How to create energy-efficient IIoT sensor nodes

by Noel O’Riordan and Tommy Mullane, S3 Semiconductors

When you’re designing sensor node devices destined for the industrial internet of things (IIoT), chances are they need to be battery-powered. And given the number of these expected to be deployed, and their often-remote locations, changing or charging a battery frequently isn’t an option. Your device, therefore, needs to be exceptionally energy-efficient, which demands you design everything from the overall system to its individual circuits to minimize energy use.

The challenge is that anyone energy-related design decision is likely to have knock-on effects elsewhere. And then there are less obvious things that can play havoc with battery life. For example, while we know the RF transmitter will generally be a big energy user, it can sometimes be the receiver or power consumption during sleep mode that causes the battery to drain fast. We’ll explore this below.

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