Design of highly sensitive CMOS RF energy harvester using ultra-low power charge pump

Abstract

This work aims to enhance the sensitivity of the RF energy harvesting system by increasing the input RF voltage and supporting the rectifier by a DC/DC up-converter. The rectifier design concept is based on keeping high input reactance to maximize the resonance. On the other hand, an ultra low power charge pump is connected to the rectifier in order to boost the DC voltage. The system design and layout has been done using 0.13um technology. The simulations show that the sensitivity of system to produce more than 1V for unloaded output capacitor is -29 dBm with frequency band of (0.8-0.9)GHz and it is -24 dBm with (2.4-2.5)GHz.