Reconfigurable heterogeneous energy harvester for SWIPT receiver and method of energy harvester reconfiguration

1. A method of energy harvester reconfiguration for a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) receiver, the method comprising:

receiving an input power from an RF signal;

determining whether a Nblock-th energy block is activated based on a condition for operating the Nblock-th energy block having a maximum valid input power, among Nblock energy blocks each having a predetermined valid input power;

in response to the Nblock-th energy block being determined activated, determining a number of energy harvesting circuits that are activated, among a plurality of energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block, based on power conversion efficiency; and

reconfiguring power input in the Nblock-th energy block and the plurality of energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block, based on the determination and result of determination.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the valid input power is a range between a minimum value of the input power and a saturation level of the input power.

3. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

in response to the Nblock-th energy block determined not being activated,

determining whether another energy block having lower valid input power than that of the Nblock-th energy block is activated.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the Nblock-th energy block is determined activated when power collected for the activated Nblock-th energy block is more than power collected by activating all energy blocks from a first energy block to an Nblock-1-th energy block.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the determining of the number of energy harvesting circuit occurs,

in response to the number of energy harvesting circuits currently activated in the Nblock-th energy block being {circumflex over (N)} N block , by determining that the number of energy harvesting circuits activated in the Nblock-th energy block is {circumflex over (N)} N block +1 in response to a collected power when {circumflex over (N)} N block +1 harvesting circuits are further activated being more than a sum of collected power from a first energy block to a Nblock-1-th energy block and collected power of the {circumflex over (N)} N block energy harvesting circuits of the Nblock-th energy block.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein

a ratio (ρN block ) of the input power of the Nblock-th energy block in the energy harvester varies in accordance with the power input in the energy harvester and the number of activated energy harvesting circuits among the energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the power input in each of the energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block is distributed so that a power collected from the Nblock-th energy block is maximized.

8. An energy harvester for a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) receiver, the energy harvester comprising:

Nblock energy blocks each having a predetermined valid input power;

an energy storage unit configured to receive and store energy from the Nblock energy blocks; and

a control unit configured to reconfigure a power input in the Nblock energy blocks,

determine whether a Nblock-th energy block is activated based on condition for operating the Nblock-th energy block having a maximum valid input power, among the Nblock energy blocks,

in response to the Nblock-th energy block being determined activated, determine a number of energy harvesting circuits that are activated, among a plurality of energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block, based on power conversion efficiency, and

reconfigure power input in the Nblock-th energy block and the plurality of energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block, based on the determination and result of determination.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the valid input power is a range between a minimum value of the input power and a saturation level of the input power.

10. The energy harvester of claim 8 , wherein

in response to the Nblock-th energy block determined not being activated,

the control unit further determines whether another energy block having lower valid input power than that of the Nblock-th energy block is activated.

11. The energy harvester of claim 8 , wherein

the Nblock energy block determined activated when power collected for the activated Nblock energy block is more than power collected by activating all energy blocks from a first energy block to a Nblock-1-th energy block.

12. The energy harvester of claim 8 , wherein

the determining of the number of energy harvesting circuit occurs,

in response to the number of energy harvesting circuits currently activated in the Nblock-th energy block being {circumflex over (N)} N block , determining that the number of energy harvesting circuits activated in the Nblock-th energy block is {circumflex over (N)} N block +1, in response to a collected power, when {circumflex over (N)} N block +1 harvesting circuit is further activated, being more than a sum of collected power from the first energy block to the Nblock-1-th energy block and collected power of the {circumflex over (N)} N block energy harvesting circuits of the Nblock-th energy block.

13. The energy harvester of claim 8 , wherein

a ratio (ρN block ) of the input power of the Nblock-th energy block in the energy harvester varies in accordance with the power input in the energy harvester and the number of activated energy harvesting circuits among the energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block.

14. The energy harvester of claim 8 , wherein

the power input in each of the energy harvesting circuits included in the Nblock-th energy block is distributed so that a power collected from the Nblock-th energy block is maximized.