Title :
An Efficient Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Interface Circuit Using a Bias-Flip Rectifier and Shared Inductor
Author :
Ramadass, Yogesh K. ; Chandrakasan, Anantha P.
Author_Institution :
Massachusetts Inst. of Technol., Cambridge, MA, USA
Abstract :
Harvesting ambient vibration energy through piezoelectric means is a popular energy harvesting technique which can potentially supply 10-100´s of ¿W of available power. One of the main limitations of existing piezoelectric harvesters is in their interface circuitry. In this paper, a bias-flip rectifier circuit that can improve the power extraction capability from piezoelectric harvesters over conventional full-bridge rectifiers and voltage doublers by greater than 4X is implemented in a 0.35 ¿m CMOS process. An efficient control circuit to regulate the output voltage of the rectifier and recharge a storage capacitor is presented. The inductor used within the bias-flip rectifier is shared efficiently with a multitude of switching DC-DC converters within the system reducing the overall component count.
Keywords :
DC-DC power convertors; energy harvesting; flip-chip devices; piezoelectric semiconductors; rectifiers; vibrations; voltage control; voltage regulators; ambient vibration energy harvesting; bias-flip rectifier; control circuit; full-bridge rectifiers; interface circuitry; output voltage regulation; piezoelectric energy harvesting interface circuit; piezoelectric harvesters; power extraction; shared inductor; storage capacitor; switching DC-DC converters; voltage doublers; Batteries; DC-DC power converters; Equivalent circuits; Inductors; Mechanical energy; Piezoelectric materials; Power generation; Rectifiers; Vibrations; Voltage; Bias-flip rectifier; DC-DC converter; full-bridge rectifier; inductor sharing; micropower; piezoelectric harvester;
Journal_Title :
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSSC.2009.2034442
