# Diversity Combining for RF Energy Harvesting

## TL;DR

This paper explores the use of diversity combining techniques in RF energy harvesting systems to enhance energy collection efficiency, considering the trade-off with power consumption, and compares different methods through simulations.

## Contribution

It introduces the application of diversity combining in RFEH systems and analyzes their net benefits by accounting for power consumption, providing insights into optimal technique selection.

## Key findings

- Diversity combining improves energy harvesting performance.
- Power consumption critically affects the choice of combining technique.
- MRC generally offers better performance but with higher power costs.

## Abstract

RF energy harvesting (RFEH) is a promising technology for energy requirements of wireless communication nodes. However, providing sufficient amount of energy to ensure self-sufficient devices based on RFEH may be challenging. In this paper, the use of diversity combining in RFEH systems is proposed to increase the amount of harvested energy. The power consumption of diversity combining process is also taken into account to analyze the net benefit of diversity combining. Performances of RFEH systems are investigated for selection combining (SC), equal gain combining (EGC), and maximal ratio combining (MRC) techniques. Simulations are conducted to compare the numerical results of SC, EGC, and MRC, and the results show that although the diversity combining techniques can improve the energy harvesting performance, the power consumption parameters have a critical importance while determining the suitable technique.