Circuit and method to improve energy harvesting efficiency in piezoelectric harvesters
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsYogesh Ramadass, Anantha Chnadrakasan
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Abstract
An energy harvester circuit is provided. The energy harvester circuit includes a harvesting module for extracting energy from an ambient source. A bias flip module manages the manner in which voltage across the harvesting module transitions when input current from the harvesting module changes direction so as to allow a majority of the charge available from the harvesting module to be extracted. A voltage transitioning module is shared amongst one or more DC-DC converters for efficient energy management.
Claims16
An energy harvester circuit comprising:
- a harvesting module for extracting energy from an ambient source;
- a bias flip module for managing the manner in which voltage across said harvesting module transitions when input current to said harvesting module changes direction so as to allow a majority of the charge available from the harvesting module to be extracted;
- and
- a voltage transitioning module that is shared amongst one or more DC-DC converters for efficient energy management, said voltage transitioning module comprises an inductor mechanism being shared amongst said main DC-DC converter and said one or more secondary DC-DC converters.
A method of performing energy harvesting comprising:
- providing a harvesting module for extracting energy from an ambient source;
- implementing a bias flip module for managing the manner in which voltage across said harvesting module transitions when input current to said harvesting module changes direction so as to allow a majority of the charge available from the harvesting module to be extracted;
- and
- implementing a voltage transitioning module that is shared amongst one or more DC-DC converters for efficient energy management, said voltage transitioning module comprises an inductor mechanism being shared amongst said main DC-DC converter and said one or more secondary DC-DC converters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.