I have a wireless RF project I am working on that is pretty low power. My problem is trying to find something that that is effecient at these low powers (everything runs at 3.3V). Currently I use LDOs to get my voltage, but that is wasteful if I go with a big battery. I thought about going with a switcher, but I can't seem to find one with good effeciency down in the 1mA draw range.
My only thought was to switch to solar, and use a switcher (letting the solar override the detriment of the deficiencies of the switcher at low current). Makes for a more complicated design that I am still fleshing out, but I am out of ideas.
Currently my board draws around 1mA during idle time (minutes at a time), and ramps up to about 20mA when transmitting (which happens every 10 minutes for an extremely brief period).
Any words of wisdom?
My only thought was to switch to solar, and use a switcher (letting the solar override the detriment of the deficiencies of the switcher at low current). Makes for a more complicated design that I am still fleshing out, but I am out of ideas.
Currently my board draws around 1mA during idle time (minutes at a time), and ramps up to about 20mA when transmitting (which happens every 10 minutes for an extremely brief period).
Any words of wisdom?