A prototype of a 900 MHz band integrated rectenna by using a planar monopole antenna with feeder

Abstract

a rectenna designed for wireless power transfer at 900 MHz focuses on conjugate impedance matching and image impedance matching for improved efficiency. To do them, a voltage doubler rectifier circuit (VD) and a planar monopole antenna (PMA) were engineered with the same pure resistance value and integrated into the rectenna. The input impedance of the VD with 30 Ω load resistance indicated a pure resistance of approximately 73 Ω. This value closely matches the input impedance of a dipole antenna operating as a pure resistor. Since the prototype rectifier circuit is unbalanced, the authors constructed a PMA, an unbalanced antenna similar to a dipole antenna, on a double-sided circuit board. In this setup, a microstrip line was created by extending the radiating element, achieving the impedance matchings. Measurements indicated a voltage standing wave ratio of approximately 1.03. A rectenna efficiency of 37.4% was observed for a transmission distance of 50 cm. The rectification efficiency of the VD is nearly 0% when the input power is less than — 20 dBm, and the received power of the PMA is less than — 20 dBm when the transmission distance is 60 cm or more. It is predicted that the rectenna efficiency will be 0% when the transmission distance is 60 cm or more. However, the rectenna efficiency was 24.6% when the transmission distance was 60 cm. This over 20% improvement is due to the connection between the PMA and the VD using pure resistance.