® Applications

Home

  • Building automation
  • Wireless alarm/ security systems
  • Smart lighting

Logistics

  • Indoor localization
  • Geofencing
  • Asset tracking

Automotive

  • Remote keyless entry
  • Connected cars
  • Real-time yard vehicle localization

Industry

  • Industrial condition monitoring
  • Remote wireless control
  • Wireless sensor networks

Retail

  • Local based marketing
  • Instore navigation
  • Customer flow analysis

Healthcare

  • Body area networks
  • Ambient assisted living
  • Fitness monitoring

Integration and Hardware Availability

The RFicient® technology is available in hardware for a broad range of applications in different integration levels. Our offer streches from Evaluation Kits, to Samples and Prototypes up to development of customized solutions.
The RFicient®Basic technology is available as single chip in a QFN16 package.

© Fraunhofer IIS/ Manuela Wamser

Development Services and Solutions

The RFicient® technology was developed to meet the requirements of a wide range of applications. In case of special requirements we can provide our customers with tailored solutions.

Our services range from evaluation and feasibility, system design up to IC-design of ASICs and IPs. We support and consult our customers in all development stages.

 

© Fraunhofer IIS/Manuela Wamser

More Information

 

Cooperation with EBV and RoodMicrotec

 

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS gives access to new technologies using EBV Chips platform.

Turnkey manufacturing services for chips will be performed by RoodMicrotec.

 

 


Genesis of ultra-low-power-wakeup-receiver RFicient®

 

 

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