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A scheme to improve PCE of differential-drive CMOS rectifier for low RF input power

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Abstract

In this paper, a scheme to improve power conversion efficiency (PCE) of differential-drive CMOS rectifier for low RF input power is proposed. Auxiliary transistors are utilized to provide forward body biasing for the primary transistors of the rectifier. As a result, the threshold voltages of the primary transistors are reduced. Hence, higher PCE is achieved for lower RF input power. The circuits are designed in a standard 180 nm CMOS technology. Measurement results exhibit a considerable PCE improvement by the proposed design at the RF input frequency of 916 MHz in the three-stage configuration. For 50 K\(\mathrm{{\Omega }}\) resistive load, the proposed rectifier has a maximum 10.9 % PCE improvement and requires 2 dB less RF input power to achieve the comparable peak PCE.

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Acknowledgments

This work is funded by the TEKES Project Dnro 3246/31/2014 of the Tekes—the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Micro and Nano Sciences, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

    Yuan Chang, Shailesh Singh Chouhan & Kari Halonen

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  1. Yuan Chang
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  2. Shailesh Singh Chouhan
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  3. Kari Halonen
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Correspondence to Yuan Chang.

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Chang, Y., Chouhan, S.S. & Halonen, K. A scheme to improve PCE of differential-drive CMOS rectifier for low RF input power. Analog Integr Circ Sig Process 90, 113–124 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-016-0825-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-016-0825-y

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