A Selective Rectifier for RF Energy Harvesting Under Non-Stationary Propagation Conditions

In the field of rectifying antenna (rectenna) design, most of the proposed circuits are optimized for a fixed value of RF input power. However, this optimization does not take care to adjust the output characteristics of the rectenna to match environment propagation condition variability. This paper performs an evaluation of the performance of an RF/DC converter, dedicated to RF energy harvesting in complex environments. The random behavior of the amount of recoverable energy is taken into account by the selectivity of the conversion system. A judicious choice of the rectifying diode, as well as the rectifier topology, is made according to the level of the input power. The comparison criteria are the DC output voltage and the conversion efficiency. The obtained results show that the topology of a Single Series Diode (SSD) based on a Schottky diode SMS 7630 is the most efficient circuit for low input power levels below −45 dBm. Whereas for high power levels between 13 dBm and 18 dBm, it is preferable to use a Voltage Doubler (VD) topology with Schottky diode HSMS 2850. Based on Log-distance path loss propagation model, the circuit performance is evaluated according to the path loss exponent for different propagation environment.

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