RF Energy Harvester Rectifier Block Design Optimization: a Comparison with a Commercial Device

摘要

In this work, we first analyse and measure a commercial RF energy harvesting device from Powercast, a very good device useful for several applications, after we propose a rectifier design that can be utilized in order to improve the conversion efficiency in low voltage energy harvested systems. Stating from a dual-stage Dickinson voltage rectifier we have designed a proper matching network and implemented a prototype board measured with success. The tests were done for both the frequencies of 900 MHz and 915 MHz and results proved the better performance of the custom-designed harvester for all the measuring conditions, with an efficiency peak of up to 75%.