NXP expands its lead in smart kitchen appliances with the world's first automatic defrosting reference design for frozen food

     NXP Semiconductors announced the launch of the world's first reference design for an automated defrosting solution for frozen foods, further expanding its leadership in smart kitchen integrated circuits. The reference design can be used as the basis for a stand-alone smart defrosting countertop kitchen appliance, or integrated into other kitchen appliances (e.g. refrigerators/freezers) or cooking appliances (e.g. ovens). Using NXP components and software, this smart defrosting solution solves this long-standing problem by defrosting food quickly and safely while reducing food waste and maintaining food moisture and nutrients. With this innovative technology, staple foods such as ground beef, fish, fruits and vegetables can be thawed in just a few minutes.

     In the civilian kitchen, the conventional frozen food thawing method has many restrictions, takes a long time, and needs someone to maintain attention, it is difficult to achieve a complete thaw and uniform temperature effect, food safety will also be affected. The simple method of thawing frozen foods by themselves on the counter, in the sink, or in the refrigerator takes a long time and may require someone to keep an eye on the process. In addition, leaving food on countertops or in water also poses a risk of bacterial contamination, as food surfaces are exposed to temperatures conducive to bacterial growth. Accelerated thawing with an ordinary microwave oven usually leads to uneven thawing and uneven hot and cold. In addition, with the passage of time, the ordinary microwave oven can lose part of the effective power, so that the thawing time is prolonged and the thawing effect is decreased.

     Robert Wilson, President and co-founder of the Culinary Institute of Arizona, said: "We have witnessed the continuous development of smart kitchens, and the NXP Smart Defrost Reference Design will apply these advances to the field of food defrosting. This eliminates the need to guess the progress of thawing and risk uneven thawing and bacterial contamination caused by incomplete thawing."

     The NXP Smart Thaw Reference Design is a fully engineered set of subsystem solutions that allow Oems to quickly bring differentiated kitchen appliances with this unique functionality to market without requiring extensive engineering. The solution monitors and adjusts the operating mode in real time throughout the thawing process, helping to ensure efficient and effective energy transfer throughout the thawing cycle. This is very important because the properties of food change with the temperature of the food. The NXP Smart Thawing solution also minimizes user intervention, automates operations, and frees up user time without the need to monitor thawing results. NXP's smart Thawing solution is an electronic solution that offers reliability, compacts and economics, while ensuring consistent results.

     Paul Hart, senior vice president of NXP's RF Power Business unit, said: "Previous attempts to introduce smart thawing technology have failed, mainly because it is too large and expensive. While smart kitchen technology is still in its early stages of development, NXP has been and will continue to be committed to introducing the necessary components and reference designs for specific applications to ensure they reach their full potential. The introduction of this solution brings us one step closer to that goal."

     The NXP Smart Thawing reference design consists of a compact RF energy controller module with integrated NXP components, an intelligent tuning unit (STU), electrodes, a shielding cavity, and a reference power supply unit (PSU). To obtain this reference design, appliance OEM customers can either purchase a license directly from NXP or purchase subsystem components from NXP Accessories partners.