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ALD Improves its Micropower Step-Up Low-Voltage Booster Module Offering the Lowest Start up and Operating Voltage Performance
Better low-energy capture efficiency from ultra-low-power generators reduces cost and opens new opportunities

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – February 15, 2012 - Advanced Linear Devices Inc., an innovation leader in cutting-edge analog semiconductor design, announces the release of the next product in the new family of MicroPower Step-up Low-Voltage Booster Modules.

The EH4205 is a new addition to the next series of ALD’s low-voltage booster modules. It is a self-powered, self-starting module that converts very low power or voltage to higher DC or AC voltage. The module requires no external power source or battery to operate due to an exclusive design parameter that allows it to hibernate, in a zero-power state, until the input of the connected energy source becomes active. At that time, the product starts up, accumulates energy, and functions as long as the source is active. The result is an always on, always ready, always charged energy source. This extremely low-level captured energy is manipulated within the booster module and outputted, as higher DC or AC voltages capable of powering today’s energy harvesting (EH) modules. The EH4205 is optimally matched to power ALD’s 300 series EH modules, but can power any EH module.

This next generation module is unique in its ability to harness a ultra-low energy sources that were formerly too low to capture, typically 75 mV.

ALD’s existing portfolio of low-voltage booster modules already have the lowest energy capture thresholds in the industry. This new and improved series, beginning with the EH4205 ultra-low voltage booster module, has an even lower minimum startup of the earlier module with an input voltage of 75 mV vs 120 mV. The minimum operating input power has also been lowered to 230 uW from 250 uW. This seemingly small, but significant, change in milliwatts brings some formerly elusive energy sources, such as electro-magnetic coils and thermoelectric energy generators, into the viable Energy Harvesting source category. This makes the EH4205 the only device on the market that can harvest energy from sources beyond the typical competitive landscape, by almost 400%.

The availability of these improved modules expands the horizon for current energy harvesting technologies. The end user can now consider a much wider application base than ever before with a single module, saving design costs, recapturing wasted energy, and reducing time and cost to market. This allows the system designer to develop more efficient, smaller and less expensive portable electronics – a win-win for the consumer and the supplier.

About Advanced Linear Devices, Inc. Advanced Linear Devices Inc. (ALD) is a design innovation leader in analog semiconductors specializing in the development and manufacture of precision CMOS linear integrated circuits, including analog switches, A/D converters and chipsets, voltage comparators, operational amplifiers, analog timers, and conventional and EPAD MOSFET transistors.

ALD was founded in 1985 with a commitment to bridge technology gaps by providing analog semiconductor solutions to the challenges facing OEM design engineers in the industrial controls, military, automotive, security, and instrumentation markets. ALD is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., with distributors throughout the U.S. and Europe.