OREANDA-NEWS. Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited today announced the release of two new power management IC products developed to utilize energy harvesting, the MB39C811 DC/DC buck converter and the MB39C831 DC/DC boost converter. Sample shipments for the two new products are scheduled to start in June of this year.

The MB39C811 buck converter features a quiescent current of just 1.5µA and achieves world-leading results in ultra-low power operation. Moreover, the MB39C811 represents the world's first simultaneous use of energy generation from both light and vibration using only one power management IC device.

The MB39C831 boost converter includes a function that automatically responds to changes in the surrounding environment in order to store electrical power, such as harvesting power from light according to variations in ambient light as well as harvesting thermal power according changes in ambient temperature. This function enables the unit to store energy harvested from the different elements at very high levels of efficiency.

Deploying these new products will contribute to new battery-free technologies in areas such as energy management for homes and buildings as well as wireless sensor networks for farms, and will also lead to longer battery lives for portable devices.

Energy harvesting is the process of collecting, or harvesting, minute amounts of unharnessed energy from the surrounding environment, including light and vibration, and converting these to electricity. Energy harvesting is expected to be used as a power source in sensor nodes for wireless sensor networks, among other potential applications, thereby contributing to the realization of a low-carbon society. Fujitsu's two new power management IC's play an extremely important role in the successful commercialization of energy harvesting technologies.

The two products are certified by Fujitsu Group as "Super Green" products, which are recognized as having superior environmental characteristics to others we supply or are available on the market.