Compact high-efficiency energy harvesting positive and negative DC supplies voltage for battery-less CMOS receiver

In this paper, novel compact high-efficiency multi-band rectifiers that supply positive and negative output voltages are demonstrated for energy harvesting applications. The proposed voltage doubler circuits are used as real DC voltage supplies of radio frequency mm-wave CMOS receivers. Operating multi-band rectifiers have a complicated structure that required more resonance networks to force the rectifier to work in multi-band. Novel series and parallel resonance networks are implemented to force the rectifier to operate in dual-band at frequencies of 850 and 1400 MHz. The proposed resonance network eliminates the Schottky diode impedance variation as the input power or frequency changes and supports the impedance matching and minimizes the insertion loss. A novel high-quality sine-shape micro-strip inductor that obtains a quality factor above 65 over the frequency band from 200 to 1400 MHz and inductance equal to 14 +/- 2 nH is designed to improve efficiency and enhance performance at low power levels. The first suggested RF voltage doubler rectifier with series resonance feedback between the input and cathode of the diode and parallel resonance operates at two frequency bands of 850 and 1400 MHz and obtains a peak conversion efficiency of 59%, a saturated output DC voltage is 2.5 V, and the conversion efficiency is 40% at RF-input-power of - 10 dBm. This voltage doubler achieves the required DC supply parameter (1.1 V and 450 uA) for biasing the mm-wave receiver at an RF input power of 0 dBm. Otherwise, the second suggested negative voltage rectifier has a maximum simulated conversion efficiency of 65%, saturated negative DC-voltage is - 3.5 V, and the conversion efficiency is 45% at an RF input power of - 10 dBm. The negative voltage rectifier obtains DC supply parameters (- 0.5 V and no current condition used for a gate bias) at - 10 dBm input power.

Automated summary

In this paper, a novel compact and high-efficiency multi-band rectifier for energy harvesting applications is presented. The proposed rectifier utilizes novel resonance networks to achieve operation in multiple frequency bands, improving efficiency and performance.