Feature-rich PMICs enhance battery-powered IoT product design

Silicon Labs has a new line of energy-friendly PMICs serving as dedicated companion chips for EFR32 wireless devices and EFM32 MCUs. The EFP01 PMIC family gives a flexible, system-level power management solution improving the energy efficiency of battery-powered applications comprising IoT sensors, asset tags, smart meters, security, home and building automation, and health and wellness products. These feature-rich PMICs allow developers to determine the optimal battery type and chemistries for their applications while controlling a product’s power supply over various output rails and voltages.

The company’s PMIC solution addresses the power management demands of IoT developers by increasing the energy efficiency of its wireless and MCU products while simplifying product design with best-in-class tools and support.

“If you want the easiest to configure, lowest power wireless solution, Silicon Labs’ EFP01 PMIC with Wireless Gecko is the best choice,” said Matt Saunders, vice president of IoT marketing and applications at Silicon Labs. “The EFP01 family provides a turnkey power management companion solution for our wireless SoC and MCU families, combined with Simplicity Studio tools, reference designs, sample applications and ‘PMIC-aware’ wireless stacks for easy development. The EFP01 is optimised for our IoT connectivity platforms, eliminating the need to incorporate multiple vendor reference designs into a schematic or layout.”

The PMICs simplify power system design and decrease power consumption by enhanced control. The PMICS include low-voltage DC-DC converters and regulators along with a flexible mechanism to control the power rails in a system design.

“Creating the retail industry’s first intelligent security tag that can communicate wirelessly with customers’ mobile devices required power management ingenuity and innovation,” said Nikolai Brix Lindholm, chief technology officer at Zliide. “The combination of Silicon Labs’ Wireless Gecko platform, turnkey PMIC solution, development tools and reference designs enabled us to create ultra-low-power asset tags offering both longer battery life and exceptional wireless performance.”