A Novel Dual-band Ambient RF Energy Harvesting System for Autonomous Wireless Sensor Node Application

Abstract

This paper presents a novel dual-band ambient Wi-Fi energy harvesting system for an autonomous wireless sensor node (AWSN) which operates independently without other external power source. While conventional wireless sensor nodes employing batteries with limited lifespans, an AWSN is supplied by harvested energy and does not require frequent battery replacement. Due to that reason, research on the energy harvesting aspect of AWSNs has been carried out intensively in recent years. By optimizing the matching network, the proposed ambient Wi-Fi energy harvesting system achieves a relatively good efficiency in dual-band at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz. The efficiency reaches a peak at 47.45 % and 42 % at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz, respectively. The proposed idea is numerically and experimentally demonstrated with the Wi-Fi source in building.