Abstract
This paper demonstrates the design of an 800-MHz solar-powered active wireless beacon composed of an antenna and an integrated oscillator on a low-cost paper substrate. Inkjet printing is used to fabricate the conductive circuit traces and the folded slot antenna, while the oscillator circuit is designed using off-the-shelf components mounted on the paper substrate. Flexible, low-cost, amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells are placed on top of the slot ground and provide autonomous operation of the active circuit eliminating the use of a battery. A prototype is built and characterized in terms of phase noise, radiation patterns, and the effect of solar irradiance. Such low-cost flexible circuits can find significant applications as beacon generator circuits for real-time identification and position purposes, wearable biomonitoring as well as solar-to-wireless power transfer topologies. The measured phase noise is 116 dBc Hz at 1-MHz offset, while drain current is 4 mA and supply voltage is 1.8 V.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4178-4186 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2012 |
Keywords
- Active antennas
- energy harvesting
- flexible electronics
- harmonic balance
- inkjet printing
- solar antenna
- wireless beacon
- wireless energy transfer
- wireless identification
- LOW-COST
- ANTENNAS
- SUBSTRATE
- BAND