Wireless communication is a method of transmitting and receiving information from one point to another without the use of any wired connections. Typically, information is transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver located at a limited distance. With wireless communication, the transmitter and receiver can be placed anywhere from a few metres away (such as a TV remote control) to several thousand kilometres away (satellite communication). There are numerous advantages of wireless communication technologies over wired communication, such as cost, mobility, ease of installation, etc.
Within this series of posts, wireless-IoT and wireless sensor nodes are interchangeable terms. Such nodes are all battery powered. There is an identified need for these systems to become less dependent on batteries by, for example, harvesting ambient energy from its environment.
A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) connects, wireless, many sensor nodes and communicates “small” packages of sensor data.
Where and for what purpose do they use WSN?
WSN can be used to process, analyse, store and retrieve sensor-data.
Battery powered wireless sensor nodes/wireless IoT-devices have the following basic functional blocks:
Sensor(s): Sensors to measure the physical parameters you are interested in;
Microcontroller: to capture the sensor data, store it in a format that it is ready to send and controls the application;
Wireless Communication: based on a “radio” since the data need to be sent wirelessly. In general, these applications are battery powered;
Energy source: Energy generation/Energy storage device in a form of a battery or preferably an energy harvesting component or combination of;
Power management: last but not least an essential part of the wireless sensor node.
Power management: PMIC, as the component is often labelled, balances the power consumed by the wireless device with the available power (from battery/energy harvester) as energy efficient as possible.
Essential for the reliability of battery-less wireless sensor nodes will be next generation EH-PMICs capable of autonomously interfacing with any kind of energy harvesters and simultaneously with multiple harvesters.
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The TD Shepherd team is happy to congratulate the Qualinx B.V. team on successfully raising €20 million from Dutch investors. TD Shepherd has provided strategic support to Qualinx over the years (starting in 2018), witnessing each step of their journey; their growth and success, makes us truly proud of their outstanding achievements.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about surviving the Valley of Death in deep tech, it’s this: don’t go it alone. This stage is all about leveraging relationships, and corporate partnerships can be your most valuable lifeline. The key is to think beyond customers.
The so-called “Valley of Death” in deep tech isn’t just about running out of cash—it’s about navigating a period where expectations clash with reality. Investors want to see traction, but your tech isn’t market-ready. Customers are intrigued, but they’re not ready to commit. And your R&D costs? They’re still burning through cash like it’s a bonfire.