DOI : https://doi.org/10.18517/ijaseit.9.2.6506

Design of Energy Harvester Module with a Low RF Power Input for UHF RFID Tag

Ula Grace Rosyidah (1), Trio Adiono (2), Suksmandhira Harimurti (3), Amy Hamidah Salman (4)
(1) Institut Teknologi Bandung
(2) Institut Teknologi Bandung
(3) Institut Teknologi Bandung
(4) Institut Teknologi Bandung
Fulltext View | Download
How to cite (IJASEIT) :
Rosyidah, Ula Grace, et al. “Design of Energy Harvester Module With a Low RF Power Input for UHF RFID Tag”. International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology, vol. 9, no. 2, Apr. 2019, pp. 671-6, doi:10.18517/ijaseit.9.2.6506.
Citation Format :
An UHF RFID system is required to be able to operate at long range coverage, typically at 1-4 m. As a result, the RF signal power received at RFID Tag is very low, typically at -10 dBm. Moreover, practically most of commercially used RFID Tag is passive, which means that it solely relies on the RF signal transmitted from the RFID reader as the power source. Therefore, it is mandatory and critical to design an efficient and low input power RFID Tag system. In this paper, an energy harvester module for UHF RFID Tag, which is able to work at low RF input signal power and generate a stable DC voltage output, is designed. The module is able to operate at a very low RF input power as low as -10 dBm or equal to 100 mVpeak of induced voltage. To obtain such performance, a modified and optimized rectifier-using a Dynamic Vth Cancellation technique, is designed. By using this technique, the rectifier is able to produce an efficient and a high output voltage. Additionally, bandgap reference and voltage regulator circuits are designed to be independent of power supply and temperature variation. As the result, a stable DC power supply output is able to be generated. All the circuits are designed on Silterra 130nm CMOS technology. This technology allows us to design the transistor to operate at a low threshold voltage of 0.1 V, which is very suitable for the application of low input power UHF RFID Tag system.

K. Jung and S. Lee, "A systematic review of RFID applications and diffusion: key areas and public policy issues," Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and complexity technology, Market, and Complexity, vol. 1, no. 9, Sep. 2015.

S. Amendola, C. Occhiuzzi, and G. Marrocco, "RFID sensing networks for critical infrastructure security: A real testbed in a smart energy grid," in Proc. 2017 IEEE International Conference on RFID Technology & Application (RFID-TA), Sep. 2017, p. 106-110.

S.F. Wamba and E.W.T. Ngai, "Importance of issues related to RFID-enabled healthcare transformation projects: results from a Delphi study," Production Planning & Control, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 19-33, Oct. 2013.

(2019) What is RAIN?. [Online]. Available: https://rainrfid.org/about-rain/what-is-rain/

A. Shahrafidz Khalid, E. Conchon, and F. Peyrard, “Evaluation of RAIN RFID authentication schemes,” in Proc. 2016 Int. Conf. Cyber Security. Smart Cities, Ind. Control Syst. Commun. July 2007.

T. Adiono, A.H. Salman, Y.P. Yudhanto, N. Ahmadi, and S. Harimurti, "Highly stable analog front-end design for NFC smart card," Analog Integr. Circ. Sig. Process., vol. 92, no. 1, pp. 71-79, Apr. 2017.

J. Yi, W. H. Ki, and C. Y. Tsui, “Analysis and design strategy of UHF micro-power CMOS rectifiers for micro-sensor and RFID applications,” IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I Regul. Pap., vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 153-166, Jan. 2007.

T. Umeda, H. Yoshida, S. Sekine, Y. Fujita, T. Suzuki, S. Otaka, "A 950-MHz rectifier circuit for sensor network tags with 10-m distance," IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 35-41, Jan. 2006.

H. Nakamoto, D. Yamazaki, T. Yamamoto, H. Kurata, S. Yamada, K. Mukaida, et al., "A passive UHF RF identification CMOS Tag IC Using Ferroelectric RAM in 0.35-mm technology," IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 101-110, Jan. 2007.

K. Kotani and T. Ito, "High-efficiency CMOS rectifier circuit with self-Vth-cancellation and power regulation functions for UHF RFIDs," in Proc. 2007 IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference (ASSCC’07), Nov. 2007, p. 119-122.

S. Jinpeng, W. Bo, L. Shan, W. Xin’an, R. Zhengkun, L. Shoucheng, "A passive UHF RFID tag with a dynamic-Vth-cancellation rectifier," J. Semicond., vol. 34, no. 9, pp. 095005, Sep. 2013.

K. Lin, B. Wang, X. Wang, J. Hou, C. Wang, X. Zhang, "A High-Efficient Energy Harvest Chain for Ultra-Low Power Passive UHF RRFID Tags," in Proc. 2014 12th IEEE International Conference on Solid-State and Integrated Circuit Technology (ICSICT 2014), Oct. 2014.

D. J. Yeager, “Development and Application of Wirelessly-Powered Sensor Nodes,” M. S. thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, 2009.

Y. Wang, G. Wen, W. Mao, Y. He, and X. Zhu, “Design of a passive UHF RFID tag for the ISO18000-6C protocol,” J. Semicond., vol. 32, no. 5, p. 055009, May 2011.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
    2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
    3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).