Open AccessEnhanced radio frequency rectifier with a power splitting/combining topology for wireless energy transfer and harvesting
Author(s) -
Abdallah Mahmoud,
Costantine Joseph,
Ramadan Ali H.,
Tawk Youssef
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
iet microwaves, antennas and propagation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.555
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1751-8733
pISSN - 1751-8725
DOI - 10.1049/iet-map.2018.5222
Subject(s) - rectifier (neural networks) , wireless power transfer , topology (electrical circuits) , energy harvesting , radio frequency , electronic engineering , energy transfer , electrical engineering , power (physics) , maximum power transfer theorem , wireless , energy (signal processing) , computer science , physics , engineering , telecommunications , engineering physics , stochastic neural network , quantum mechanics , machine learning , recurrent neural network , artificial neural network
Power splitting of the input radio frequency (RF) signal is used to improve the efficient power range of a RF rectifier. Direct current (dc) power at the output of every rectifying branch is then combined over a resistive load and thus resulting in a single dc output. The enhancement in efficient power range, over which the power conversion efficiency (PCE) remains ≥ 50%, is determined to be 2.8 dB. The article starts by a theoretical analysis that addresses the negative effects of the diode's breakdown voltage, formulates an equation that predicts the maximum output dc voltage at saturation, and introduces a method that can improve the PCE of a typical shunt‐type diode rectifier at low power levels. As a result, a rectifying system is designed and tested as a proof of concept. The proposed circuit, with the enhanced power range, is designed to operate within the power span from −10 dBm up until 10 dBm. Such system is suitable for operation in RF wireless energy transfer and energy harvesting applications.