LZE GmbH is expanding its technology transfer portfolio and making the RFicient® ultra-low-power wake-up receiver technology from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS available for the first time as a standard chip for close-to-production industrial applications. The solution enables energy-efficient IoT designs that remain continuously reachable while consuming only microamps – a key step for long-lasting, low-maintenance IoT products.
LZE GmbH drives technology transfer to market: standard chip availability for close-to-production applications
As a bridge between research and industry, LZE GmbH is making it easier for companies to access innovative technologies and helping them to quickly and reliably transform new developments into market-ready solutions. With RFicient®-IC (FH101RF), LZE is providing another high-tech product that comes directly from Fraunhofer research and can now be ordered in volume and integrated into close-to-production product development for the first time.
The introduction of this standard chip reduces development cycles and allows manufacturers to turn efficient IoT wireless solutions into products much faster – from smart home devices and industrial sensors to logistics and tracking solutions.
Technology background: ultra-low-power reception at less than 3.5 µA
RFicient® resolves a key challenge in wireless, battery-powered IoT systems: continuous radio reception with extremely low energy consumption. The wake-up receiver constantly monitors the radio channel while consuming less than 3.5 µA and responds to wake-up signals in just around 32 milliseconds. It supports multiple license-free frequency bands, including 433 MHz, 868/915 MHz and 2.4 GHz, and allows selective wake-up via a 16-bit ID. This makes it possible to develop IoT products that can operate for many years on a single battery – without compromising on range or response time.
According to Dr. Christian Forster, CEO of LZE GmbH: “Our task is to turn research results into market-ready technologies. RFicient® is a brilliant example: industry needs energy-efficient wireless solutions that are both reliable and scalable. By making RFicient®-IC available as a standard product, we allow companies to obtain it from us in volume, thus accelerating the path from idea to product – all based on cutting-edge research by Fraunhofer IIS.”
Thomas Thönes, Group Leader, RFIC Design at Fraunhofer IIS, adds: “With RFicient®, we show how wireless systems can respond quickly and reliably with minimal energy consumption. The ability to continuously detect wake-up signals while consuming less than 3.5 µA opens up new perspectives for sustainable, low-maintenance IoT solutions. The next logical step is therefore to make the technology available to industry as a standard solution – together with our partner LZE.”
Broad range of possible applications
RFicient® is particularly suitable for applications requiring high energy efficiency and a long operating life, such as smart home and building automation systems, industrial status monitoring, wireless sensor networks and logistics and tracking solutions.
RFicient® at embedded world 2026
Fraunhofer IIS will be showcasing its RFicient® technology, inter alia, at the joint Fraunhofer stand (422 in Hall 4) at embedded world in Nuremberg from March 10 to 12, 2026.
RFicient®-IC (FH101RF) is available directly from LZE GmbH’s online store.
