At NXP, we’re known for our longstanding commitment to sustainability. One area where that commitment is front and center is in the autonomous smart home. Our product portfolio addresses several megatrends—including energy efficiency, device connectivity and AI-driven automation—that are helping to reduce carbon footprints and improve living environments on a global scale.
When it comes to saving energy at home, we’re guided by the idea that there are many ways to save power, and small gains in efficiency can add up quickly when scaled across a building, a community or a region.
That’s why we offer a wide variety of power-saving solutions, ranging from advanced applications processors that support complex, system-level use cases to individual components, such as AC/DC converters and USB-Type C port solutions, that add efficiency and simplify design.
Here’s a look at some of the ways that we’re helping customers meet their energy targets for targets for the autonomous smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Take a tour of our autonomous smart home showcase from CES 2024 and see how NXP technology is driving the future of smart homes.
Many of our autonomous smart home customers offer products in regions where energy-efficiency certificates and/or government regulations on energy use are factors to consider when designing home appliances or electronic devices. We help customers meet these requirements by offering solutions that include automation for energy monitoring, low-power consumption (when in active or sleep modes) and common connectors.
In the US, the ENERGY STAR labeling program helps consumers choose energy-efficient products. To earn the ENERGY STAR label, products must meet strict energy-efficiency criteria, set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the US Department of Energy (DoE). Because ENERGY STAR products use less energy, they help consumers save money on their electricity bills, and help protect the environment by causing fewer harmful emissions from power plants. The program currently includes refrigerators, TVs, office equipment, light bulbs, water heaters, furnaces and other appliances. The program is expanding to include Smart Home Energy Management Systems (SHEMS), which includes devices such as smart thermostats, and smart EV chargers, which suggest energy-saving actions based on usage patterns and can automatically control smart-home devices based on room or home occupancy.
First adopted in 2012, and then updated in 2018 and 2023, directive 2012/27/EU, issued by the European Commission, calls for EU member sites to reduce energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030. The idea is that anything that plugs in should use as little energy as possible because, by using energy more efficiently, and thereby consuming less, Europeans can lower their energy bills, help protect the environment, mitigate climate change, improve the quality of life, reduce the EU’s reliance on external suppliers of oil and gas and support the sustainable growth of the EU economy. The directive indirectly increases the need for solutions that can monitor and optimize energy consumption in real time, leading to reduced wastage and lower carbon emissions.
Another EU directive, 2022/2380, amends the Radio Equipment Device Directive 2014/53/EU, to require a “common charging” solution—in the form of a USB-Type C connector—for connected electronic devices, including smartphones and laptops. Standardizing on the USB-Type C charging interface lets consumers charge their devices with any USB-C charger, regardless of the device brand, and lets consumers share chargers and cables between multiple devices. This also improves the consumer experience, by eliminating the junk drawer or bin full of miscellaneous chargers and cables used by different devices. It also helps stem environmental pollution by limiting the number of chargers retired when new devices are purchased. The directive specifies that all smartphones must use the Type-C connector by December 2024, and all laptops must do so by April 2026.
While the EU directive for USB-Type C connectors is only enforceable within the European Union, other regions are following suit. India, for example, has issued a similar requirement for all electronic devices to use Type-C as the standard charging port by March 2025. Similarly, in 2023, California became the first US state to mandate that all electronic devices, including laptops and phones, be charged with the same USB-Type C cable by 2026.
At the same time that we’re helping customers meet regulatory requirements and government-specified energy targets, we’re also helping them support new use cases that leverage the intersection of energy efficiency, autonomy and sustainability.
Most batteries in today’s electric vehicles (EVs) support what’s called unidirectional charging, meaning the energy flows in only one direction–from the power source to the battery. With bidirectional charging, energy travels from the charger to the battery or from the battery to the charger. The vehicle becomes both a consumer and provider of energy. The EV can do things like send energy back to the grid, making it easier for utilities to manage the local power grid, or power the house when electricity rates are high or when there’s a blackout. Managing how the vehicle takes or returns energy requires smart-charging technology, to ensure the process of bidirectional conversion runs smoothly. As a leading partner of automotive OEMs and Tier 1 system suppliers, we already offer a range of solutions for EV charging, and have the technologies needed to create flexible, efficient bidirectional charging solutions.
Electronic devices may continue to use power even when they are in the off, standby or sleep modes, and this “always-on” consumption can add up. Devices like TVs, which have a remote and wait to receive the signal and respond to it, fall into this category, as do devices like microwaves, which have a digital display such as a clock or an LED status light. Our high-efficiency AC/DC converters, and other components that minimize power consumption while devices are idle, can help reduce the impact of always-on appliances. Listening Devices
A variation of the “always on” device is the “listening device,” which waits for an audio command that turns on operation. Smart speakers, streaming devices and other devices that respond to voice commands can consume several watts of power when in listening mode. Multiply that across millions of homes, and the extra electricity adds up. Adding to the power consumption is the fact that many of these devices do most of their voice processing in the cloud, in energy-intensive data centers. Edge computing, which uses application processors and other components to sense the environment, understand commands and act on inputs, without costly transfers to the cloud, helps reduce the energy footprint of listening devices.
Power outlets tend to provide AC power, while electronic devices (and their batteries) tend to use DC power. As a result, converting AC to DC power is a fact of life for devices that connect to a wall outlet and batteries that are charged with a wall plug. Each time a conversion takes place, though, a little bit of energy is lost. Our AC/DC solutions are optimized for efficiency, and meet or exceed all applicable US DoE and EU Certificate of Conformity (CoC) standards for energy conservation.
We’ve already mentioned some of the autonomous home solutions that we offer that make energy go farther, either by adding automation, increasing efficiency or reducing waste. Here’s a closer look at the details.
Our i.MX applications processors are part of a performance-scalable multicore platform that includes single-, dual- and quad-core families based on the Arm® Cortex® architecture. They support advanced graphics, imaging, machine vision, audio, voice, video and safety-critical applications—and use our innovative Energy Flex architecture to optimize energy and help reduce carbon footprint.
In the autonomous home segment, i.MX processors support the development of energy-efficient appliances, security systems and home-control systems. They’re enabling true automation, with features that can sense the environment and learn from or react to our actions, and are enabling more immersive experiences with features like high-end audio with low-power operation. The Energy Flex architecture combines heterogeneous domain processing with fine-grained power management to minimize energy usage for each application mode. Separate domains govern different operations, such as application processing, real-time functions or high-speed I/O, and each domain can be powered on or off at the required performance point, so energy consumption is kept to a minimum. For example, low-power audio use cases can be powered by the real-time domain, where audio can run while the rest of the processor is switched off.
For the autonomous home, the i.MX 8 series includes the i.MX 8M Mini and i.MX 8M Nano processors, for multiple audio interfaces and processing capabilities at low power. The series also includes the i.MX 8M Plus, for display, connectivity and an optimized ratio of processing power to energy, and the i.MX 8ULP processor, an ultra-low-power device with low standby power, fast wake time and support for an energy-efficient, always-on display. The i.MX 8ULP processor is perfect for battery powered devices like smart panels, remote light dimmers and Bluetooth-powered speakers. Our i.MX 9 series applications processors balance low-power operation with the processing, vision, display and connectivity needs. The i.MX 93 and i.MX 8M Plus have vision-enabled use cases that involve cameras, display interfaces and video surveillance and gesture detection. i.MX 8M Plus can also support this even in lesser light conditions.
Optimized for use with i.MX 8 and i.MX 9 application processors, these single-chip power-management ICs (PMICs) ensure maximum efficiency in IoT and Autonomous Home devices. The PCA9450 PMIC family pairs with the i.MX 8M Mini, i.MX 8M Nano and i.MX 8M Plus applications processors, while the PCA9460 PMIC family pairs with the i.MX 8ULP processor. The PCA9460 also supports special modes to support a combined lowest deep sleep power of the system (<0.2mW). This enables energy star rating and sustainability goals for a green building or green home.The PCA9451A pairs with the i.MX 91 or i.MX 93 applications processors.
With so many options, covering different i.MX applications processors and PCA94xx PMICs, developers can select the combination best suited for their needs. They can, for example, optimize for cost in autonomous home applications, or optimize for quiescent current (IQ), which is the current flowing into a system in standby mode with a light or no load, in IoT applications.
Our innovative GreenChip power portfolio enables smarter, more compact and extremely energy-efficient power solutions. From energy-saving power supplies to fast battery chargers and adapters, system protectors and secure wireless chargers, the TEA2xxx series of AC/DC converters addresses a wide range of applications, including laptops, gaming devices, TVs and more. The TEA2016/2017 is for resonant power with power factor correction (PFC) in laptops and gaming applications. The TEA2376, for flat-screen TVs, interleaves PFC with high efficiency across load/range conditions, including low-load conditions to match energy-saving criteria and the TEA2220x is an active-bridge solution that simplifies and increases the overall efficiency of AC to DC conversion.
To support the transition to USB-Type C ports as universal chargers, we offer a number of optimized solutions that increase efficiency while saving development time. The NX20P5090 is a 20V, overvoltage protection load switch (sink) with IEC surge protection up to 90V or 100V, the NX5P3363 is a 5V load switch with overcurrent protection (source) and IEC surge protection to +80V, and the NX20P3483 is a bidirectional sink/source combination load switch with protection. The NX20P0407 is a 28V dataline protector for CC and SBU signals, and the NX20PO477 is a 28V dataline protector with moisture detection and corrosion protection.
As the recommended WiFi attachment for the i.MX 8ULP processor, the IW416 is a highly integrated Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.2 System-on-Chip (SoC) enabling a low-cost connectivity solution. In addition to classic Bluetooth features, the IW416 enables Bluetooth 5.2 capabilities, including Low Energy (LE), LE long range, LE 2 Mbps and Periodic Advertising Sync Transfer (PAST).
NXP solutions for the sustainable autonomous home include the right blend of processors, connectivity, power management and other components to help you realize your next energy-efficient design.
Our energy-efficient, low-power applications processors and system-optimized solutions help customers meet their design needs and energy targets. We’re helping customers achieve energy-efficiency certification and meet government regulations, including Energy Star, the EU Energy Directive and the USB-Type C mandates. We’re enabling sustainability by offering energy-efficient solutions for autonomous home, including bidirectional energy transfer, and our Energy Flex architecture helps i.MX processors deliver more engaging home experiences while conserving power.
Gayathri Easwaran is the director of product marketing in the BL SCE, in Austin TX. She holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Washington St. University, and also leads ACT!ON (Asia Cultural Team of NXP ). She is passionate about finding differentiating solutions to enable customers. In her free time she loves working on podcasts on various topics.