A Bipolar-Input Thermoelectric Energy-Harvesting Interface With Boost/Flyback Hybrid Converter and On-Chip Cold Starter

This paper presents a bipolar-input thermoelectric energy-harvesting interface based on boost/flyback hybrid converter (BFHC). Two-type ring oscillators are combined to form as a complementary group with bipolar-input voltage operating range for self-start. With the technique of combining the boost converter and flyback converter together, the system is able to convert the energy with bipolar-input voltages. The open-circuit voltage maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method is adopted in this harvester to extract as much energy as possible from the thermoelectric generator. By dynamically adjusting the switching frequency according to the input power, the system achieves a high conversion efficiency with a wide input range. Implemented in 180-nm CMOS process, the harvester achieves a peak conversion efficiency of 84% at <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{{\text {TEG}}}=260$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mV and 79% at <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{{\text {TEG}}}=-300$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mV. In addition, the harvester can self-startup with minimum voltages of 129 mV with a positive input voltage and −140 mV with a negative input voltage.

[1]  Ana Rusu,et al.  A Dual-Output Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting Interface With 86.6% Peak Efficiency at 30 $\mu {\text {W}}$ and Total Control Power of 160 nW , 2016, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[2]  Sang-Gug Lee,et al.  A Colpitts Oscillator-Based Self-Starting Boost Converter for Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting With 40-mV Startup Voltage and 75% Maximum Efficiency , 2018, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[3]  Takayasu Sakurai,et al.  An 80 mV Startup Dual-Mode Boost Converter by Charge-Pumped Pulse Generator and Threshold Voltage Tuned Oscillator With Hot Carrier Injection , 2012, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[4]  Pedro Pinho,et al.  Smart Surfaces: Large Area Electronics Systems for Internet of Things Enabled by Energy Harvesting , 2014, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[5]  Liang-Hung Lu,et al.  50 mV-Input Batteryless Boost Converter for Thermal Energy Harvesting , 2013, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[6]  Philip K. T. Mok,et al.  Design of Transformer-Based Boost Converter for High Internal Resistance Energy Harvesting Sources With 21 mV Self-Startup Voltage and 74% Power Efficiency , 2014, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[7]  G. Cho,et al.  A 40 mV Transformer-Reuse Self-Startup Boost Converter With MPPT Control for Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting , 2012, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[8]  Yong Zhu,et al.  Flexible Technologies for Self-Powered Wearable Health and Environmental Sensing , 2015, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[9]  Yajie Qin,et al.  A SIDIDO DC–DC Converter With Dual-Mode and Programmable-Capacitor-Array MPPT Control for Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

[10]  Chulwoo Kim,et al.  A DC-DC boost converter with variation tolerant MPPT technique and efficient ZCS circuit for thermoelectric energy harvesting applications , 2014, 2014 19th Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASP-DAC).

[11]  Zhiliang Hong,et al.  An On-Chip Transformer-Based Self-Startup Hybrid SIDITO Converter for Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting , 2018, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

[12]  Anantha Chandrakasan,et al.  A bipolar ±40 mV self-starting boost converter with transformer reuse for thermoelectric energy harvesting , 2014, 2014 IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Low Power Electronics and Design (ISLPED).

[13]  Kai Strunz,et al.  A 20 mV Input Boost Converter With Efficient Digital Control for Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting , 2010, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[14]  David D. Wentzloff,et al.  A 10 mV-Input Boost Converter With Inductor Peak Current Control and Zero Detection for Thermoelectric and Solar Energy Harvesting With 220 mV Cold-Start and $-$14.5 dBm, 915 MHz RF Kick-Start , 2015, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[15]  Giuseppe Iannaccone,et al.  A 220-mV input, 8.6 step-up voltage conversion ratio, 10.45-μW output power, fully integrated switched-capacitor converter for energy harvesting , 2017, 2017 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC).

[16]  Anantha Chandrakasan,et al.  A 330nA energy-harvesting charger with battery management for solar and thermoelectric energy harvesting , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

[17]  Mohammed Ismail,et al.  An Efficient Polarity Detection Technique for Thermoelectric Harvester in L-based Converters , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[18]  Anantha Chandrakasan,et al.  A Battery-Less Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting Interface Circuit With 35 mV Startup Voltage , 2010, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[19]  Bin Shao,et al.  21.3 A 200nA single-inductor dual-input-triple-output (DITO) converter with two-stage charging and process-limit cold-start voltage for photovoltaic and thermoelectric energy harvesting , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC).