• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.105-116
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• 2019

Recently, there has been an increase in research on wireless sensor networks (WSNs) because they are easy to deploy in applications such as internet-of-things (IoT) and body area networks. However, WSNs have constraints in terms of power, quality-of-service (QoS), computation, and others. To overcome the power constraint issues, wireless energy harvesting has been introduced into WSNs, the application of which has been the focus of many studies. Additionally, to improve system performance in terms of achievable rate, cooperative networks are also being explored in WSNs. We present a review on current research in the area of energy harvesting in WSNs, specifically on the application of simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in a cooperative sensor network. In addition, we discuss possible future extensions of SWIPT and cooperative networks in WSNs.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.149-152
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• 2017

This paper investigated the method for the output of power management IC (PMIC) for BLE beacon with energy harvesting device to be maintained constantly. The capacitor was used to store the energy supplied from energy harvesting device such as solar module and the capacitance was estimated to the optimum value according to the interval for the BLE beacon to send advertising signal.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.803-812
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• 2017

A decode-and-forward system with an energy-harvesting relay is analyzed for the case when an arbitrary number of independent interference signals affect the communication at both the relay and the destination nodes. The scenario in which the relay harvests energy from both the source and interference signals using a time switching scheme is analyzed. The analysis is performed for the interference-limited Nakagami-m fading environment, assuming a realistic nonlinearity for the electronic devices. The closed-form outage probability expression for the system with a nonlinear energy harvester is derived. An asymptotic expression valid for the case of a simpler linear harvesting model is also provided. The derived analytical results are corroborated by an independent simulation model. The impacts of the saturation threshold power, the energy-harvesting ratio, and the number and power of the interference signals on the system performance are analyzed.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.60-64
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• 2016

In this paper, we propose a scheme for MIMO beamforming for the backscatter communication using a multi-tag to improve the efficiency of energy harvesting and the BER of received signals. We obtain a normal channel information through a communication between the H-AP and multi-tag. The H-AP sets parameters for the transmission scenario of the spatial channel model (SCM) using the obtained channel information and generates a SCM channel information. Then, the H-AP transmits signals that have optimal transmission power to increase the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) to each of tags. Tags perform a backscatter communication with signals. The receiver performs a time switching technique of energy harvesting using backscatter signals from the multi-tag. Simulation results demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed scheme, and the harvesting efficiency and BER at the receiver is greatly improved.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.8 no.10
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• pp.3321-3341
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• 2014

This paper investigates the outage performance and optimization for the four-phase two-way transmission network with an energy harvesting (EH) relay. To enable the simultaneous information processing and energy harvesting at the relay, we firstly propose a power splitting-based two-way relaying protocol (PSTWR). Then, we discuss its outage performance theoretically and derive an explicit expression for the system outage probability. In order to find the optimal system configuration parameters such as the optimal power splitting ratio and the optimal transmit power redistribution factor, we formulate an outage-minimized optimization problem. As the problem is difficult to solve, we design a genetic algorithm (GA) based algorithm for it. Besides, we also investigate the effects of the power splitting ratio, the power redistribution factor at the relay, and the source to relay distance on the system outage performance. Finally, extensive simulation results are provided to demonstrate the accuracy of the analytical results and the effectiveness of the GA-based algorithm. Moreover, it is also shown that, the relay position greatly affects the system performance, where relatively worse outage performance is achieved when the EH relay is placed in the middle of the two sources.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.2487-2494
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• 2012

In this paper, a thermal energy harvesting circuit with MPPT control is designed. MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) control function is implemented using the linear relationship between the open-circuit voltage of a thermoelectric generator(TEG) and its MPP voltage. The designed MPPT control circuit traces the maximum power point by periodically sampling the open circuit voltage of a TEG, makes the reference voltages using sampled voltage and delivers the maximum available power to load. Simulation results show that the maximum power efficiency of the designed circuit is 94%. The proposed thermal energy harvesting circuit is designed with $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS process, and the chip area except PAD is $1168.7{\mu}m{\times}541.3{\mu}m$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.78-85
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• 2008

Piezoelectric materials have been investigated as vibration energy converters to power wireless devices or MEMS devices due to the recent low power requirements of such devices and the advancement in miniaturization technology. Piezoelectric power generation can be an alternative to the traditional power source-battery because of the presence of facile vibration sources in our environment and the potential elimination of the maintenance required for large volume batteries. This paper represents the new power source which supplies energy device node. This system, called "energy harvesting system", with piezo materials scavenges extra energy such as vibration and acceleration from the environment. Then it converts the mechanical energy scavenged to electrical energy for powering device This paper explains the properties of piezo material through theoretical analysis and experiments The developed system provides a solution to overcome the critical problem of making up wireless device networks.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.242-247
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• 2017

This study presents a bio-chemical energy harvesting system which can generate electric power from bioorganic substance contained in vermicompost. It produced electricity by inoculating microbial fuel cell(MFC) with earthworm-composted food waste. The generated electricity was converted into usable voltage level for mobile electronics through power conditioning circuits. The implemented prototype showed $200{\mu}W$ of maximum output electric power, which successfully supplied a beacon device which continuously transmitted data to nearby smartphone without a battery. The proposed system can help develop portable or bio-mimetic energy supply for sustainable use with further improvement.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1113-1116
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• 2020

In the EH-WSN(Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Network), the routing protocol must consider the power condition of nodes such as residual power and energy harvesting rate. Many EH-WSN studies have emphasized the power aspect and make the urgency of sensed data less important. However, in applications such as environmental monitoring, stability and latency become more important issues than power efficiency for urgent data. In this paper, we designed a routing protocol that can set path according to data urgency. To this end, relay nodes are determined considering the urgency of date. Nodes with poor power do not participate in routing when normal data is generated, so that urgent data can be transmitted reliably with low latency. The performance of the proposed routing protocol is analyzed by computer simulation.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.274-281
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• 2005

A new resonant pulse converter for energy harvesting is proposed. The converter transfers energy from a low-voltage AC current to a battery. The low-voltage AC current source is an equivalent of the piezoelectric generator, which converts the mechanical energy to the electric energy. The converter consists of a full-bridge rectifier having four N-type MOSFETs and a boost converter haying N-type MOSFET and P-type MOSFET instead of diode. Switching of MOSFETs utilizes the capability of the $3^{rd}$ regional operation. The operational principles and switching method for the power control of the converter are investigated with the consideration of effects of the parasitic capacitances of MOSFETs. Simulation and experiment are performed to prove the analysis of the converter operation and to show the possibility of the $\mu$W energy harvesting.