A Reconfigurable Hybrid RF Front-End Rectifier for Dynamic PCE Enhancement of Ambient RF Energy Harvesting Systems

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper aims at widening PDR for RF-EH with a proposed design.

It is recommended to update the following aspects.

1) The figure caption for Fig. 2 cites [7] whereas the text does [12]. Either one needs to be corrected.

2) If V_AUX in Fig. 5 is DC, a filtering cap would be needed.

3) Would the authors need VREF independently? If so, it is recommended to add such an explanation.

4) In 3.2, a value of 800mV is stated. It would be needed to explain what determines that value. Without it, readers couldn't design their circuits.

5) The crossing point at 800mV would vary by process and temperature. Please add a comment on the sensitivity on process and temperature.

6) In 3.3, an on-chip L-network is discussed. It is well known that an on-chip inductor has relatively large parasitic resistance and capacitance. It is recommended to add discussion on the impact of those parasitic components on the matching property.

7) Even though it is stated that the quality factor of the inductor is important, the parameters of the designed inductor are not shown. It is recommended to add the inductance and Q value of the inductors designed.

8) Because it is an overhead with respect to the conventional circuit, it is recommended that the power required for the comparator to be shown.  

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This work presents a hybrid RF power rectifier with an integrated impedance-matching network to boost the overall power conversion efficiency. The RF rectifier combines the switched and Diode topology to take advantage of both sides. The overall work is solid and clearly written. Some minor comments are as below:

1. Could you a bit more detail on the circuits in Fig5, e.g. list important device parameters?

2. Could you estimate the power consumption overhead caused by the aux rectifier and comparator?

3. Could you please include the following article in your discussion and/or comparison, as a similar reconfigurable topology was proposed?

U. Guler, Y. Jia and M. Ghovanloo, "A Reconfigurable Passive RF-to-DC Converter for Wireless IoT Applications," in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs, vol. 66, no. 11, pp. 1800-1804, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1109/TCSII.2019.2894562.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf