Modeling of Wireless Sensor Nodes Powered by Tunable Energy Harvesters: HDL-Based Approach

• Published in: IEEE sensors journal 2012-08, Vol.12 (8), p.2680-2689
• Main Authors: Kazmierski, T. J., Merrett, G. V., Wang, Leran, Al-Hashimi, B. M., Weddell, A. S., Ayala-Garcia, I. N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Force; Hardware description language; Magnetic resonance; Mathematical model; Studies; tunable energy harvester; Tuning; Wireless communication; Wireless sensor networks; wireless sensor node
• ISSN: 1530-437X; 1558-1748
• DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2012.2196037

This paper presents a hardware description language approach to modeling a complete wireless sensor node system powered by a tunable vibration energy harvester, including both energy generation and consumption. Tunable energy harvesters, which can adjust their own resonant frequency through mechanical or electrical methods to match the input frequency, are attracting significant research interest. We present an accurate model of a vibration-based tunable electromagnetic energy harvester including its frequency tuning algorithm. We have also developed energy consumption models of sensor node components that use the generated energy to perform different tasks, such as autonomously tuning the resonant frequency, sensing temperature, and transmitting wirelessly. The modeling of a wireless sensor node powered by tunable energy harvesting has not previously been reported, and now permits the simulation of the entire node. The accuracy of the proposed approach is demonstrated by comparing simulation results with experimental validation, where relative errors of less than 1% are achieved.