Broadband integrated rectenna using differential rectifier and hybrid coupler

Abstract

In this study, a novel broadband rectenna system, capable of extracting energy from multiple RF sources is presented. The proposed topology employs a novel rectifying circuit comprising a two-port differential rectifier integrated with the hybrid coupler on a single board, which is the first structure of its kind possessing higher reliability. During measurement, the maximum efficiency of the proposed rectifying circuit is found to be 70% at 4 dBm with the maximum DC voltage of 3.6 V. The proposed broadband RF energy harvesting circuit, comprising the newly designed rectifying circuit integrated with a broadband high gain Yagi antenna, can operate in the frequency range starting from 1.55 to 2.6 GHz. The broadband operation of the proposed rectenna is validated by performing measurement at three frequency points 1.81, 2.08 and 2.45 GHz using both single tone and two-tone methods in the anechoic chamber as well as in the lab environment. The proposed broadband rectenna configuration can potentially be used for extracting the RF energy simultaneously from multiple RF sources, while delivering the maximum power to a standard load.