A Three-Transistor Energy Management Circuit for Energy-Harvesting-Powered IoT Devices

Abstract

Energy harvesting (EH) provides a promising solution for powering distributed Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Due to the low-level and sporadic ambient energy supply, an EH-powered device should operate in an intermittent and energy-driven mode. Commercial voltage supervisors were not optimized for the EH scenario, making it difficult to satisfy all new demands. The conventional energy management (EM) circuit has a risk of locking up during the turn-on transient; therefore, it might fail to power the IoT load device. Previous technologies have used a relatively large circuit to solve this problem. In this paper, a concise discrete three-transistor energy management circuit (3T-EM) is proposed. It can track stored energy, switch on/off to the load device, and provide a regulated voltage output. These key functions are realized by utilizing a minimum number of components; therefore, power consumption and manufacturing cost are largely cut. The voltage thresholds and minimum input current are theoretically derived. In experiments, the on/off thresholds can be adjusted accurately, as predicted by the theory. The 3T-EM circuit can ensure the correct operation when the input current is as low as 0.4 μA. Control experiments also prove the effectiveness and performance of the 3T-EM circuit. The proposed 3T-EM circuit shows the characteristics of low cost, low power, inherent regulation, high voltage rating, and good predictability. It is a good candidate to perform the EM task in widely distributed EH-powered IoT devices.