A Sub-10 mV Power Converter With Fully Integrated Self-Start, MPPT, and ZCS Control for Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting

作者：Luo Zhihong^*; Zeng Lei; Lau Benjamin; Lian Yong; Heng Chun Huat

来源：IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS I-REGULAR PAPERS, 2018, 65(5): 1744-1757.

DOI：10.1109/TCSI.2017.2757505

• Charge pump
• clock booster
• energy harvesting
• IoT
• MPPT
• redundant inverter
• self-start
• TEG
• ZCS

An inductive power converter for thermoelectric generator (TEG) is presented in this paper. A novel redundant inverter ring oscillator is proposed to self-oscillate in a very low supply voltage down to 45 mV. An additional self-start assist circuit with a differential clock booster and an exponential charge pump is implemented in the power converter to achieve lower self-start voltage. Boundary continuous-conduction mode, zero current switch (ZCS), and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) features have been incorporated into the power converter. Selective turn-ON dynamical-comparators have been used in ZCS and MPPT circuits to save power and achieve minimum operating supply voltage. Fabricated in 65-nm CMOS process, the chip can self-start at 210 mV. After self-start, only 7-mV input voltage is needed to sustain the power converter operation. With a TEG open circuit voltage of 80 mV and internal resistance of 5 Omega, the chip can provide a maximum output power of 229 mu W with end-to-end efficiency of 71.5%.

• 出版日期2018-5