ZigBee PRO Green Power Chip Allows For Battery-Free Devices

GreenPeak's new GP410 ZigBee PRO Green Power controller is a fully integrated SoC for power harvesting end nodes for light switches, smart home devices or for applications designed to run on a single, small battery for many years. The Green Power feature gives battery-free, energy-harvesting devices the ability to join any Green Power enabled ZigBee PRO 2012 network. The self-supporting devices typically harvest just enough power themselves to communicate a brief command, such as a light switch harvests energy from flipping the switch on or off. This energy is captured to send the on/off command to the network. Hence, the light switch is a self-powered device that can be located anywhere without the need for running power wires. The chip features a radio transmitter, an integrated real-time MAC processor, a security engine and a harvester interface. The GP410 controller is designed to support both bursting and trickling energy harvesters, suiting it to utilize the energy harvested from flipping a light switch as well as solar powered sensors.