Ubilite Optimizes Chip for Ultra-Low Power IoT Markets

Wi-Fi is one of the most widely used technologies worldwide, making it an obvious choice for new IoT application opportunities such as industrial automation, asset tracking, building control and automotive. According to IDC, the market for Wi-Fi-enabled IoT devices will exceed 2.2 billion units in 2026, marking 44% of the total Wi-Fi-enabled products that year.

One of the challenges with Wi-Fi has always been power.  It’s not as efficient as Bluetooth when it comes to consumption, which means power supplies drain much more rapidly.  It’s why BLE has been a preferred technology for IOT. 

Ubilite is trying to change that thinking. As a fabless semiconductor company developing ultra-low power Wi-Fi chipsets for IoT applications since 2014, Ubilite released its UBI206 platform based on the UBI206 SoC that specifically targets ultra-low power wireless applications.

The UBI206 is a highly integrated single device that enables a vast amount of IoT products with a minimal number of external components. Optimized for several ultra-low power IoT markets including wearables, healthcare, industrial systems monitoring and control and audio, the solution is a Wi-Fi experience with power consumption matching Bluetooth Low Energy.

The Ubilite UBI206 solution includes a switchless 802.11b/g/n radio, baseband processor, medium access controller, power management unit, memories and a network application processor that runs the Wi-Fi link-layer protocols, TCP/IP stack and IoT applications.

UBI206, available in a 5x5 QFN48 package, is optimized for several ultra-low power application markets that can benefit from an IEEE 802.11/b/g/n connection with data rates up to 72.2 Mbps. UBI206 operates with 10-times less power consumption than comparable solutions. It uses coin cell battery, AA or AAA batteries, leading to long life without the need for battery replacement or recharging, thus enabling IoT applications.

“The UBI206 was designed from the ground up at system level to optimize for lowest operating power and is the result of many years of development,” said Ismail Lakkis, CEO and founder of Ubilite.