Title :
On-chip starter circuit for switched-inductor DC-DC harvester systems
Author :
Blanco, Andres A. ; Rincon-Mora, Gabriel A.
Author_Institution :
Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA
Abstract :
Because wireless microsystems can only incorporate tiny batteries, they typically exhaust stored on-board energy quickly. Fortunately, harvesting ambient energy is a viable means of extending their operational lifetimes, except starting and re-starting miniaturized microwatt harvesters from nocharge conditions is difficult. The challenge is drawing usable energy from millivolt signals under micro-scale constraints. This paper proposes a nonlinear on-chip starter that borrows the harvester´s steady-state inductor to start the system from nocharge conditions. Simulations show that the starter draws power from 250-500 mV to charge 100 pF to 3 V in 48 μs. The 100-pF temporary supply then powers the harvester´s 1-V, 4-μA controller to charge 100 nF by 100 mV in 65-μs cycles until the 100-nF battery charges enough to supply the system.
Keywords :
DC-DC power convertors; inductors; secondary cells; DC-DC harvester systems; capacitance 100 nF; capacitance 100 pF; current 4 muA; harvesting ambient energy; microscale constraints; microwatt harvesters; nonlinear on-chip starter; on-chip starter circuit; steady-state inductor; switched-inductor; time 48 mus; tiny batteries; voltage 1 V; voltage 100 mV; voltage 3 V; wireless microsystems; Batteries; Inductors; Logic gates; Manganese; Steady-state; Switches; System-on-chip; Harvester; photovoltaic (PV); switched-inductor DC-DC converter; thermoelectric; zero-energy startup;
Conference_Titel :
Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2013 IEEE International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Beijing
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-5760-9
DOI :
10.1109/ISCAS.2013.6572441