EM8500- PMU & DC Energy Harvesting Controller

Power Management Controller with Energy Harvester Interface

General Description

The EM8500 is an integrated power management solution for low power applications. It is specifically designed for efficient operation with a variety of DC harvesting sources including thermal electric generators (TEG) or photovoltaic (solar) sources in the μW to mW range.

The device is designed to speed-up system start-up time when the main energy storage element (aka Long Term Storage – LTS) is completely discharged or insufficiently charged to supply the application, by using a secondary energy storage element (Short Term Storage - STS). When using a non-rechargeable primary battery the EM8500's onboard PMU offers a mechanism to extend battery life when assisted by a harvesting element.

The EM8500 incorporates a boost converter able to start with an input voltage as low as 300 mV and an input power of few μW. In functional mode the EM8500 operates at energy levels from a DC harvesting source as low as 100 mV and 1 μW. To maximize harvesting efficiency the EM8500 integrates a programmable maximum power point tracking controller.

The EM8500 is capable of working with a variety of energy elements as secondary storage, namely re-chargeable batteries, super-capacitors or conventional capacitors. In all cases the EM8500 maintains its fast start-up capability that depends only on the harvester conditions and the STS capacitor value.

A USB connection to an external power source is available on the EM8500 for fast charge of the long term storage element. The EM8500 integrates voltage supervisory functions. Minimum and maximum voltages are controlled on the LTS element to prevent damage to the energy storage element. Harvester minimum voltage monitoring allows stopping the DCDC limiting power loss when no energy can be harvested. Output voltages are kept in a safe range for the application.

To perform granular power management of the application, the EM8500 integrates four independent supply outputs and a sleep mode offering the capability to switch off part or all the supplies.

The EM8500 is available in an industry standard QFN24 4x4 package as well as in bump form.

Solutions or Applications

  • Energy harvesting equipped platforms
    • Solar charging
    • Thermo-electrical generator harvesting (TEG)
  • Wearable systems
  • Beacons and wireless sensor networks
  • Industrial and environmental monitoring
  • Battery operated platforms

 

Features

  • Flexible operation with different energy banks
    • Primary cell battery
    • Secondary cell battery
    • Capacitors (gold-cap, super-cap)
  • Ultra-low power DCDC boost converter with very high efficiency
    • Operating mode minimum voltage VDD_HRV = 100 mV (typical)
    • Operating mode minimum power: PIN = 1µW (typical)
    • Quiescent current: IQ = 125 nA
    • Cold-start minimum voltage: VIN = 300 mV
    • Cold-start minimum power: PIN = 3 µW (typical)
  • Fast start-up on any energy storage
    • Dual energy storage elements
  • Power management control
    • Multiple independent supply outputs
    • Sleep mode and wake-up functions
    • User programmable under-voltage and over-voltage levels
  • Limited external components
    • Device configurations are stored in on-chip E2PROM
    • Dynamic configuration through a SPI or I2C interface
  • Extended power management status
    • Battery on protection mode
  • LTS/STS connection status
    • Minimum/Maximum voltage warning
    • USB connected
       
AttachmentSize
EM8500 Fact Sheet (380.17 KB)380.17 KB
EM8500 Data Sheet (1.85 MB)1.85 MB

EM Microelectronic provides two development tools to easily implement intelligent powered application.
The EMDVK8500 allows to control all the power management aspects around the EM8500 helping in setting up the application.
The EMEVB8500 is a simpler but versatile board design for a quick and simple application set-up. Whereas it doesn’t offer the complete measurement set of the EMDVK8500 it shares with it an easy usage for a fast application prototyping.

The configuration of the EM8500 can be performed through its wizard.

Support

AttachmentSize
EM8500 FAQ (238.08 KB)238.08 KB
EM8500 wizard (339.39 KB)339.39 KB
EM8500 Quick Start Configuration (336.48 KB)336.48 KB
App Note 85 Supply Outputs (516.77 KB)516.77 KB
App Note 85 Configuration (779.47 KB)779.47 KB
App Note 85 Storage (458.34 KB)458.34 KB
App Note 85 Current (366.53 KB)366.53 KB
EMSolar Cell Guide (852.31 KB)852.31 KB
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