Nordic Launches the nPM2100 Evaluation Kit to Boost Battery Life in Your Low-Power Designs
New power management chip boasts a sub-200nA hibernation mode, multiple watchdogs, and a 35nA "ship mode" that doubles as a power button.
Nordic Semiconductor has announced the launch of an evaluation kit for the company's nPM2100 power management integrated circuit (PMIC), along with supporting software — with which, it hopes, anyone can get to grips with maximizing battery life in their designs.
"Since the introduction of the device in January, early customers have started designing it into various primary cell applications, ranging from personal health monitoring to wireless industrial sensors," Nordic says of the nPM2100. "Now, all developers can take advantage of the innovative PMIC’s capabilities to optimize power efficiency and system performance."
The company's power management chip is designed with low-power projects in mind, boasting a range of features that Nordic claims could up-to-triple a design's battery life: a sub-200nA hibernation mode which can be programmed to wake up in intervals ranging from seconds to days, a 150nA boost converter which delivers a claimed 90.5 percent efficiency at 10µA rising to 95 percent efficiency at higher current draws, and a 35nA "ship mode" which allows devices to have their batteries installed during transit without running down — and that, the company says, can also double as an on-off button.
Other features of the chip include an integrated battery fuel gauge, an external watchdog which can reset the host processor or optionally power-cycle the entire system, a hard-reset function which should mean an end to having to remove and reinsert batteries from uncooperative devices, and a failed-boot recovery system which can restart the device automatically if the host processor fails to load.
The nPM2100 is now sampling in a WLCSP package, the company says, with a QFN-packaged version to sample "in a couple of weeks"; volume production for WLCSP and QFN packages are scheduled for June and September this year, Nordic has confirmed. Those looking to get a head-start, meanwhile, can pick up the nPM2100 Evaluation Kit in-channel immediately, priced at around $51.
More information is available on the company's website.
