ROHM becomes a promoter of the EnOcean Alliance
Leading Japanese semiconductor manufacturer will further develop and promote the interoperable energy harvesting wireless standard
San Ramon, CA/Kyoto, Japan – October 18, 2012 – ROHM Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese semiconductor manufacturer, today announced that it has become the ninth promoter of the EnOcean Alliance. In this highest membership class ROHM will lead, define and drive the Alliance as one of its innovative key players. The EnOcean Alliance is an independent consortium of companies to further develop and promote solutions and systems based on EnOcean’s energy harvesting wireless technology. One of its main objectives is to establish this battery-free and maintenance-free technology as an international standard for sustainable, energy-efficient buildings. The Alliance counts more than 300 members worldwide, including leading companies from the building technology and electronics sectors. By becoming a promoter, ROHM is reinforcing its commitment to energy harvesting wireless technology and will promote further development of the interoperable wireless standard internationalised by the EnOcean Alliance.
In recent years, wireless technology has been applied in a variety of consumer products such as smart phones, tablet PCs, and computers. As wireless technology is expanding rapidly, there is also a great need for establishing interoperable wireless monitoring and control systems in various facilities such as office buildings, factories and homes. Cables or batteries to power wireless products have, however proved to be a critical problem for wireless technology in such applications. Since diverse utilities, telecom and service companies now include wireless products in their offerings, unreliable power supply of interior wireless solutions has become a major challenge.
An innovative alternative is EnOcean’s energy harvesting wireless technology. It powers wireless communications by collecting energy from the surroundings such as motion, indoor light and temperature differentials. The entire process of transmitting a signal is started, executed and completed in no more than one thousandth of a second. This enables wireless sensor solutions with ultra-low power consumption working without cables and batteries. The EnOcean-based products are maintenance-free and provide many benefits such as reliable operation and highly flexible planning and installation, even for the retrofit of existing buildings.
A group of key companies across Europe and North America formed the EnOcean Alliance as a non-profit organization in April 2008 to integrate EnOcean’s energy harvesting wireless technology in their products. By using the same basic technology for different solutions, they create devices and systems that are compatible with each other. The guiding principle behind this is the international standard ISO/IEC 14543-3-10, approved by the International Electrotechnical Commission in spring 2012, which is optimised for wireless solutions with ultra-low power consumption and energy harvesting. The EnOcean Alliance has three membership classes: promoters, participants and associate members. As one of nine promoters ROHM is a core member of the Alliance, playing a central role in promoting the development of EnOcean’s batteryless wireless technology as the communication standard in buildings.
“We are very pleased to welcome ROHM as a new member and promoter in the EnOcean Alliance,” says Graham Martin, chairman of the EnOcean Alliance. “In Japan we see a strongly increasing demand for energy-efficient buildings based on reliable and sustainable solutions. With ROHM we have won a very strong and highly experienced partner who will support us to educate this emerging market on the advantages of energy harvesting wireless solutions and establish the technology as the number one communication standard in buildings. The commitment of ROHM is also a sign for the fast growing internationalization of the EnOcean Alliance and the EnOcean technology.”
“EnOcean’s batteryless wireless and maintenance-free technology has great potential to bring new opportunities, not only to the building or home energy management system market, but also to the sensor network market, which is expanding in management of infrastructure, logistics and health care,” says Hidemi Takasu, Managing Director, Research and Development Headquarters of ROHM Co., Ltd. “ROHM will work closely together with other members of the EnOcean Alliance and proceed with developing and enhancing batteryless wireless sensor networks by providing our sensor technology and low-power consumption technology.”
ROHM’s established communication and device technology enable it to be authorised as the only Japanese company among nine promoters of the EnOcean Alliance, so far. ROHM has developed many products for wireless communication and energy harvesting market such as ICs, modules and high efficiency dye-sensitised solar cells, which capture room light as a power source. By optimizing those technologies and its renowned low-power consumption technology, as well as being a core member of the EnOcean Alliance, ROHM will dedicate to the development of energy harvesting wireless technology as the international communication standard. Furthermore, the company will strengthen its cooperative relationship with EnOcean and support the establishment of the innovative technology on the Japanese market.
Beky Cann
Neesham Public Relations
Tel: 44 (0) 1296 628180
Email: bekyc@neesham.co.uk
About ROHM Co., Ltd.
ROHM was established in Kyoto, Japan, in 1958 and designs, manufactures, and sells various types of semiconductors for consumer electronics, mobile phones and networks, automotive electronics, and other applications. ROHM’s design and manufacturing teams provide high-quality products to customers through the company’s global design centers and sales networks worldwide. ROHM employs over 21,000 people worldwide and posted sales of 304 billion yen in FY2011 (for the year ended March 31, 2012).
For additional information, please visit ROHM’s web site at www.rohm.com.
About EnOcean Alliance
Leading companies worldwide from the building sector collected to form the EnOcean Alliance and establish innovative automation solutions for sustainable building projects – and so to make buildings more energy-efficient, more flexible and lower in cost. The core technology of the Alliance is energy harvesting wireless technology for flexibly positioned and service-free sensor solutions. The EnOcean Alliance aims to internationalise the energy harvesting wireless technology, and is dedicated to creating interoperability between the products of OEM partners. Basis for this is the international standard ISO/IEC 14543-3-10, which is optimised for wireless solutions with ultra-low power consumption and energy harvesting. More than 300 companies currently belong to the EnOcean Alliance. The headquarters of the non-profit organization is located in San Ramon, California.
www.enocean-alliance.org
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