Powercast P2110 Powerharvester Receiver Named as 2011 Design News Golden Mousetrap Best Product Winner

Pittsburgh, PA — March 29, 2011 — Powercast Corporation, a leader in RF-based wireless power and energy harvesting technology, today announced that Design News has named its P2110 Powerharvester® receiver as the 2011 Golden Mousetrap Best Product Winner in the category of wireless/mobile components.

The P2110 Powerharvester receiver converts radios waves (RF energy) into DC power for low-power, wireless applications such as remote monitoring, building automation, and real-time location systems. Embedded into electronic devices, the receiver provides wireless power to trickle charge batteries, eliminating the need to replace them, or it can power battery-free devices and eliminate batteries altogether. The receiver harvests RF energy from 850-950MHz and operates at 40-45 feet (12-14 meters) from a 3W transmitter using a reasonably-sized receiving antenna.

The P2110 can also harvest GSM signals from mobile phones in close proximity enabling a new class of battery-less devices for personal area networking. With the ability to receive power behind walls or other obstacles, the P2110 includes I/O for MCU control, data and RSSI output, and supports user-configurable, regulated output voltages up to 5.25V.

“The products highlighted in this year’s Golden Mousetrap winners and finalists clearly demonstrate both cutting-edge design ideas and the practical evolution of technologies for systems and product design engineers,” said David Greenfield, Design News Editorial Director. “Design News congratulates all the engineers and their companies who have been recognized with the Golden Mousetrap Award, and we are grateful for their contribution to this year’s competition.”

“We are honored that Design News has selected our P2110 RF energy harvesting component for this award,” said Harry Ostaffe, vice president of marketing and business development at Powercast. “This achievement recognizes our dedication to developing unique, wireless power solutions for low-power devices, enabling savings in labor costs, increased product reliability, device mobility, and user convenience.”

Broadcasted RF energy creates a predictable, controllable power source to provide power-over-distance and one-to-many charging. Unlike potentially unreliable or intermittent solar, heat or vibration micro-power energy sources, the P2110 Powerharvester receiver allows wireless devices to charge and operate completely untethered from the power source. This wireless power supply embeds within electronic devices such as wireless sensors and tracking tags, enabling them to be sealed, tamper-proof, water-proof, and more reliable. The resulting zero-maintenance devices can deploy to inaccessible or hazardous locations, and sensor networks can scale to thousands of nodes while eliminating the material and labor costs of battery replacement.

About Design News
Design News, founded in 1946, is the leading technical resource for design engineers, who create everything from planes, trains and automobiles to cellular phones, medical devices, and, just about every other product on the planet. For more information, visit: http://www.designnews.com/

About Powercast (www.www.powercastco.com)
Powercast Corporation is a leading innovator of RF energy harvesting and wireless power technology. Founded in 2003, Powercast’s proprietary core technology and related intellectual property pioneered the model for completely untethered electronic devices by transmitting and harvesting common radio waves similar to those in wireless communications. Powercast’s technologies eliminate or reduce the need for batteries, extend sensor networks into hard-to-service locations, and enable greater system efficiency in applications such as building automation and energy management.

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PR Contacts:

Harry Ostaffe
Vice President, Marketing and Business Development
Powercast Corporation
hostaffe@www.powercastco.com
+1 412-923-4774

Michelle Moody
Moody & Associates PR
michelle@moodypr.com
+1 214-363-3460