Custom IC for Ultralow Power RF Energy Scavenging

This letter presents a custom IC that provides an efficient interface between an ultralow power RF rectifying antenna (rectenna) power source and a microbattery for maximum power scavenging. The energy scavenger IC operates a boost converter in pulsed fixed-frequency discontinuous conduction mode to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on power electronics 2011-06, Vol.26 (6), p.1620-1626
Main Authors: Thurein Paing, Falkenstein, E. A., Zane, R., Popovic, Z.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Batteries
Circuit properties
Converters
DC-DC
Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing
Electric currents
Electric power
Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits
Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering
Electronic circuits
Electronic equipment and fabrication. Passive components, printed wiring boards, connectics
Electronics
Energy harvesting
Exact sciences and technology
Integrated circuits
Low power electronics
Oscillators
Power electronics, power supplies
Radio frequency
resistor emulation
RF energy scavenging
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Signal convertors
ultralow power
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Summary:This letter presents a custom IC that provides an efficient interface between an ultralow power RF rectifying antenna (rectenna) power source and a microbattery for maximum power scavenging. The energy scavenger IC operates a boost converter in pulsed fixed-frequency discontinuous conduction mode to present a positive resistance to the rectenna. It uses current-starved circuitry, a nonoverlapping gate drive, and a subthreshold current source to achieve a nominal supply current in the 200-nA range for V DD = 2.5 V. Experimental results are given with the IC scavenging energy from a 1.93-GHz patch rectenna to a battery with voltages ranging from 2.5 to 4.15 V. Overall conversion efficiency including all control losses is demonstrated at over 35% at an input power of just 1.5 μW and at over 70% at input power levels over 30 μW. The IC is fabricated in a 5-V, 0.35-μm CMOS process. Although the IC was designed for RF energy scavenging, the low-power boost converter can be applied to other power sources such as wind, vibration, and temperature.
ISSN:0885-8993
1941-0107
DOI:10.1109/TPEL.2010.2096475