Disclosed is an apparatus for an application including a core device for the application. The apparatus includes a power (preferably RF energy) harvester connected to the core device to power the core device. Also disclosed is a method for an application. The method includes the steps of converting RF energy into usable energy. There is the step of powering the core device with the usable energy.

The invention discloses a device for collection of tiny charges in the Nano-Coulomb-range and below, comprising at least one capacitor stack build by n capacitors and 2n switches (nϵN), at least one further capacitor outside the capacitor stack as buffer capacity, at least two additional switches and a DC input source. The n capacitors are dedicated to be sequentially charged by the DC input source one after the other, wherein the 2n switches in the capacitor stack couple the n capacitors sequentially to the DC input source. The at least one further capacitor is dedicated to be charged from the n capacitors of the capacitor stack at once. Furthermore, the invention discloses a method for small charge collection, comprising the steps of sequentially charging the n capacitors of the at least one capacitor stack by coupling one capacitor after the other to the DC input source by selectively closing the switches and discharging the n capacitors of the capacitor stack into at least one further capacitor outside the capacitor stack (nϵN). Additionally, the usage of the device or the method according to the invention to collect charges from sources with electrical potentials of a few millivolts is disclosed.

Provided is an antenna device including an antenna unit including a rectifier circuit that receives electric field energy of a radio wave or a quasi-electrostatic field (near field) in a space and rectifies an AC signal into a direct current, the antenna unit including a first antenna element that is a conductor to be in contact with or connected to an industrial product metal portion and a second antenna element that is a conductor different from the first antenna element and provided not to be electrically connected to the industrial product metal portion, in which an input line output from the first antenna element to a rectifier circuit unit of the AC signal output from the antenna unit is connected to the rectifier circuit.

An exemplary unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mountable to a conductor of an aerial power transmission line system includes a body having a rotor system, a motivation system attached to the body to motivate the UAV along the conductor, a battery carried by the body and electrically connected to at least one of the rotor system and the motivation system, a monitoring tool mounted with the body and an inductive coil carried by the body and in electric connection with the battery, wherein the inductive coil is configured to harvest electricity from the aerial power transmission line system and charge the battery.

A batteryless wireless sensor system includes a data acquisition system, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, and a batteryless wireless sensor device. The RF transceiver is in communication with the data acquisition system, transmits a RF signal, and receives sensor data and provide the sensor data to the data acquisition system. The batteryless wireless sensor device includes a RF transmitter, an analog to digital converter (ADC), and a sensor. The batteryless wireless sensor harvests energy from the RF signal and generates a DC signal based on the energy harvested from the RF signal, powers up and operates the ADC and the sensor based on the DC signal, and generates sensor data. The batteryless wireless sensor then transmits the sensor data via the RF transmitter to the RF transceiver. In certain examples, the ADC is implemented as a current mode ADC.

A method for operating a wireless control device includes the starting up of a control circuit following the actuation, by a user, of a control unit coupled to an energy harvesting device to recharge an energy reserve which electrically powers the control device; the sending of a control message including a control command; the comparison of the elapsed time since the starting up of the control circuit with a first threshold value; when the elapsed time is greater than or equal to the first threshold value, the sending of a pairing request message to the electronic unit.

A hybrid electrical power supply control system for providing electrical energy to at least one load. The load may alternate between a first low energy consuming operational modus and a second high energy consuming operational modus. The control system may include a first power source comprising at least one battery unit and a second power source comprising at least one energy harvesting unit and arranged to harvest and convert energy into Direct Current, DC, energy, and wherein the converted DC energy is stored in a charge collecting unit. The control system further includes an operational modus detecting unit and a power source switching unit, connected to the operational modus detecting unit and arranged to alternately connect the first power source and the second power source to the load.

A method for energy harvesting is provided that uses an auxiliary energy storage device as a voltage source for the controller of a main voltage converter system. The auxiliary energy storage device is initially charged with a cold-start voltage converter and thereafter a main voltage converter system is charging a first rechargeable energy storage device until an upper charging threshold level is reached. The voltage of the auxiliary energy storage device is monitored and kept equal to a target value suitable for operating the controller, or alternatively within a predefined voltage range corresponding to the supply voltage range for the controller. A power management integrated circuit for energy harvesting is provided that includes a cold-start and a main voltage converter system, an internal voltage node is kept at a target value or within a voltage range suitable as a supply voltage for the controller.

A wireless device includes an energy harvester and an energy storage that operate in a sequence of energy harvesting cycles to alternately harvest energy and release energy for supplying the wireless device. The wireless device also includes a processing circuit and a wireless communication circuit. A configuration method for the wireless device includes first step where a base station receives a signal from the wireless device indicating wireless communication circuit entry into a receiving operation mode. In a second step, the base station transmits configuration data to the wireless device. The received configuration data is temporarily stored in a memory area of the wireless communication circuit. In a third step, the temporarily stored configuration data is transmitted from the wireless communication circuit to the processing circuit for storage in a memory area. The second and third steps are carried out during distinct energy harvesting cycles of the wireless device.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) efficiency is enhanced using an ultra-low power (ULP) distributed beamforming technique. A phase and frequency offset correction technique is used for beam-forming optimization, a backscattering communication technique is used to reduce power over-head, and a new rectifier and MPT method is used for high efficiency RF-to-DC conversion.