Advanced Embedded Systems Lecture 3 Part 1 | Power, Sleep Modes & Battery Life

Advanced Embedded Systems – Lecture 3 Part 1: Power, Sleep Modes & Battery Life In this lecture, we explore how power and energy constraints influence the architecture of battery-powered embedded systems. We focus on how hardware, firmware, processor power states, duty cycling, communication activity, and battery characteristics work together to determine an embedded device's energy consumption and operating lifetime. We begin by distinguishing power from energy and then examine Active, Idle, Sleep, and Deep Sleep states, including the trade-off between energy consumption and wake-up latency. The lecture then introduces duty-cycle analysis and average-current calculation with a worked numerical example. Using these results, we develop a first-order battery-life estimation model and discuss why practical battery lifetime can differ from theoretical calculations. The final section introduces common battery technologies, including alkaline, lithium-metal, Ni-MH, Li-ion and Li-Po batteries, followed by the protection requirements of lithium-powered embedded systems. Topics covered: Power vs Energy • Energy-Aware Embedded Design • Active/Idle/Sleep/Deep Sleep • Wake-Up Latency • Duty Cycling • Average Current Calculation • Battery Life Estimation • Battery Capacity • Battery Chemistry • Li-ion/Li-Po • Lithium Battery Protection • Low-Power Embedded Systems This lecture is part of the Advanced Embedded Systems course and is designed for students and engineers interested in embedded systems, electrical engineering, computer engineering, IoT, microcontrollers, and low-power system design. Next: Lecture 3 Part 2 — BMS, State of Charge & Low-Power System Design