Are Supercaps Ready for Ubiquitous Computing?

摘要

A lot of devices for ubiquitous computing are portable and can be used in any location. Therefore energy storage systems become increasingly important to power mobile devices. Supercaps provide a high power density, hence they are, for example, suited for driving high current peaks that occur during wireless transmissions. However, an analysis of first generation devices revealed that permanent application of the nominal voltage stressed the supercap to such an extent that the life cycle was unexpectedly short. Now a further analysis of second generation supercaps regarding reliability and life cycle will try to find out if the overall performance has improved.