Wireless Energy Harvesting in RFID Applications at 5.8 GHz ISM Band, a System Analysis

A complete system analysis for an integrated passive RFID transponder designed at 5.8 GHz range is presented, and a comprehensive set of design concerns for the rectifier circuit as the core of the harvesting block is also discussed. The system analysis is complemented by transistor-level design and simulation of harvesting circuits in a commercial 65 nm CMOS technology. A differential drive rectifier (DDR) has been selected as the most efficient harvesting topology for microwave frequency applications, which works at very low input power levels. The circuit was designed and simulated including chip layout parasitics and antenna matching circuitry. Considering the power budget of the tag chip, a power conversion efficiency of roughly 68.4% is achieved in simulation for an input RF power of around -11.26dBm.