High Efficiency Distributed Beamforming RF Energy Transfer using a Closed-loop Energy Receiver

使用闭环能量接收器进行高效分布式波束成形射频能量传输

• 批准号: 2225368
• 负责人: Aatmesh Shrivastava
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2225368&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Efficiency; Distributed; Beamforming; RF; Energy

The amount of ambient radio frequency (RF) energy, such as those from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transmitters, is continuing to increase due to the proliferation of internet-of-things (IoT) devices in our environment. However, the underlying technological challenges have hindered the effective combination of energy from multiple transmitters by using distributed beamforming to harvest useful RF energy for a remote IoT device. This project aims to overcome these technological challenges to develop a high-efficiency distributed beamforming technique to combine energy from multiple RF transmitters and direct it to a remote IoT energy receiver. The project also aims to develop a high-efficiency RF-to-DC converter circuit. It will enable a new technique for harvesting RF energy which will be useful for IoT, biomedical, and remote sensing applications. These techniques are transformative for harvesting RF energy with beamforming capability at ultra-low power levels. The research outcomes from this project will be integrated with a graduate-level curriculum offering, a power management integrated circuits (PMIC) course. All designs and results of this project will be made public on the project website. This project will also engage undergraduate and high school students through a high school summer internship program and the Northeastern University’s Undergraduate Program for Leaders In Future Transformation (UPLIFT) program. The project team will work with the College of Engineering Multi-Cultural Engineering program to increase the diversity of students engaged in NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. The graduate and undergraduate students participating in this project will be trained on semiconductor chip design. This project aims to develop a high-efficiency distributed beamforming-based RF energy harvesting technique that combines energy from multiple RF energy transmitters and directs it toward a remotely located energy receiver. Effective distributed beamforming requires closed-loop optimization between energy transmitters and the energy receiver. However, the overhead power consumption of sensing and communication needed to realize closed-loop optimization render conventional distributed beamforming techniques inefficient. To overcome the overhead power consumption of communication, this project will develop a new backscatter communication method. The backscatter communication system will enable an ultra-low-power feedback technique for closed-loop optimization. For sensing phase and frequency offset among energy transmitters, a new ultra-low-power energy detection-based sensing platform will also be developed. The project also aims to develop a new RF-to-DC rectifier topology to enable high-efficiency RF energy harvesting across a wide range of received power levels. Accompanying the RF-to-DC converter design will be a maximum power tracking scheme that will provide output impedance matching to realize maximum efficiency operating point for the rectifier. The combination of beamforming, high-efficiency RF-to-DC conversion, ultra-low-power sensing, and backscattering communication will enable a significant increase in RF energy harvesting. The project also includes development of an RF energy transfer protocol to be implemented in wireless networks. A hardware demonstration of the proposed solutions will be carried out using test chips of the energy harvesting system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

由于环境中的扩散（IoT）设备的扩散，环境射频（RF）能量的量（例如Wi-Fi和蓝牙发射器的能量）正在继续增加。但是，潜在的技术挑战通过使用分布式波束形成来收集有用的远程IoT设备的RF能量，从而阻碍了多个发射器的有效组合。该项目旨在克服这些技术挑战，以开发高效率分布式波束成型技术，以结合多个RF发射器的能量，并将其引导到远程的物联网能源接收器。该项目还旨在开发高效的RF到DC转换器电路。它将启用一种新技术，用于收集RF能源，该技术将对物联网，生物医学和遥感应用有用。这些技术是在超低功率水平下具有光束成型能力收集RF能量的变化性。该项目的研究成果将与研究生级课程产品（电力管理集成电路（PMIC）课程）集成。该项目的所有设计和结果将在项目网站上公开。该项目还将通过一项高中暑期实习计划和东北大学的本科课程与未来转型（UPLIFT）计划的领导者计划一起吸引本科生和高中生。项目团队将与工程学院多元文化工程计划合作，以增加从事NSF研究经验的学生的多样性（REU）计划。研究生和本科生参加该项目将接受半导体芯片设计培训。该项目旨在开发高效分布的基于波束成型的RF能量收集技术，该技术结合了来自多个RF能量发射器的能量，并将其引导到位置位置的能量接收器。有效的分布式波束形成需要能量发射器和能量接收器之间的闭环优化。但是，要实现闭环优化的感应和通信的间接功能消耗使传统的分布式波束形成技术无效。为了克服沟通的间接功耗，该项目将开发一种新的反向散射方法。反向散射通信系统将启用一种超低功率反馈技术，以进行闭环优化。对于能量发射器之间的传感阶段和频率偏移，还将开发出新的超低能量检测灵敏度平台。该项目还旨在开发一种新的RF-DC整流器拓扑，以实现高效的RF能量收获，跨广泛接收的功率水平。伴随RF到DC转换器设计将是一种最大功率跟踪方案，它将提供输出阻抗匹配，以实现整流器的最大效率工作点。波束形成，高效的RF-DC转换，超低功率感测和反向散射通信的结合将使RF能量收获大大增加。该项目还包括开发将在无线网络中实施的RF能源传输协议。该拟议解决方案的硬件演示将使用能源收集系统的测试芯片进行。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，被认为是通过评估来获得的支持。