Starter for Voltage Boost Converter to Harvest Thermoelectric Energy for Body-Worn Sensors

Grzegorz Blakiewicz, Jacek Jakusz and Waldemar Jendernalik
Additional contact information
Grzegorz Blakiewicz: Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Jacek Jakusz: Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Waldemar Jendernalik: Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: This paper examines the suitability of selected configurations of ultra-low voltage (ULV) oscillators as starters for a voltage boost converter to harvest energy from a thermoelectric generator (TEG). Important properties of particularly promising configurations, suitable for on-chip implementation are compared. On this basis, an improved oscillator with a low startup voltage and a high output voltage swing is proposed. The applicability of n-channel native MOS transistors with negative or near-zero threshold voltage in ULV oscillators is analyzed. The results demonstrate that a near-zero threshold voltage transistor operating in the weak inversion region is most advantageous for the considered application. The obtained results were used as a reference for design of a boost converter starter intended for integration in 180-nm CMOS X-FAB technology. In the selected technology, the most suitable transistor available with a negative threshold voltage was used. Despite using a transistor with a negative threshold voltage, a low startup voltage of 29 mV, a power consumption of 70 µW, and power conversion efficiency of about 1.5% were achieved. A great advantage of the proposed starter is that it eliminates a multistage charge pump necessary to obtain a voltage of sufficient value to supply the boost converter control circuit.

Keywords: CMOS; low voltage; low power; starter; boost DC-DC converter; energy harvesting; Colpitts oscillator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/14/4092/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/14/4092/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:14:p:4092-:d:589749

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().