Helix Semiconductors

The company's core semiconductor product is used for energy efficient power supplies.[7] Its patented gate switch technology, called Muxcapacitor, is pre-regulation capacitive voltage reduction technology which uses cascading capacitors to more efficiently store power on a chip.[2] Some capacitor banks are shut down when not in use, conserving power. The device also reduces the primary voltage through a transformer before the energy is processed for voltage and current adjustment and isolation. This reduces the size of the transformer and limits the need for secondary parts.[7] Also, by using capacitive rather than inductive reductions, the need for magnets is eliminated, and very efficient high voltage conversions are achieved across a range of electrical loads.[13]

Muxcapacitor technology is used on the company's Tronium brand of Power Supply System on a Chip (PSSoC), to manage power and reduce energy consumption for electronic devices. The Tronium PSSoC includes a dial-a-voltage feature which allows the chip to be programmed for a range of outputs from 1.8 to 48 volts, eliminating the need for additional country-specific power supplies.[13] It also includes primary side regulation technology that eliminates the need for the opto-couplers which are traditionally required to maintain constant voltage and transfer electrical signals in the presence of high voltages. This reduces part count, allowing cost and size reductions of electrical equipment.[13] The company sells a transformer-free Tronium variation called pwIoT (p-watt) designed for Internet of Things-type connected devices, which are often required to be compact to support a particular application. It takes AC line voltage and reduces it to the level of voltage the sensor requires.[2] Products designed to work with minimal standby power requirements conserve energy and help solve the problem of vampire power drain, so-called because it drains while a machine or device is inactive. The pwIoT can be controlled remotely and wirelessly.[13]

In June 2016, the company announced it was working in London on the reverse of the power supply process, with the Inverter Supply System on a Chip (ISSoC). While the core Tronium technology is designed to reduce energy consumption with high to low voltage power converters, the company began exploring the feasibility of designing an inverter to take low voltage DC, which typically comes from renewable energy sources, and boost it to high voltage AC. A so-called micro-inverter would help countries meet the EU's renewable energy application requirements.[11]