Efficient Dual-Band Single-Port Rectifier for RF Energy Harvesting at FM and GSM Bands

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dual-band rectifier for RF energy harvesting at FM and GSM frequencies, achieving high efficiency and broad bandwidth, suitable for IoT and sensor applications.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel single-port, dual-band rectifier with a 3-port network and optimized matching circuits, fabricated and tested for high RF-to-DC efficiency at multiple power levels.

Findings

Achieves up to 69% PCE at -2.5 dBm

Fractional bandwidth of 21% at FM and 11% at GSM

Good agreement between simulation and measurement results

Abstract

This paper presents an efficient dual-band rectifier for radiofrequency energy harvesting (RFEH) applications at FM and GSM bands. The single-port rectifier circuit, which comprises a 3-port network, optimized T-matching circuits and voltage doubler, is designed, simulated and fabricated to obtain a high RF-to-DC power conversion efficiency (PCE). Measurement results show PCE of 26% and 22% at -20 dBm, and also 58% and 51% at -10 dBm with a maximum amount of 69% and 65% at -2.5 dBm and -5 dBm, with single tone at 95 and 925 MHz, respectively. Besides, the fractional bandwidth of 21% at FM and 11% at GSM band is achieved. The measurement and simulation results are in good agreement. Consequently, the proposed rectifier can be a potential candidate for ambient RF energy harvesting and wireless power transfer (WPT). It should be noted that a 3-port network as a duplexer is designed to be integrated with single-port antennas which cover both FM and GSM bands as a low-cost solution. Moreover, based on simulation results, PCE has small variations when the load resistor varies from 10 to 18 k$\Omega$. Therefore, this rectifier can be utilized for any desired resistance within the range, such as sensors and IoT devices.