Flipping-Capacitor Rectifier Circuit
AssigneeUniversity of Macau
InventorsZhiyuan CHEN, Man-Kay LAW, Pui-In MAK, Rui Paulo da Silva MARTINS
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Abstract
A flipping-capacitor rectifier circuit that enhances an output power of a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH). The flipping-capacitor rectifier circuit includes a flipping capacitor, a plurality of switches, and an active rectifier. The flipping capacitor is connected in parallel with the PEH and forms at least three reconfiguration phases by turning on one or more of the switches. The active rectifier connects with the flipping capacitor in parallel and rectifies an AC voltage of the PEH. The flipping capacitor flips a voltage across a capacitor of the PEH to enhance the output power of the PEH by extracting power from the capacitor of the PEH.
Claims20
A flipping-capacitor rectifier circuit that enhances an output power of a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH), comprising:
- a flipping capacitor and a plurality of switches, wherein the flipping capacitor is connected in parallel with the PEH and forms at least three reconfiguration phases by turning on one or more of the switches;
- and
- an active rectifier that connects with the flipping capacitor in parallel and rectifies an AC voltage of the PEH,
- wherein the flipping capacitor flips a voltage across a capacitor of the PEH to enhance the output power of the PEH by extracting power from the capacitor of the PEH.
A flipping-capacitor rectifier circuit that enhances an output power of a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH), comprising:
- a reconfigurable capacitor array that includes n flipping capacitors and M switches, wherein the flipping capacitors are connected with each other in parallel or in series to form P configurations by turning on one or more of the switches, each of the configurations corresponding to a reconfiguration phase;
- an active rectifier that connects with the reconfigurable capacitor array in parallel, rectifies an AC voltage of the PEH, and aligns the reconfiguration phases of the reconfigurable capacitor array;
- a switch driver that connects with the reconfigurable capacitor array in series and turns on one or more of the switchers of the reconfigurable capacitor array based on a control signal;
- and
- a phase generate-and-combine circuit that connects with the switch driver and the active rectifier in series and sends the control signal to the switch driver,
- wherein n is an integer greater or equal to 1, and M and P are integers greater or equal to 3.
A method executed by a flipping-capacitor rectifier circuit that enhances an output power of a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH), comprising:
- configuring, by the flipping-capacitor rectifier circuit, a reconfigurable capacitor array that includes n flipping capacitors and M switches by turning on one or more of the switches based on a control signal from a switch driver, wherein the flipping capacitors are connected with each other to form P reconfiguration phases;
- rectifying, by an active rectifier that connects with the reconfigurable capacitor array in parallel, an AC voltage of the PEH;
- aligning, by the active rectifier, the reconfiguration phases of the reconfigurable capacitor array;
- and
- determining, by a phase generate-and-combine circuit that connects with the switch driver and the active rectifier in series, the control signal that is sent from the switch driver to the reconfigurable capacitor array of the flipping-capacitor rectifier circuit,
- wherein n is an integer greater or equal to 1, and M and P are integers greater or equal to 3.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.