A high efficiency 2.4GHz RF to DC converter using 130nm CMOS Cross-Coupled Rectifier

Abstract

This paper presents a design of a high efficiency RF-DC converter which can operate at an RF input power of -20 dBm (10 μW) at 2.4 GHz. The design is done in UMC 130nm MM/RF CMOS technology. RF to DC Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) is considered as the performance metric. Fully Gate Cross-Coupled Rectifier (FGCCR) is used for RF-DC conversion, impedance matched to 50 Ω and the circuit parameters are optimized. Simulation results show that the circuit gives a DC output of 5.5 μW (55% PCE) at 0.267 V for a load of 13 kΩ. A protection circuit to limit internal voltages at high input power is designed.