Sean Milmo, European Editor09.09.20
The Internet of Things (IoT) will provide big opportunities for developers and operators of printed flexible electronics in sectors, with estimates of total demand being worth over $10 trillion worldwide by 2025.
But it also poses massive technological challenges in Europe, particularly for the region’s state-funded technology development institutes. They are at the forefront of efforts to transfer advances like IoT from the R&D stages in academia and start-ups to SMEs whose support is crucial to the widespread application of IoT.
For technology developers, the main issues with IoT include costs, reliability, security, standards, interoperability and lack of clear business objectives behind its application.
The driving force behind the expected rapid growth in IoT – predicted to be well into double-digit annual percentage figures in Europe over the next several years – will be the building of 5G mobile phone networks. These will dominate European telecommunications as their superior technology squeezes out the slower, more expensive 4G systems.
5G could provide an ideal platform for IoT, which so far has not had many major success stories in Europe to boast about, to establish itself in the region among SMEs in industry and among consumers. One market with bright growth prospects is asset tracks through phone apps.
“5G will spur innovation across many industries and provide a platform enabling emergent technologies such as IoT to become an integral part of our economy and lifestyle,” said Paolo Collela, a senior executive at Ericsson, the Swedish-based information and communications technology provider.
By 2025, Ericsson has forecast that more than 75% of IoT systems will be served by 4G or 5G, with the latter gradually dominating.
This is despite a slowdown in installations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and delays caused by Western governments deciding to ban 5G equipment supplies by the leading Chinese player Huawei.
The pace of 4G/5G IoT growth in Europe was highlighted by recent moves by the German telecom company Deutsche Telekom to extend narrowband IoT roaming agreements with other national and regional operators across most of Western Europe and parts of Eastern Europe by the end of the year.
The roaming deals enable IoT operators to “deliver a consistent service across international borders and allows them to benefit from economies of scale as they continue to expand their business,” said Rami Avidan, responsible for IoT at Deutsche Telekom.
5G is helping IoT spread into new markets – especially asset tracking in logistics, manufacturing and construction – because of advantages like superior speed, connectivity and low energy usage. Its latency or data transfer level of 1 millisecond means that it is able to accommodate 100 times more connected devices per unit area than 4G.
This benefit opens up a wide range of new applications but will require technological advances and simplifications of the design and components in IoT smart labels, particularly batteries.
Currently, IoT systems are mainly based on 2D barcodes, QR (quick response) codes and RFID technologies. The codes are too limited in their scope while RFID, despite the introduction of thin-film, flexible formats, can still be too expensive for use with many low-value products.
Among Europe’s technology development organizations with expertise in printed and flexible electronics, Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) headquartered at Wilton, England, has been among the most active in working on IoT applications suitable for the 5G era.
It was the coordinator of the European Union-funded three-year Necomada research project completed last December. The scheme aimed to develop low-cost but advanced materials for customized conductive inks and flexible adhesives used in hybrid and large-area electronics. It also developed new manufacturing processes for IoTs in packaging, healthcare and home appliances.
Its 12 partners included Henkel, UK-based large-scale flexible electronics producer PragmaticIC, chemicals manufacturer Thomas Swan, Institute of Building Physics (IBP), part of the German Fraunhofer research institute and the Danish Technological Institute, one of the largest technological services providers in northern Europe, especially for SMEs.
Necomada enabled CPI to set up a pilot line at its printable electronics unit at Sedgefield, northeast England, comprising high speed, roll-to-roll production of flexible IoT electronics with near-field communications (NFC) and RFID tags. The project has been a “fantastic opportunity” for the center to demonstrate its capabilities in the “integration, scale-up, evaluation of the final product, market acceptability and manufacturability,” according to a CPI official.
CPI has also been involved in a research scheme with the UK pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on the development of printed electronic sensors for the monitoring of the quality of medicine packs during transportation.
Now the center is working on a feasibility study on a battery-on-circuit integrated with an ultra-thin IoT device invented by Brian Krejcarek, CEO and founder of San Francisco-based asset-tracking Reelables Inc., which does business in the UK through a London office.
The project is being funded by Innovate UK, the UK government’s innovation agency, in partnership with Digital Catapult, a UK agency supporting start-ups, particularly in technologies like IoT, and Cisco, the US networking technology company.
The initial 12-month feasibility study, due to be completed next spring, could be the first step in a longer-term development scheme covering large-scale manufacturing and the technology’s potential in the printed electronics market.
A key feature of the battery is that it can be inserted directly alongside the wireless tracking circuit on a thin plastic film. The lithium-based battery which can power the smart label for more than a year comprises two electrochemically coated plastic films laminated together. The elimination of the need for an expensive, bulky external battery will drive down the cost of the power source.
CPI will provide both electronics and formulation expertise for the battery’s development, including anode coating, electrolyte formulation, cathodic slurry formulations and coatings, device assembly, and the testing of battery cells.
“The ability to coat a lithium-based battery on the same substrate as our wireless circuit would be a breakthrough manufacturing win for track and trace applications across multiple industries,” said Krejcarek. “It would enable long-lifespan IoT devices to be made at very low cost.”
He pointed out that a big challenge for the project would be figuring out how to produce the battery in an ambient manufacturing environment in the presence of atmospheric oxygen and water, which can pose problems when working with lithium-based electro-chemistries.
“This battery development will boost the market value for printed electronics by greatly reducing costs," said Sam Chan, a CPI senior scientist. “The integration of flexible batteries in smart labels also has the potential to be exploited in other IoT devices.”