This paper proposes a new integration of compact ultra-wideband (UWB) slotted monopole antenna with a diplexer and rectifier for simultaneous energy harvesting and data communication applications. The antenna is composed… Click to show full abstract
This paper proposes a new integration of compact ultra-wideband (UWB) slotted monopole antenna with a diplexer and rectifier for simultaneous energy harvesting and data communication applications. The antenna is composed of four symmetrical circularly slotted patches, a feed line, and a ground plane. A slotline open loop resonator based diplexer is implemented to separate the required signal from the antenna without extra matching circuit. A microwave rectifier based on the voltage doubler topology is designed for RF energy harvesting. The prototypes of the proposed antenna, diplexer, and rectifier are fabricated, measured, and compared with the simulation results. The measurement results show that the fractional impedance bandwidth of proposed UWB antenna reaches 149.7% (2.1 GHz–14.6 GHz); the diplexer minimum insertion losses (|S21|, |S31|) are 1.37 dB and 1.42 dB at passband frequencies; the output isolation (|S23|) is better than 30 dB from 1 GHz to 5GHz; and the peak RF-DC conversion efficiency of the rectifier is 32.8% at an input power of −5 dBm. The overall performance of the antenna with a diplexer and rectifier is also studied, and it is found that the proposed new configuration is suitable for simultaneous microwave energy harvesting and data communication applications.
               
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