• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.56-69
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• 2019

Recent advances in low-power sensors and transmitters are driving the search for standalone power sources that utilize unused ambient energy. These energy harvesters can alleviate the issues related to the installation and maintenance of sensors. Particularly piezoelectric energy harvesters, with the ability to convert ambient mechanical energy into useful electricity, have received significant attention due to their high energy density, low cost and operational stability over wide temperature and pressure conditions. In order to maximize the generated electrical power, the natural frequency of the piezoelectric energy harvester should be matched with the dominant frequency of ambient vibrations. However, piezoelectric energy harvesters typically exhibit a narrow bandwidth, thus, it becomes difficult to operate near resonance under broadband ambient vibration conditions. Therefore, the resonating of energy harvesters is critical to generate maximum output power under ambient vibration conditions. For this, energy harvesters should have broadband natural frequency or actively tunable natural frequency with ambient vibrations. Here, we review the most plausible broadband energy harvesting techniques of the multi-resonance, nonlinearity, and self-resonance tuning. The operation mechanisms and recent representative studies of each technique are introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. In addition, we look into the future research direction for the broadband energy harvester.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.83-87
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• 2004

Phase noise performance and current consumption of Radio Frequency (RF) Voltage-Controlled Oscillator (VCO) are largely dependent on the Quality (Q) factor of inductor-capacitor (LC) tank. Because the Q-factor of LC tank is determined by on-chip spiral inductor, we designed, analyzed, and modeled on-chip differential inductor to enhance differential Q-factor, reduce current consumption and save silicon area. The simulated inductance is 3.3 nH and Q-factor is 15 at 2 GHz. Self-resonance frequency is as high as 13 GHz. To verify its use to RF applications, we designed 2 GHz differential LC VCO. The measurement result of phase noise is -112 dBc/Hz at an offset frequency of 100 kHz from a 2GHz carrier frequency. Tuning range is about 500 MHz (25%), and current consumption varies from 5mA to 8.4 mA using bias control technique. Implemented in $0.35-{\mu}m$ SiGe BiCMOS technology, the VCO occupies $400\;um{\times}800\;um$ of silicon area.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.198-205
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• 2005

The mechanical system of a drive can often be modeled as a two- or three-mass-system. The load is coupled to the driving motor by a shaft able to perform torsion oscillations. For the automatic tuning of the control, it is necessary to know the mathematical description of the system and the corresponding parameters. As the manpower and setup-time necessary during the commissioning of electrical drives are major cost factors, the development of self-operating identification strategies is a task worth pursuing. This paper presents an identification method which can be utilized for the assisted commissioning of electrical drives. The shaft assembly can be approximated as a two-mass non-rigid mechanical system with four parameters that have to be identified. The mathematical background for an identification procedure is developed and some important implementation issues are addressed. In order to avoid the excitation of the system with its natural resonance frequency, the frequency response can be obtained by exciting the system with a Pseudo Random Binary Signal (PRBS) and using the cross correlation function (CCF) and the auto correlation function (ACF). The reference torque is used as stimulation and the response is the mechanical speed. To determine the parameters, especially in advanced control schemes, a numerical algorithm with excellent convergence characteristics has also been used that can be implemented together with the proposed measurement procedure in order to assist the drive commissioning or to achieve an automatic setting of the control parameters. Simulations and experiments validate the efficiency and reliability of the identification procedure.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.466-473
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• 2013

In this paper, a compact planar multi-loop self-resonant coil of high quality factor with a coaxial cross section is proposed for effective wireless charging. The proposed coil has high Q-factor and a resonant frequency of a coil can be easily controlled by adjusting distributed capacitance. For designing the coil, a self-inductance and a distributed capacitance are calculated theoretically. The self-inductance is calculated from the sum of the mutual energies between small circular loops that are made by dividing the cross section of the coil. To verify its properties and calculation results, the self-resonant coils are fabricated by using a coaxial cable with characteristic impedance of $50{\Omega}$. The measured frequencies are very consistent with the calculated ones. In addition, the resonant frequency can be adjusted slightly by the tuning parameter ${\gamma}$. The resonant coils are applied to a tablet PC, the Q-factors of the Tx and Rx resonant coils are 282 and 135, respectively. As a result of measurement when height between the two resonant coils is 4.4 cm, the power transfer efficiency is more than 80 % within a radius of 5 cm.