The Battery Battle
by Edward Brorein
There is a worldwide revolution taking place: All kinds of things in our daily lives are becoming wireless--not only our mobile phones and the Wi-Fi for our laptops, but our home’s climate monitoring and controls, our utility meters, our medical health monitors, and even sensors in the bridges we drive over are examples of this.
Most of these devices are battery-powered. Some devices, like mobile phones, are rechargeable--and they usually make it through a day before needing a recharge. Other devices, however, like a wireless outdoor thermometer, can run for a year or longer on its disposable battery.
Whether the device runs for a day, a month or a year, one thing that has not kept up with the rapid rate of wireless innovation is the battery. There is a clear need to optimize all these devices to get the maximum possible run time from their batteries. |
