A −32dBm sensitivity RF power harvester in 130nm CMOS

This paper discusses a RF power harvester optimized for sensitivity and therefore wireless range, for applications requiring intermittent communication. The RF power harvester produces a 1V output at -32dBm sensitivity and 915MHz. This is achieved using a CMOS rectifier operating in the subthreshold region and an off-chip impedance matching network for boosting the received voltage. Equations predicting the rectifier performance are presented and verified through measurements of multiple rectifiers using different transistors in a 130nm CMOS process.