Investigation of Amplifier and Rectifier Performance for SWIPT Systems

In this paper, an X-band MMIC amplifier for microwave communication and power transmission system was demonstrated. The measured PldB output power of 29.3 dBm with PAE around 46% was obtained at 9GHz. The amplifier was also characterized as a rectifier, the rectifier exhibited an RF-DC conversion efficiency of 65% at 9GHz. For future application of the simultaneous microwave communication and power transmission system, the input signals shall be modulated. The RF-DC conversion efficiency of a rectifier with CW and modulated signals was analyzed and clarified. It is more advantageous to improve the efficiency of the rectifier by selecting modulation signals with higher bandwidth utilization and lower peak-to-average ratio.