# US 12,763,602 B2 · Energy harvesting-based power supply switching device and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,763,602 B2 - Document ID: US12763602B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 19/004,120 - Filed: 2024-12-27 - Published: 2026-04-30 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2023-10-16 - Assignees: Korea Electronics Technology Institute - Applicants: Korea Electronics Technology Institute - Inventors: Hyunseuk Ahn; Younghan Kim; Changseok Yoon - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12763602B2 ## CPC - H02J 50/001: {Energy harvesting or scavenging} - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY ## Abstract Proposed are an energy harvesting-based power supply switching device and a method thereof. An energy harvester may collect ambient energy and convert the collected energy into electric energy. An electric energy storage may store the converted electric energy. A plurality of power converters may convert the stored electric power into necessary electric power required by loads. A plurality of voltage supervisors monitor a voltage of power supplied from the power converters to the loads. A power supply switching unit switches supply of power from the power converters to the loads. A controller identifies the necessary power of the loads, then switches the supply of power by using the power supply switching unit based on an amount of the stored power and monitoring information received from the voltage supervisors, and performs power switching with one of the power switch and the ground switch according to the necessary power of the loads. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An energy harvesting-based power supply switching device comprising: an energy harvester configured to collect ambient energy and convert the collected energy into electric energy; an electric energy storage configured to store the converted electric energy; a plurality of power converters configured to convert the electric power stored in the electric energy storage into necessary electric power required by loads and supply the converted energy; a plurality of voltage supervisors configured to monitor a voltage of power supplied from the plurality of power converters to the loads; a power supply switching unit comprising a power switch and a ground switch configured to switch supply of power from the plurality of power converters to the loads; and a controller configured to: identify the necessary power of the loads, then switch the supply of power to the loads by using the power supply switching unit based on an amount of power stored in the electric energy storage and monitoring information received from the plurality of voltage supervisors, and perform power switching with one of the power switch and the ground switch according to the necessary power of the loads, wherein the plurality of power converters comprise: a first power converter connected to a first load of the loads whose required power is higher than a predetermined value via a first power switch of the power supply switching unit; and a second power converter connected in common to a plurality of second loads of the loads whose required power is lower than the predetermined value via a second power switch that is located on a line before the line branches to the plurality of second loads, wherein the power supply switching unit further includes a ground switch connected in parallel to the plurality of second loads and configured to perform power switching for the plurality of second loads by switching a ground connection. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of power converters is connected to one or more of the loads through the power supply switching unit. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the loads constitute an IoT sensor, and wherein the first load is a micro controller unit (MCU) in the IoT sensor, and the plurality of second loads include at least one of sensors or data interface elements connected to the MCU. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of power converters is a DC-DC converter. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the electric energy storage includes at least one of a secondary battery and a super capacitor. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, further comprising: a boost charger configured to boost the electric energy collected by the energy harvester to a voltage capable of charging the electric energy storage and then charge the electric energy storage. ### Claim 7 An energy harvesting-based power supply switching method comprising: by a power supply switching device, collecting ambient energy with an energy harvester and converting the collected energy into electric energy; by the power supply switching device, storing the converted electric energy in an electric energy storage; and by the power supply switching device, converting the electric energy stored in the electric energy storage into necessary electric power required by loads by using a plurality of power converters, and then supplying the power, wherein supplying the power includes: by the power supply switching device, monitoring a voltage of power supplied from the plurality of power converter to the loads with a plurality of voltage supervisor; and by the power supply switching device, switching supply of the power from the plurality of power converters to the loads with a power switch and a ground switch in a plurality of power supply switching units, wherein the power supply switching device checks the required power of the loads and then performs power switching with one of the power switch and the ground switch according to the required power of the loads based on an amount of power stored in the electric energy storage and monitoring information received from the plurality of voltage supervisors, wherein supplying the power further comprises: supplying power from a first power converter of the plurality of power converters to a first load of the loads whose required power is higher than a predetermined value by switching a first power switch of the power supply switching unit; supplying power from a second power converter of the plurality of power converters in common to a plurality of second loads of the loads whose required power is lower than the predetermined value by switching a second power switch located on a line before the line branches to the plurality of second loads; and performing power switching for the plurality of second loads by switching a ground connection via a ground switch connected in parallel to the plurality of second loads. ### Claim 8 An energy harvesting-based system comprising: a power supply switching device configured to collect ambient energy, convert the ambient energy into electric energy, store the converted energy, and switch supply of stored power; and an IoT sensor including loads configured to operate by receiving power from the power supply switching device, wherein the power supply switching device comprises: an energy harvester configured to collect the ambient energy and convert the collected energy into the electric energy; an electric energy storage configured to store the converted electric energy; a plurality of power converters configured to convert the electric power stored in the electric energy storage into necessary electric power required by each of the loads and supply the converted energy; a plurality of voltage supervisors configured to monitor a voltage of power supplied from the plurality of power converters to the loads; a power supply switching unit comprising a power switch and a ground switch configured to switch supply of power from the plurality of power converters to the loads; and a controller configured to: identify the necessary power of the loads, then switch the supply of power to the loads by using the power supply switching unit based on an amount of power stored in the electric energy storage and monitoring information received from the plurality of voltage supervisors, and perform power switching with one of the power switch and the ground switch according to the necessary power of the loads, wherein the plurality of power converters comprise: a first power converter connected to a first load of the loads whose required power is higher than a predetermined value via a first power switch of the power supply switching unit; and a second power converter connected in common to a plurality of second loads of the loads whose required power is lower than the predetermined value via a second power switch that is located on a line before the line branches to the plurality of second loads, wherein the power supply switching unit further includes a ground switch connected in parallel to the plurality of second loads and configured to perform power switching for the plurality of second loads by switching a ground connection. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to, using the plurality of voltage supervisors, disconnect a respective power converter from a corresponding load when a monitored voltage supplied to the load is below a threshold voltage, and connect the respective power converter to the corresponding load when the monitored voltage reaches the threshold voltage. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein: the second power switch is coupled to an output of the second power converter on a single line prior to branching to the plurality of second loads, and the ground switch is coupled to ground terminals of the plurality of second loads on respective return paths, such that the plurality of second loads are selectively powered or depowered as a group by switching only the ground connection while maintaining a common supply line from the second power converter.