In this paper, a resonant inductive wireless power transfer link using a relay element is analyzed. Different problems of practical interest are considered and solved by modeling the link as a lossy two-port network. According to the two-port network formalism, the standard gain definition (i.e. the power, the available, and the transducer gains) are used for describing the network behavior. Firstly, the case of a link with given parameters is considered and the analytical expressions of the optimal terminating impedances for maximizing the link gains are derived. Later on, the case of a link with given source and load is analyzed and the possibility of maximizing the performance by acting either on the transmitting or on the receiving side is investigated. It is shown that by using a single relay element, it is not always possible to maximize all the figures of merit that could be of interest in the WPT context. Theoretical data are validated by comparisons with circuital simulation results.

A preliminary numerical analysis of the power transfer efficiency (PTE) for the forward link of near-field (NF) ultra high frequency (UHF)-radio frequency identification (RFID) systems is addressed in this paper, by resorting to an impedance matrix approach where the matrix entries are determined through full-wave simulations. The paper is aimed to quantify the NF-coupling effects on the PTE, as a function of the distance between the reader and tag antennas. To allow for a PTE comparison between different reader and tag antenna pairs, a benchmarking tag-loading condition has been assumed, where the tag antenna is loaded with the impedance that maximizes the PTE. In a more realistic loading condition, the load impedance is assumed as equal to the conjugate of the tag antenna input impedance. Full-wave simulations use accurate antenna models of commercial UHF-RFID passive tags and reader antennas. Finally, a “shape-matched antenna” configuration has been selected, where the reader antenna is assumed as identical to the tag antenna. It is shown that the above configuration could be a valuable compact solution, at least for those systems where the relative orientation/position between the tag and reader antennas can be controlled, and their separation is of the order of a few centimeters or less.

In this paper, a theoretical study for the design of multi-source transmitters suitable for perpendicular dynamic wireless power transfer is presented. Unlike conventional systems, the concept presented here overcomes the traditional limitation on the receiver's orientation by providing an optimal distribution of the transmitted energy obtained by using different sources. For this purpose, a theoretical study of different transmitters has been achieved by solving the inverse problem. Comparison with conventional single-source transmitters carrying the same total current as the multi-source transmitters, shows a significant enhancement of the power gain when a Genetic Algorithm is used. The obtained theoretical results show power gain levels over 7.5 dB for different path lengths at different heights. At the end, a solution for a path of an infinite length is presented.

Impedance matching is very important to improve transmission efficiency not only for wireless communication but also for wireless power transfer. Lumped reactive elements are usually used in the impedance matching circuit. These reactive components such as inductors and capacitors have ohmic loss. An exact approach to design the lumped matching circuit at the presence of the ohmic loss is derived in this paper. Moreover, the condition for selection of impedance matching topology is deduced not only for lossless case but also for lossy case. Finally, the effect of the ohmic loss in the impedance matching circuit on the transmission efficiency is demonstrated quantitatively.

By using quasi-optical tools, it is possible to approximate microwave radiation to Gaussian beams, which enables the study of its propagation and coupling to different components. Hence, their usefulness for wireless power transfer and rapid system design. In this paper, a system composed of two reflectors is analyzed both theoretically and by discussing two cases where quasi-optical tools were applied. The near- and far-field regimes were considered and corresponding frequencies of operation, beam radius, and radius of curvature were computed.

This paper presents a resonant inductive link for power and data transfer to a pulse generator implanted in the chest. The proposed link consists of two planar resonators and has been optimized for operating in the MedRadio band centered at 403 MHz. The wireless power/data link occurs between an external resonator operating in direct contact with the skin and a receiving resonator integrated in the silicone header of a pulse generator implanted in the chest. Numerical and experimental results are presented and discussed. From measurements performed by using minced pork to simulate the presence of human tissues, an efficiency of about 51% is demonstrated. The feasibility of using the proposed link for recharging the battery of the medical device in compliance with safety regulations is also verified and discussed.

This work proposes a tunable sidelobe reduction method based on a GaN active-antenna technique, in which the output radio frequency power is controlled by the DC drain voltage of the amplifiers. In this study, a 1 × 4 array of active antenna with GaN amplifiers is designed and fabricated. GaN amplifiers capable of up to 10 W-class power output are fabricated and arranged for a four-way active-array antenna. The fabricated single-stage GaN amplifier offers a maximum power-added efficiency of 59.6% and a maximum output power of 39.3 dBm. The maximum output power is decreased to 36.5 dBm upon decreasing the operating drain voltage from 55 to 35 V. In this study, a 4.5 dB sidelobe reduction is demonstrated in a 1 × 4 active antenna based on this output power difference for each amplifier.

We address transmission between array antennas in the Fresnel region, where there is a difference between the theoretical and actual transmission efficiencies. In particular, we focus on the effect of synthesis loss in the receiving antenna's power combiner circuit caused by amplitude and phase differences among the signals received by the elements. We designed 24 GHz array antennas and investigated the effect of synthesis loss on transmission efficiency via simulation. The synthesis loss was found to increase for smaller transmitting antenna sizes and larger receiving antenna sizes. In addition, to clarify the origin of the discrepancy between the theoretical and actual efficiency values and accurately estimate the efficiency, we defined four other loss factors and calculated them via simulation. Based on the results obtained, we propose an approximate equation for transmission efficiency in terms of synthesis loss and aperture efficiency. Finally, we calculate the efficiency with the effect of the loss factors included and confirm that the calculated and measured efficiencies are almost identical.