RF Energy Harvesting from Handheld Mobile Band signals

Abstract

This paper presents the design and test a RF energy harvester that can harvest / scavenge ambient RF signals from the GSM Band and Wi-Fi band. The main application of this proposal is to power low energy devices at inaccessible locations and require frequent battery changes using the available wireless power sources. These devices will contain a suitable antenna to catch these RF signals from mentioned bands and convert the RF waves to DC voltages. The RF input signal first passes through a matching circuit followed by a rectifier with optional electrostatic storage devices like Capacitors followed by the load. The RF energy harvesting device is first designed and simulated using the ADS software. The simulated device is then fabricated, and its efficiency is analyzed and compared to the simulated values. An overall average power efficiency of 53.76% was observed in a laboratory setup. The device is then tested in a real environment, and the performance was analyzed for various network loads and varying distance from the RF Source which was a Smart Phone in this case.