E Ink and Atmosic announce eBadge reference design

 

E Ink Holdings (Billerica, Massachusetts), a leading innovator of electronic ink technology, and Atmosic, an innovator in extreme-low-power Bluetooth Low Energy semiconductor technology for IoT, have recently unveiled a reference design for eBadge applications.

The growth of the smart badge market can be attributed to the convenience and transaction security they provide, as well as their capability for tamper-proof storage of information and account identity of users.

Through the joint project with E Ink, Atmosic will offer a power-optimised eBadge reference design, featuring one of E Ink’s 2.9” or 3.7” black and white displays, or 4.1” Gallery Palette colour displays. The kit utilises Atmosic’s M series extreme low-power Bluetooth LE platform, enabling long, multiyear battery life which can be extended by using optional on-chip energy harvesting.

The kit can be used in landscape or portrait mode, and under a typical eBadge use case of three image changes per day, a small CR2032 coin cell battery will last over three years. This low-power eBadge can also provide visual updates including a photo, location information, alert messages, and text messages. The use of energy harvesting can give the eBadge virtually unlimited battery life.

“This innovative reference design combines E Ink’s low-power electronic ink technology with the industry’s absolute lowest power Bluetooth LE platform, the M series from Atmosic, to enable the rapidly growing eBadge market segment,” said Thomas Lee, executive director of sales at Atmosic. “With such a low-power budget, developers can add a host of features to build a secure, cost-efficient eBadge solution that can run on the same battery for multiple years or even have unlimited battery life with energy harvesting.”

“With the increased popularity of connected devices featuring displays, the need for enhanced functionality while balancing battery life is a key concern for many product designers,” said Timothy O’Malley, AVP of the US Regional Business Unit, E Ink. “The combination of E Ink’s low-power display and Atmosic’s low-power Bluetooth solutions gives product designers a solution that enables visual data without the need for bulky batteries or device charging challenges. We are excited to work with Atmosic to enable a new level of functionality for eBadges and to free product designers from power constraints.”

Caption: E Ink and Atmosic announce eBadge reference design (photo: Business Wire)