GreenPeak launches GP410 – ZigBee PRO green power chip

THE NETHERLANDS: GreenPeak Technologies has announced its new GP410 chip offering the new ZigBee PRO Green Power feature for low cost energy harvesting and ultra-long battery life ZigBee applications for the Smart Home.

The GP410 IEEE 802.15.4 ZigBee PRO Green Power controller is a fully integrated system-on-chip solution for power harvesting end nodes for light switches, smart home devices, or for applications designed to run on a single 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. Without requiring batteries, the self-supporting devices typically generate (harvest) just enough power themselves to communicate a brief command.

For example, a light switch without a battery harvests energy from flipping the switch on or off. This energy is captured to send the “on” or “off” command to the network to switch on or off the appropriate light. Hence, the light switch is a self-powered device that can be located anywhere in the room without a need for running power wires.

The GreenPeak GP410 features a radio transmitter, an integrated real-time Medium Access Control (MAC) processor, a security engine and a harvester interface. Ultra-low power consumption ensures that multiple (redundant) packets can be transmitted with a small harvester or tiny battery. The GP410 is designed to support both bursting and trickling energy harvesters and is therefore well suited to utilize the energy harvested from flipping a light switch as well as solar powered sensors.

The integrated features simplify design complexity. Developers can design low cost light switch products by using simple PCB antennas that require no shielding. No additional components, such as a voltage converter, are required to design a self-powered end node.

“GreenPeak is one of the first ZigBee Alliance members to offer Green Power products, and as Vice Chair of the Green Power working group, GreenPeak has been one of the driving forces and an influential contributor in establishing the Green Power feature.” says Cees Links, founder and CEO of GreenPeak Technologies.

“The GP410 enables our customers to quickly develop and easily deploy low cost, battery-free, self-powered solutions, the ultimate maintenance-free Smart Home end-devices. GreenPower nodes can also be powered by a small battery, and due to the ultra-low power consumption, the battery will easily outlast the application’s expected life span. The high level of integration of the GP410 makes it easy to design and develop low-cost, light switches and other self-powered Smart Home applications.”

Market research company IDTechEx says: "With the building environment being the most successful vertical for energy harvesting applications so far, it is an important contribution from GreenPeak, to allow for easier integration of energy harvester solutions through their Green Power GP410 chip for battery-free ZigBee applications.” Harry Zervos, technology analyst at IDTechEx adds: “Such developments allow for faster deployments and will create a further incentive for energy harvesting technologies uptake."