Ossia, E-Peas and E Ink create wirelessly powered e-paper displays
Two power specialists, Ossia and E-Peas, have collaborated with E Ink to develop the what is believed to be the first wirelessly powered electronic paper display (EPD), battery-free system
The prototype combines Ossia’s FCC-approved Cota Real Wireless Power technology, E-Peas’ energy harvesting PMICs and low power microcontrollers for battery-less IoT applications and E Ink’s electronic ink technology. The system can be operated and wirelessly powered at a distance in a dynamic environment, without the need for any wires or batteries, say the trio.
Wireless power is likely to be a key enabler to the use of smart displays such as electronic shelf labels for retailers, digital signage, logistics tags and distributed sensor networks, used in retail, industrial, logistics and warehousing applications.
In addition to the convenience of not being constrained by wires, device lifetimes are significantly extended, well beyond the capacity currently offered by traditional batteries, claim the companies, adding that device functionality is significantly enhanced as well.
“Our vision at E-Peas is to enable the seamless operation of all connected devices anywhere, anytime, in any conditions with smart innovative solutions,” said Geoffroy Gosset, CEO and co-founder.
“The development of wirelessly powered EPDs is another validation of our technology’s durable and ultra-low power displays being applied to previously impossible and unimaginable applications,” added Johnson Lee, president of E Ink. “Ultimately, commercialising battery-less ePaper solutions will enable the potential of IoT applications that require low power consumption displays. It also makes digital transformation easier than one can imagine in various applications such as logistic tags, luggage tags, digital signage and other digital tags.”
The companies plan to release this technology for commercial use by the end of next year. It is presently available for demonstration purposes only.
Ossia’s patented Cota smart antenna technology automatically keeps multiple devices charged without any user intervention.
E Ink’s Fringe Field Switching (FFS) technologies are a standard for high-end LCD displays and have been licensed to all major LCD makers.
E-Peas develops low power semiconductor technology to extend battery lifespans and eliminate the heavy call-out costs of replacing batteries. The company says its products increase the amount of harvested energy and drastically reduce the energy consumption of all power consuming blocks within wireless sensor nodes.