The proposed circuit intends to harvest kinetic energy from ElectroMagnetic Generators (EMGs). In order to extract maximum power from an EMG, an AC-DC boost rectifier is designed to match the impedance of the EMG. Rather than operate a buck-boost converter in Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM) in other impedance matching cases, the proposed method is running the boost topology in Boundary Conduction Mode (BCM). So it would perform resistive input matching, while reducing the converter power loss. The boost rectifier also merges a rectifier and a boost converter to reduce power loss for rectification. It also utilizes the internal inductance of the EMG to eliminate the impedance matching error and reduce the off-chip inductor size. An optional buck converter regulates the output voltage to 5 V to power devices through USB ports. The proposed circuit is designed and fabricated in BiCMOS 0.18 μm technology. Its functionality is shown through simulation results. The measurement of the IC is also performed. However, since the IC only work partially, test result is gathered using some discrete components as substitutes. It indicates the circuit can realize the proposed control method. / Master of Science / The development of energy-efficient semiconductor devices has reduced the power requirements of electronic circuits. As the electronics’ scale decreases, so does the energy consumption. In this sense, batteries were also produced in smaller size providing more energy storage availability. However, due to technical and technological issues, the batteries have not been followed by the same evolutionary trend limiting the operational time and performance of portable devices as it need to be recharged or replaced periodically. On the other hand, portable electronic devices such as cell phones, GPS, cameras, etc. are powered only by batteries. For circumstances that power supplies are not accessible, energy harvesting (EH) from human or environmental sources has proven to be an effective alternative or complement. Light, thermal, mechanical and RF are major sources in EH. Among them, mechanical energy from wind, waves, vibrations, etc. is commonly existed in our daily life. The energy is harvested by using micro generators and the various types include electromagnetic, piezoelectric and electrostatic. In particular, the ElectroMagnetic Generator (EMG) is of great interest for its potentially high energy density and efficiency. Since EMG is an AC voltage generator while portable devices usually require a stable DC supply, an EH circuit as a rectifier ought to be designed. At the same time, for EH application, we would like to harvest as much power as possible from EMGs. This research project addresses the development of a unique EH circuit capable of fulfilling the distinct needs illustrated above.

Ocean wave as a renewable energy source possesses great potential for solving the world energy crisis and benefit human beings. The total theoretical potential wave power on the ocean-facing coastlines of the world is around 30,000 TWh, although cannot all be adopted for generating electricity, the amount of the power can be absorbed still can occupy a large portion of the world's total energy consumption. However, multiple reasons have stopped the ocean wave energy from being widely adopted, and among those reasons, the most important one is immature of the Power Take-off (PTO) technology. In this dissertation, a self-reactive two-body wave energy point absorber that is embedded with a novel PTO using the unique mechanism of Mechanical Motion Rectifier (MMR) is investigated through design, analysis and testing to improve the energy harvesting efficiency and the reliability of the PTO. The MMR mechanism can transfer the reciprocated bi-directional movement of the ocean wave into unidirectional rotation of the generator. As a result, this mechanism brings in two advantages towards the PTO. The first advantage it possess is that the alternating stress of the PTO is changed into normal stress, hence the reliability of the components are expected to be improved significantly. The other advantage it brings in is a unique phenomenon of engagement and disengagement during the operation, which lead to a piecewise nonlinear dynamic property of the PTO. This nonlinearity of the PTO can contribute to an expanded frequency domain bandwidth and better efficiency, which are verified through both numerical simulation and in-lab experiment. During the in-lab test, the prototyped PTO achieved energy transfer efficiency as high as 81.2%, and over 40% of efficiency improvement compared with the traditional non-MMR PTO under low-speed condition, proving the previously proposed advantage. Through a more comprehensive study, the MMR PTO is further characterized and a refined dynamic model. The refined model can accurately predict the dynamic response of the PTO. The major factors that can influence the performance of the MMR PTO, which are the inertia of the PTO, the damping coefficient, and the excitation frequency, are explored through analysis and experiment comprehensively. The results show that the increase on the inertia of the PTO and excitation frequency, and decrease on the damping coefficient can lead to a longer disengagement of the PTO and can be expressed analytically. Besides the research on the PTO, the body structure of the point absorber is analyzed. Due to the low-frequency of the ocean wave excitation, usually a very large body dimension for the floating buoy of the point absorber is desired to match with that frequency. To solve this issue, a self-reactive two-body structure is designed where an additional frequency between the two interactive bodies are added to match the ocean wave frequency by adopting an additional reactive submerged body. The self-reactive two-body structure is tested in a wave to compare with the single body design. The results show that the two-body structure can successfully achieve the frequency matching function, and it can improve more than 50% of total power absorption compared with the single body design. / Doctor of Philosophy / Ocean wave as a renewable energy source possesses great potential for solving the world energy crisis and benefit human beings. The total theoretical potential wave power on the ocean-facing coastlines of the world is around 30,000 TWh, although impossible to be all transferred into electricity, the amount of the power can be absorbed still can cover a large portion of the world's total energy consumption. However, multiple reasons have stopped the ocean wave energy from being widely adopted, and among those reasons, the most important one is immature of the Power Take-off (PTO) technology. In this dissertation, a novel two body wave energy converter with a PTO using the unique mechanism of Mechanical Motion Rectifier (MMR) is investigated through design, analysis, and testing. To improve the energy harvesting efficiency and the reliability of the PTO, the dissertation induced a mechanical PTO that uses MMR mechanism which can transfer the reciprocated bi-directional movement of the ocean wave into unidirectional rotation of the generator. This mechanism brings in a unique phenomenon of engagement and disengagement and a piecewise nonlinear dynamic property into the PTO. Through a comprehensive study, the MMR PTO is further characterized and a refined dynamic model that can accurately predict the dynamic response of the PTO is established. The major factors that can influence the performance of the MMR PTO are explored and discussed both analytically and experimentally. Moreover, as it has been theoretically hypothesis that using a two-body structure for designing the point absorbers can help it to achieve a frequency tuning effect for it to better match with the excitation frequency of the ocean wave, it lacks experimental verification. In this dissertation, a scaled two-body point absorber prototype is developed and put into a wave tank to compare with the single body structure. The test results show that through the use of two-body structure and by designing the mass ratio between the two bodies properly, the point absorber can successfully match the excitation frequency of the wave. The highest power capture width ratio (CWR) achieved during the test is 58.7%, which exceeds the results of similar prototypes, proving the advantage of the proposed design.

While 5G energy harvesting makes 5G smart dust possible, stretching computation across power cycles affects cryptographic algorithms. This effect may lead to new security issues that make the system vulnerable to adversary attacks. Therefore, security measures are needed to protect data at rest and in transit across the network. In this paper, we identify the security requirements of existing 5G networks and the best-of-breed cryptographic algorithms for ultra-low SWaP devices in an energy harvesting context. To do this, we quantify the performance vs. energy tradespace, investigate the device features that impact the tradespace the most, and assess the security impact when the attacker has access to intermediate results. Our open-source energy-harvesting-tolerant versions of the cryptographic algorithms provide algorithm and device recommendations and ultra-low SWaP energy-harvesting-device-optimized versions of the cryptographic algorithms. / Master of Science / Smart dust is a network of tiny and energy-efficient devices that can gather data from the environment using various sensors, such as temperature, pressure, and humidity sensors. These devices are extremely small, often as small as a grain of sand or smaller, and have numerous applications, including environmental monitoring, structural health monitoring, and military surveillance. One of the main challenges of smart dust is its small size and limited energy resources, making it challenging to power and process the collected data. However, advancements in energy harvesting and low-power computing are being developed to overcome these challenges. In the case of 5G, energy harvesting technologies can be used to power small sensors and devices that are part of the 5G network, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Examples of IoT devices are wearable fitness trackers, smart thermostats, security cameras, home automation systems, and industrial sensors. Since 5G energy harvesting impacts the daily lives of people using the relevant devices, our research seeks to find out what kind of measures are necessary to guarantee their security.

The proposed vibration energy harvesting IC harvests energy from a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) to provide power for a wireless sensor node (WSN). With a traditional rectification stage, a two-path three-switch dual-input dual-output architecture is adopted to extract power and regulate the output voltage for the load with one stage. The power stage is controlled with a new maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm, which integrates both fraction open circuit voltage (FOCV) and perturb and observe (PandO). The proposed algorithm was able to extract maximum power from a transducer due to high accuracy on the maxim power point (MPP) and low power dissipation. The proposed circuit is implemented in TSMC 180 nm BCD technology and the post-layout simulation verifies the functionality of the proposed design. The simulation results show that the circuit operates under the maximum power point to extract maximum power from a PZT. / Master of Science / The battery life has always been problematic ever since electronic devices exist. As semiconductor technology advances, more transistors could fit in the same area. Resultantly, portable, and mobile devices become more powerful but usually dissipate more power. Unfortunately, the development of the batteries has not been improved significantly. So, it is necessary to charge portable and mobile devices often or replace batteries frequently. In some applications where a device is hard to reach once installed, charging or replacing the battery is difficult. Under these circumstances, energy harvesting from ambient sources is an effective alternative. There are many types of sources of energy widely available in the environment such as vibration, thermal, solar, RF and etc. Solar energy harvesting is the most popular owing to high power density. However, sunlight is unavailable during night time. Vibration energy, although the power density is lower compared with solar, is a viable solution when solar is not a good source of energy. The proposed work utilizes abundant vibration energy at factories to power wireless sensor nodes (WSNs), which can monitor the temperature, light intensity, pressure, etc.

Energy harvesting technologies are crucial for the future green transition. Research shows the versatility and efficiency of integrated energy harvesting solutions. Economic advantages, enhanced energy efficiency, and reduced reliance on conventional power sources can be achieved with well implemented systems. Furthermore, there are environmental benefits from using more renewable energy sources due to fewer emissions from battery production and replacement. One of the challenges with system implementation is achieving high efficiency for various energy sources and system loads. This study aimed to showcase the design steps for crucial system blocks to aid in designing complete energy harvesting systems. The designs are done in a 180 nm CMOS process. A literature study, including recent research on capacitive and inductive converters, gave insight into the limitations of the different topologies. The study also included other crucial blocks for efficient energy harvesting systems, such as Maximum power point tracking and cold-start. In the study, commercially available energy harvesting chips are discussed, and it is concluded that the market is limited regarding alternatives for a wide range of systems. A microcontroller is needed for an adaptable system. For the study, an additional aim was to provide support for an MSP430L092, a low-power microcontroller from Texas Instruments. The support included level shifters and supply voltage generation. Due to time constraints, not all blocks were designed. The designed blocks are a boost converter, level shifters and a Pulse-width modulation generation network composed of a comparator and oscillator. Other blocks needed in efficient energy harvesting systems are included as short discussions of possible implementations from other research and commercially available components. Simulation of the boost converter showed that the main losses are from the non ideal inductor. These were minimised by using a higher switching frequency of 1 MHz and allowing a larger inductor ripple current, which allowed for a smaller inductor. From a 500 mV input voltage boosting to a 2 V output voltage with a constant output power of 120 μW an efficiencyof 88.36% was achieved. A high efficiency was achieved down to 300 mV of input voltage. In the pulse-width modulation network simulation, the main losses were found to be from the current spikes in the buffering stages. Higher voltage threshold transistors and smaller widths minimised these issues. Simulation at 1 MHz showed a power consumption of 5 μW for the complete network and a duty cycle range of 28% to 91%. The comparators standalone power consumption was simulated to 2.3 μW. Some deviations from calculations were noted in the oscillator circuit, which was concluded to be an issue due to the heavy power optimisation. It was not investigated any further in this work but left as future work to investigate the comparator further. From simulated data and datasheets, an estimation for the total combined system efficiency is calculated to be 71.3%. Future work includes the layout of the designed blocks to evaluate the impact of the parasitic extraction.

O uso de materiais piezelétricos no desenvolvimento de dispositivos para o aproveitamento de energia provinda de vibrações mecânicas, Energy Harvesting, tem sido largamente estudado na última década. Materiais piezelétricos podem ser encontrados na forma de finas camadas ou pastilhas, sendo facilmente integradas a estruturas sem aumento significativo de massa. A conversão de energia mecânica em energia elétrica se dá graças ao acoplamento eletromecânico dos materiais piezelétricos. A maioria das publicações encontradas na literatura exploram o uso de dispositivos eletromecânicos ressonantes, sintonizados na frequência de operação da estrutura, maximizando assim, a energia elétrica de saída dada uma certa condição de operação. O desempenho desses dispositivos ressonantes para coletar e armazenar energia é altamente dependente da adequada sintonização da sua frequência de ressonância com a frequência de operação do sistema/estrutura. Este trabalho apresenta o projeto, otimização e análise de incertezas de um dispositivo coletor/armazenador de energia que consiste em uma placa sob duas condições de contorno, engastada-livre (EL) e deslizante-livre (DL), com massa sísmica e materiais piezelétricos conectados a um circuito shunt. Um modelo em elementos finitos de placa laminada piezelétrica conectada a circuitos R e RL é utilizado combinando as teorias de camada equivalente e deformação de cisalhamento de primeira ordem. A disposição/quantidade de material piezelétrico bem como a massa sísmica acoplados à estrutura foram otimizadas utilizando-se um Algoritmo Genético, levando em conta análises mecânica (modelo mecânico, geometria, peso) e elétrica (modelo elétrico, circuito armazenador). Além disso, o efeito de incertezas dos parâmetros dielétrico e piezelétrico do transdutor, e da indutância elétrica ligada em série ao circuito coletor/armazenador de energia foi estudado. Os resultados indicam que a inclusão de uma indutância sintética ao circuito pode melhorar a coleta de energia em uma banda de frequência e, ainda, que a otimização geométrica pode reduzir a quantidade de material piezelétrico sem no entanto diminuir significativamente a energia gerada. / The use of piezoelectric materials in the development of devices to harvest energy from mechanical vibrations (Energy Harvesting) has been widely studied in the last decade. Piezoelectric materials can be found in the form of thin layers or patches easily integrated into structures without significant mass increase. The conversion of mechanical energy into electric power is provided by the electromechanical coupling of piezoelectric materials. Most publications in the literature explore the use of resonant electromechanical devices, tuned to the operating frequency of the host structure, thus maximizing the power output given a certain operating condition. The performance of these resonant devices to harvest and store energy is highly dependent on the proper tuning of its resonance frequency with the operation frequency of the system/structure. This work presents a design, optimization and uncertainty analysis of energy harvester device consisting of a plate with tip mass and piezoelectric materials connected to shunt circuits. Two boundary conditions are used for the plate, cantilever (EL) and sliding-free (DL). A coupled finite element model with R and RL circuits, combining equivalent single layer and first order shear deformation theories, was used. The distribution and volume of piezoelectric material and the tip mass coupled to the structure were optimized using a Genetic Algorithm, accounting for both mechanical (mechanical model, geometry, weight) and electric (electric model, storer circuit) analyses. Furthermore, the effect of uncertainties of transducer dielectric and piezoelectric constants and electric inductance connected in series with harvesting circuit was studied. The results indicate that the inclusion of a synthetic inductance can improve energy harvesting performance over a frequency range and also that the geometric optimization may reduce the piezoelectric material volume without diminishing significantly the harvested energy.

An abundance of energy in our environment exists in the form of light, thermal, mechanical (e.g., vibration, sonic waves, wind, and hydraulic), magnetic, chemical, and biological. Harvesting these forms of energy is of critical importance for solving long-term energy needs and the sustainable development of the planet. However, conversion cells for harvesting solar energy and mechanical energy are usually independent entities that are designed and built following distinct physical principles. The effective and complementary use of such energy resources whenever and wherever one or all of them are available demands the development of innovative approaches for the conjunctional harvesting of multiple types of energy using an integrated structure/material. By combining solar and mechanical energy-harvesting modules into a single package for higher energy conversion efficiency and a more effective energy recovery process, the research has designed and demonstrated a hybrid cell for harvesting solar and mechanical energy. The results of the research show that we can fully utilize the energy available from our living environment by developing a technology that harvests multiple forms of both solar and mechanical energy 24 hours a day. As the proposed research represents a breakthrough in the innovation of energy harvesting, it should pave the way toward building a new field called "multi-type hybrid" energy harvesting.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis aims to present the design and development of an Energy Harvesting (EH) circuit applied to wireless sensor networks (WSN), especially those that perform functions in lighting systems, such as monitoring or control. The primary function of an Energy Harvesting system is to convert, condition and manage energy from an available source in the environment, in order to power low power consumption devices, which usually would be fed by batteries. The most used energy sources in EH systems are solar, wind, electromagnetic waves, mechanical vibration and thermal differences. Thus Energy Harvesting is an alternative to increase the autonomy or even eliminate the use of batteries for portable, implanted or remote located devices. Initially, an analysis of the most appropriate energy sources to power wireless sensors networks is performed, taking into aspects such as energy density, advantages and disadvantages. Subsequently, the proposed EH circuit is developed and tested. One of the specific objectives is that the EH proposed circuit is capable to being adapted for different energy sources. The proposed circuit consists of two stages, the first is a pre-amplifier and rectifier based on Villard multiplier. The second stage consists of a low-power boost converter with a synthesized inductor. The circuit is able to operate with minimum input voltages about 0.3 V, reaching maximum output of 5 V and 100mW of power. / A presente dissertação tem por objetivo apresentar a concepção e o desenvolvimento de um circuito Energy Harvesting (EH) aplicado a redes de sensores sem fio, notadamente aquelas que desempenham funções relacionadas a sistemas de iluminação, como por exemplo, monitoramento ou controle. A função primordial de um sistema EH é obter, converter, condicionar e gerenciar energia proveniente de uma fonte disponível no meio ambiente, de modo que esta alimente dispositivos de baixo consumo que usualmente seriam alimentados através de pilhas ou baterias. As fontes de energia mais empregadas para sistemas EH são solar, eólica, ondas eletromagnéticas, diferenças térmicas e vibrações mecânicas. Desse modo, Energy Harvesting é uma alternativa para o aumento da autonomia ou mesmo da eliminação do uso de baterias para dispositivos portáteis, implantados, ou dispositvos que se encontram locais remotos. Inicialmente, uma análise das fontes de energia mais propícias para a alimentação de uma rede de sensores sem fio é realizada, tendo em vista aspectos como densidade de energia, vantagens e desvantagens. Posteriormente, a topologia de circuito EH proposta é desenvolvida e testada. Um dos objetivos específicos é que o circuito EH proposto possa ser adaptado para diferentes fontes de energia. O circuito proposto é composto por dois estágios, o primeiro, é um pré-amplificador e retificador, baseado no multiplicador de Villard. O segundo estágio é composto por um conversor Boost de baixa potência, cuja indutância é sintetizada por meio de um circuito do tipo Gyrator. O circuito é capaz de operar com tensões de entrada mínima de 0,3 V, atingindo saída máxima de 5 V e 100 mW de potência.

O uso de materiais piezelétricos no desenvolvimento de dispositivos para o aproveitamento de energia provinda de vibrações mecânicas, Energy Harvesting, tem sido largamente estudado na última década. Materiais piezelétricos podem ser encontrados na forma de finas camadas ou pastilhas, sendo facilmente integradas a estruturas sem aumento significativo de massa. A conversão de energia mecânica em energia elétrica se dá graças ao acoplamento eletromecânico dos materiais piezelétricos. A maioria das publicações encontradas na literatura exploram o uso de dispositivos eletromecânicos ressonantes, sintonizados na frequência de operação da estrutura, maximizando assim, a energia elétrica de saída dada uma certa condição de operação. O desempenho desses dispositivos ressonantes para coletar e armazenar energia é altamente dependente da adequada sintonização da sua frequência de ressonância com a frequência de operação do sistema/estrutura. Este trabalho apresenta o projeto, otimização e análise de incertezas de um dispositivo coletor/armazenador de energia que consiste em uma placa sob duas condições de contorno, engastada-livre (EL) e deslizante-livre (DL), com massa sísmica e materiais piezelétricos conectados a um circuito shunt. Um modelo em elementos finitos de placa laminada piezelétrica conectada a circuitos R e RL é utilizado combinando as teorias de camada equivalente e deformação de cisalhamento de primeira ordem. A disposição/quantidade de material piezelétrico bem como a massa sísmica acoplados à estrutura foram otimizadas utilizando-se um Algoritmo Genético, levando em conta análises mecânica (modelo mecânico, geometria, peso) e elétrica (modelo elétrico, circuito armazenador). Além disso, o efeito de incertezas dos parâmetros dielétrico e piezelétrico do transdutor, e da indutância elétrica ligada em série ao circuito coletor/armazenador de energia foi estudado. Os resultados indicam que a inclusão de uma indutância sintética ao circuito pode melhorar a coleta de energia em uma banda de frequência e, ainda, que a otimização geométrica pode reduzir a quantidade de material piezelétrico sem no entanto diminuir significativamente a energia gerada. / The use of piezoelectric materials in the development of devices to harvest energy from mechanical vibrations (Energy Harvesting) has been widely studied in the last decade. Piezoelectric materials can be found in the form of thin layers or patches easily integrated into structures without significant mass increase. The conversion of mechanical energy into electric power is provided by the electromechanical coupling of piezoelectric materials. Most publications in the literature explore the use of resonant electromechanical devices, tuned to the operating frequency of the host structure, thus maximizing the power output given a certain operating condition. The performance of these resonant devices to harvest and store energy is highly dependent on the proper tuning of its resonance frequency with the operation frequency of the system/structure. This work presents a design, optimization and uncertainty analysis of energy harvester device consisting of a plate with tip mass and piezoelectric materials connected to shunt circuits. Two boundary conditions are used for the plate, cantilever (EL) and sliding-free (DL). A coupled finite element model with R and RL circuits, combining equivalent single layer and first order shear deformation theories, was used. The distribution and volume of piezoelectric material and the tip mass coupled to the structure were optimized using a Genetic Algorithm, accounting for both mechanical (mechanical model, geometry, weight) and electric (electric model, storer circuit) analyses. Furthermore, the effect of uncertainties of transducer dielectric and piezoelectric constants and electric inductance connected in series with harvesting circuit was studied. The results indicate that the inclusion of a synthetic inductance can improve energy harvesting performance over a frequency range and also that the geometric optimization may reduce the piezoelectric material volume without diminishing significantly the harvested energy.

In this thesis, we consider stochastic systems which arise in different real-world application contexts. The first problem we consider is based on product adoption and pricing. A monopolist selling a product has to appropriately price the product over time in order to maximize the aggregated profit. The demand for a product is uncertain and is influenced by a number of factors, some of which are price, advertising, and product technology. We study the influence of price on the demand of a product and also how demand affects future prices. Our approach involves mathematically modelling the variation in demand as a function of price and current sales. We present a simulation-based algorithm for computing the optimal price path of a product for a given period of time. The algorithm we propose uses a smoothed-functional based performance gradient descent method to find a price sequence which maximizes the total profit over a planning horizon. The second system we consider is in the domain of sensor networks. A sensor network is a collection of autonomous nodes, each of which senses the environment. Sensor nodes use energy for sensing and communication related tasks. We consider the problem of finding optimal energy sharing policies that maximize the network performance of a system comprising of multiple sensor nodes and a single energy harvesting(EH) source. Nodes periodically sense a random field and generate data, which is stored in their respective data queues. The EH source harnesses energy from ambient energy sources and the generated energy is stored in a buffer. The nodes require energy for transmission of data and and they receive the energy for this purpose from the EH source. There is a need for efficiently sharing the stored energy in the EH source among the nodes in the system, in order to minimize average delay of data transmission over the long run. We formulate this problem in the framework of average cost infinite-horizon Markov Decision Processes[3],[7]and provide algorithms for the same.