Fujitsu Labs has developed a miniature sensor powered by a solar cell to support LPWA wireless transmission.

The device measures 82x24x6mm and Fujitsu says it is the world’s smallest sensor device supporting LPWA that does not need replacement batteries. Temperature and humidity data collected by the sensor can be transmitted to a Sigfox base station over a distance of about 7 km.

LPWA has been gaining attention as a wireless technology that can directly transmit data to the cloud with low power consumption across a wide area.

Fujitsu has developed power control technology that can control the timing of LPWA signal transmissions in real time, based on temperature data collected from a temperature sensor. With this technology signal transmissions are only carried out at the time when the activation voltage, which varies with temperature, is maximized in order to prevent it from falling below the minimum operational voltage for LPWA module.

By using power efficiently in this way, it is possible to tolerate variation in power consumed by the wireless circuit or power generated by solar cells due to temperature. This eliminates the need for the excess energy storage elements that were previously necessary to respond to power fluctuations, enabling miniaturization of the sensor device with the smallest power storage elements required.

The data can be seen through the Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 IoT Platform, Fujitsu’s IoT data utilization platform service, which has received Sigfox Ready Program for IoT PaaS certification as an IoT platform that connects to the Sigfox cloud. This means that sensor data can easily be acquired in the cloud just by setting sensor devices, even in places where it is difficult to secure power or install power cables.

This will enable maintenance-free installation and management of IoT systems, accelerating the process of digitalization in the field. Commercialisation is scheduled for Fujitsu’s FY 2018.

By: DocMemory
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