OREANDA-NEWS. Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. announced the development of a thin, light-weight beacon, weighing 3 grams with a thickness of 2.5 millimeters, that does not require battery replacement or other maintenance and is flexible enough for installation on round objects, corners, and curves.

Previously, beacons that did not require battery replacement needed power-supply components, such as power-management ICs and secondary batteries, as control circuits to ensure adequate power on activation. These components, which are relatively thick and occupy a large area, make the beacons themselves rigid and large, limiting locations to which they can be attached.

Fujitsu has developed power-control technology that temporarily deactivates the power monitor, which makes it possible to activate the beacon with the power from a solar cell. The need for conventional power-supply components is thus obviated, enabling beacons made of slimmer and smaller components to be operated. By mounting these components on thin, elastic silicone sheets, the beacon is thin and flexible, which allows it to conform to the shape of the object to which it is attached.

Thin and flexible beacons using this technology enable greater freedom when attaching them to items, such as to the space between fluorescent bulbs in a ceiling, or to the surface of an LED light. Moreover, because the beacons can be installed without the need for battery replacements, there is a drastic reduction in the time and effort needed for installation and operation, enabling beacons to be used in such applications as guiding people indoors or underground, and real-time device management.

Background

There is growing interest in low-power beacons that use the Bluetooth Low Energy communications standard as a technology supporting Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems, which connect a wide variety of different devices and sensors in networks. Compact beacons, often running on coin-cell batteries, can easily communicate with smartphones so they are starting to be installed in underground areas or indoors for field trials of IoT systems, which obtain location information on people and things.

To expand the use of beacons, it is important that they do not require battery replacement to be labor saving, for them to be slim and compact so as not to be unsightly, and that they are able to take different shapes so that they can be installed anywhere. Therefore, there is a need for beacons that are safe, in terms of not breaking even if they fall, that are compact, thin, and flexible enough to conform to a variety of shapes, and that do not need battery replacements.