Abstract
This 106-page report provides an analysis of the end use markets for energy
harvesting, micro battery and power management ICs used in these technologies.
Current opportunities are discussed, along with the technologies and standards
driving these opportunities, such as ZigBee, Z-Wave, LonTalk, Insteon and
others. Regulatory incentives are highlighted, as well. Profiles are
presentation for the major building and home automation companies, along with
manufacturers of ICs for ultra-low-power wireless sensor and control.
Energy harvesting, micro batteries and power management ICs are technologies
that will enable the commercial rollout of next-generation low-power
electronic devices and systems. Low-power devices (LPDs) are being deployed
for wireless as well as wired systems such as mesh networks, sensor and
control systems, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), radio frequency
identification (RFID) devices, and so on. Applications include
building/industrial automation, medical, homeland security, military,
commercial, gaming, transportation and others.
The LPD wireless component market is still considered "new" by the
predominantly wired industrial, commercial and residential automation
industries. The recent proliferation of consumer, computer and communications
equipment has brought data communications into these arenas, where devices can
now "talk" to each other and perform intelligent functions without manual
instructions. Although most of these communications protocols are still based
on wired standards and technologies, the opportunity for remote, wireless
communications is becoming increasingly attractive.
The low-power device market is being driven by applications, so energy
harvesting, energy storage and advanced power management companies need to
look at where these devices are being employed. LPD wireless technologies are
primarily used in "stationary" applications such as industrial process
monitoring and control, building automation, security, fire safety, structural
monitoring, and so on. Although the applications are stationary, the power
needs closely mirror the needs of portable devices such as mobile phone
handsets and MP3 players. As a result, emerging LPD applications are expected
to provide substantial growth opportunities for power management technologies
traditionally associated with portable devices.
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