Powercast and Powermat partner to create first one-stop-shop wireless powerhouse to deliver power ranging from SmartInductive to RF up to 120ft
Leverages Powermat’s high-power, short-range SmartInductive technology and Powercast’s low-power, long-range RF technology and engineering/productization expertise to create one destination for all things wireless power
PITTSBURGH and TEL AVIV, Israel, June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Two of the world’s pioneers of wireless power technology, Powercast with its long-range over-the-air RF (radio-frequency) technology, and Powermat with its SmartInductive™ hybrid inductive/resonance technology, are partnering to create one team that can implement both short and long-range wireless power designs optimized for each customer’s application. Additionally, the partnership will leverage Powercast’s engineering and productization services to support customers as needed from proof of concept to prototyping to production.
Both companies’ wireless power technologies enable more convenient, sustainable, environmentally-friendly, untethered devices that cut the cords, and use rechargeable batteries or no batteries at all to eliminate battery e-waste and battery replacement hassles. The two companies share a vision of a world where power is ubiquitous, wire-free, and seamlessly accessible. Powercast (booth #840) and Powermat (booth #805) will discuss their partnership and the world of wireless power at Sensors Converge in Santa Clara, CA, June 20 – 22, 2023.
“The convenience of a one-stop-wireless-power-shop has not existed before,” said Charles Goetz, CEO of Powercast. “First, since our partnership covers the entire spectrum of wireless power, customers can ditch researching solutions themselves and relax knowing we’ll recommend the best fit for them. Second, whether you’re a start-up or Fortune 500, our productization team can help reduce costs and speed time to market.”
“Our IP licensing business model has been successful as our technology is embedded in 800 million smartphones and charging surfaces in 8 million cars, and in 40 million devices like robots, e-bikes, and IoT and medical devices,” said Kfir Abuhatzira, Powermat’s CEO. “But we are excited to be able to expand our services by partnering with Powercast whose dedicated design, engineering and manufacturing division can help customers wanting productization support.”
The Powermat and Powercast partnership covers entire spectrum of wireless power:
Both companies’ transmitters (Tx) send energy to receivers (Rx) that convert it into power, but they differ in strength and transfer distance so fit different applications. Powermat’s SmartInductive Tx and Rx must closely align (within 8 inches), but can transfer large amounts of power (5 to 600 Watts). Powercast’s RF Tx and Rx can transfer power over distance (up to 120 feet), but deliver lower power levels ranging from 100s of milliwatts to single digit microwatts depending on distance.
Powermat’s high-power SmartInductive hybrid inductive/resonance technology enables scalable wireless power applications capable of penetrating eight inches of wall and windows, and is offered in reference design platforms ranging from 5-Watt consumer grade applications to 600-Watt industrial grade applications like telecom, robotics, micro-mobility, medical devices, and more.
Powercast’s RF technology is designed for low-power consumer and industrial devices that need freedom of placement, and often operate in hard-to-reach places such as IoT sensor networks where wiring and battery replacement would be difficult. RF also enables one-to-many charging, meaning one Tx can charge many enabled devices in its charging zone. Additional device examples include home automation sensor networks, TV remotes, electric toothbrushes, headphones and smart watches.
Nichicon Selects Powercast’s RF Charging Technology for New Small Li-Ion Rechargeable Batteries
Nichicon, a world leader in manufacturing electronic components, and Powercast Corporation, the leader in radio-frequency (RF)-based over-the-air wireless power technology, are collaborating to add RF charging capabilities to Nichicon’s new series of Small Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO) Rechargeable Batteries (SLBs). The companies’ technologies combine to wirelessly power sustainable, maintenance-free, rechargeable-battery-based IoT devices and networks. Both Nichicon (booth #729) and Powercast (booth #840) will demonstrate the solution at Sensors Converge in Santa Clara, CA, June 20 – 22, 2023.
“The ability to power green, sustainable devices can solve the main problem IoT deployments face – battery replacement,” said Charles Greene, PhD, COO and CTO of Powercast. “We are teaming with Nichicon whose long-life rechargeable batteries can store the energy generated by Powercast Technology and repeatedly discharge it over and over as needed.”
“This collaborative effort allows companies to develop environmentally-friendly smart home IoT ecosystems that eliminate disposable batteries,” said Craig Anderson, President of Nichicon America. “Our vision is to make IoT more sustainable now and into the future.”
Powercast announces ultra low-cost “Ubiquity” RF Wireless Transmitter
The result of Powercast’s initiative to slash RF transmitting technology costs, the Ubiquity transmitter ushers in homes of the future where convenient, contactless power can become ubiquitous
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Powercast Corporation, the leader in radio-frequency (RF)-based over-the-air wireless power technology, has unveiled its Ubiquity transmitter, an ultra-low-cost RF power transmitter which was selected as a CES 2023 Innovation Award Honoree in three categories:
- Smart Home
- Embedded Technologies
- Sustainability, Eco-Design & Smart Energy
Designed to be the industry’s most economical RF wireless transmitter, Powercast has lowered the barrier to entry where RF wireless power can actually become ubiquitous with multiple RF transmitters covering every home. Ubiquity will be on display in Powercast’s booth #52311 at the Venetian Expo in the Smart Home Marketplace during CES 2023 in Las Vegas, January 5 – 8, 2023.
“Powercast’s vision is to see a low-cost RF transmitter in every room in every house,” said Charles Goetz, CEO at Powercast. “Much like Wi-Fi routers, a home will need multiple RF transmitters to provide enough RF coverage where convenient, contactless, ‘set it and forget it’ wireless charging becomes a reality. So, we slashed costs and are sharing our Ubiquity design via a reference design with a low $5 bill of material cost, or an embeddable module, that lets manufacturers easily incorporate RF transmitting capability into their own products to accelerate RF transmitter networks in homes.”
Powercast’s over-the-air wireless power architecture has two sides: 1) a transmitter sends RF over the air, and 2) a receiver embedded in end devices harvests that RF from the air and converts it into DC (direct current) to both communicate data, and power devices.
On the transmitter side, Powercast’s Ubiquity will come in several forms, all able to both charge RF-enabled devices and communicate data back and forth with them throughout a home:
- Manufacturers have two options to turn their own products – such as home appliances, TVs, game systems, computer monitors or AI-enabled home assistants – into Ubiquity RF transmitters:
- A licensable reference design provides flexibility and ultimate cost savings for manufacturers to integrate just the electronics needed onto their own circuit boards for $5 or less bill-of-material (BOM) cost.
- An easy-to-integrate, drop-in embeddable module contains all the electronics and hardware needed. Manufacturers will add a power supply and antenna. Powercast will work with manufacturers on an antenna design that best fits their specific product size.
- Powercast also created a standalone Ubiquity transmitter combining its embeddable module with an antenna to show at CES. Powercast will produce this portable-speaker-sized transmitter.
On the receiving side, manufacturers can embed Powercast’s tiny Powerharvester® PCC110 receiver chip and a small antenna into their end devices for around $1 to enable them to work with an RF transmitter – either Powercast’s standalone Ubiquity, or RF-transmitting products created using the Ubiquity embeddable module or reference design.
This wireless power-over-distance architecture is perfect for charging low-power devices with continuous, reliable, background trickle charging. End device examples include TV remotes, electric toothbrushes, keyboards and mice, game controllers, earbuds, headphones, smart watches, fitness bands, hearing aids, clocks, electric shavers, home automation devices and many more devices.
Powercast’s Director of Research and Development Jason Gill explained, “The volumes are in the consumer electronics market, but it’s also price sensitive. In response to these manufacturers’ requests for a sustainable, ultra-low-cost wireless charging solution, our engineers perfected the highly-efficient, single-antenna Ubiquity design that can both transmit power and communicate data. Manufacturers can create environmentally-friendly, RF-powered ecosystems using either rechargeable batteries or no batteries, both of which eliminate disposable battery e-waste and battery replacement hassles.”
The Ubiquity transmitter can output up to 1W (3W EIRP) and automatically charges multiple RF-enabled devices that come into its charging zone – no charging mats needed. Power-hungry devices charge faster within several feet of the transmitter, while ultra-low-power devices like IoT sensors can charge up to 120 feet.
“The far-field wireless power transmitter semiconductor market will soon see a steep growth trajectory with most revenue coming from the consumer market,” said Phil Solis, research director at IDC. “On the receiver side, the consumer market will be the largest segment by 2024 and the vast majority of revenue by 2025. Low-cost solutions are necessary to enable the many devices in the home that can benefit from wireless power.”
The licensable Ubiquity reference design is expected in February 2023. The Ubiquity module and transmitter are expected in June 2023.
Powercast’s Booth #52311 Demonstrates the Home of the Future with RF Wireless Power Everywhere:
Representing the living room and bathroom of the future, Powercast will demo a distributed network of Ubiquity RF transmitters that keep RF-enabled devices working throughout the home. Devices include electric toothbrushes, TV remotes, game controllers, automatic faucets, smart home sensors (water leak, plant moister, thermostats), wall clocks and more.
“RF technology enables a fundamental change in the way our bathroom works,” said Charles Greene, Ph.D., COO and CTO of Powercast. “One transmitter charges all low-power devices like toothbrushes and shavers. RF-powered products eliminate cords around water and hence the chance for electric shock. RF also eliminates the inconveniences of the electric toothbrush – no more dock to accumulate grime, and no more need for batteries that often corrode from water seeping in.”
Episode 7 of the “Powered by Powercast” video series explains why the bathroom is ideal for RF-wirelessly-charged products.
To meet with Powercast, see this award-winning technology in action, and keep up with company news, visit https://www.powercastco.com/ces-2023/.
