COTS-based modules for far-field radio frequency energy harvesting at 900MHz and 2.4GHz

This paper presents a guideline to design a microwaves energy harvester optimized to convert far-field RF energy to DC voltage at very low received power. Implemented on a standard FR4 board with commercially off-the-shelf devices, the modules are dedicated to 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz ISM bands. The 900 MHz 2-stage harvester exhibits the best sensitivity with a rectified voltage of 200 mV at - 25 dBm of input power. The 900 MHz 4-stage module provides the best overall voltage gain above - 15 dBm with a DC output voltage of 2.2 V at - 10 dBm. At 2.4 GHz the 4-stage harvester yields a rectified voltage of 400 mV and 3.5 V respectively at - 20 dBm and - 5 dBm.