Single-inductor dual-input dual-output buck-boost fuel-cell-li-ion charging DC-DC converter supply

Self-powered wireless micro-sensors and other miniaturized wireless systems provide energy-saving and performance-enhancing intelligence to state-of-the-art biomedical and consumer electronics and difficult-to-replace technologies such as power grids and manufacturing plants. Unfortunately, micro-scale dimensions constrain energy (i.e., lifetime) and power (i.e., functionality), and wireless micro-sensors require both: for extended sense/stand-by periods and transmission. These applications exhibit high peak-to-averagepower ratios, however, given that transmission demands considerably more power than processing sensory inputs, peak-power and energy requirements are normally mutually exclusive, which is why complementing a power-dense source like the Li-ion battery with its energy-dense counterpart like the fuel cell (FC) improves micro-scale integration and performance [1].