C h a p t e r 2 | M i c r o c o n t r o l l e r s a n d P o w e r M a n a g e m e n t
with a battery, you cannot draw a huge
burst of energy because the battery
would just dip in voltage. Ideally, power
management adapts to the load side and
to the source side so that the devices
operate properly.
Because microcontrollers are frequently
deployed as IoT devices at the edge,
efficiency and longevity are key power
management requirements. How long a
microcontroller can operate in the field
is just as important as its functionality,
making sleep, idle, and doze modes
essential features. The connectivity
capabilities of edge devices also have an
impact on power management, whether
it's 5G, Wi-Fi, or industrial Ethernet.
Whether the application is industrial,
medical, automotive, or consumer
electronics, the power management
challenges for small devices have a lot in
common: How is the device powered in a
small, portable device? Does it use inline
power, battery, or photovoltaic energy
harvested from its environment?
The "intelligence" of the device matters,
too, given the growth in digital processing
at the edge—not merely a sensor or
some small amount of analog processing.
Digital processing at the intelligent edge
means power supplies have had to adapt
and become much more efficient.
Industrial applications illustrate
power management diversity
An industrial preventative maintenance
application illustrates the nuances of
power management for microcontrollers
at the edge. IoT sensors are commonly
used for condition-based monitoring—the
sensors monitor vibrations in equipment
(e.g., a conveyor belt) to detect the
condition of the bearings in a machine
through changes in oscillation frequency. If
the equipment is vibrating in an abnormal
Our team developed an IoT sensor
node for remote environmental
monitoring in locations where
frequent maintenance or battery
replacement wasn't feasible.
Powered by a small lithium battery,
efficient power management was
crucial—every milliwatt of power
consumption counted."
Ravi Kumar Sutrai
Senior Hardware Design Engineer, Grundfos
12
Power Management: Efficiently Powering Processors, FPGAs, and Microcontrollers
