Maxim MAX17710 IC energy harvesting

Maxim has introduced the MAX17710, said to be the industry’s first IC to integrate all the power-management functions for ambient energy harvesting, as well as for charging and protecting micro-energy cells (MECs), a form of solid-state battery.

Operating at an ultralow current level, the IC accepts energy from a variety of poorly regulated energy harvesting sources with output levels ranging from 1 uW to 100 mW.

The device integrates a programmable input boost regulator and needs no external components to charge a MEC with energy sources of 0.8 V. It protects the MEC by using a linear shunt-series regulator.

An ultralow-quiescent current, adjustable low-dropout linear regulator with selectable voltages of 3.3, 2.3, or 1.8 V allows the IC to adapt to a variety of loads.

The device is targeted at powered smart cards, real-time clock/memory backup applications and wireless sensor networks.