RF-Energy Harvesting and Wireless Power Transfer Efficiency from Digitally Modulated Signals

The RF-DC conversion efficiency of an RF harvesting circuit when it is excited by digitally modulated signals is investigated. A variety of signals with the same average power but different complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) and peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) properties are applied at the input of a prototype UHF diode rectifier. The rectifier is optimized for maximum efficiency under low average input power levels and the RF-DC conversion efficiency for different output load conditions is evaluated. It is shown that depending on the CCDF and PAPR properties of the applied signal a different optimum load exists which leads to a maximum efficiency.Grant number : This work was supported by GenCat grant 2014 SGR 1551 and by the Spanish MEC and FEDER funds through project TEC2012-39143 (SOSRAD).The work was performed under the framework of EU COST Action IC1301 Wireless Power Transmission for Sustainable Electronics (WiPE) © 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works