Self-Powered wireless sensor node based on RF energy harvesting and management combined design

Abstract

Environmental energy-harvesting technologies, such as solar, vibration, and radio frequency (RF) energies, can effectively increase the lifespan of wireless sensor nodes while reducing their size, weight, and cost. Generally, RF energy harvester design methods are based on ideal energy sources and resistive loads, whereas real RF energy conversion and management are extremely complex and cannot be verified using conventional design methods. In this study, an RF energy harvesting and management combined design method is proposed to attain the requisite output parameters of an RF energy harvester to enable load operation during the design phase. Based on the proposed method, a highly integrated high-performance RF energy-harvesting wireless sensor node (RF-EH WSN) is constructed. The experimental results indicate that the input energies for both the simulation and measurements are equal and consistent (-10 dBm) for identical expected output voltages and energies. The proposed WSN can achieve self-powered operation at a distance of 13.5 m from a 27 dBm RF energy source.