Hybrid Beamfocusing Architecture and Algorithm for Microwave Wireless Power Transmission Systems

This study investigates a hybrid beamfocusing method for microwave wireless power transmission (MPT). We propose an optimization algorithm to obtain an optimal coefficient of phase shifters and amplitude controllers with maximum RF power transfer efficiency (RF-PTE) for the hybrid beamfocusing architecture. The optimization algorithm is proposed by iteratively solving the alternative optimization problem. The algorithm is simulated by applying it to an MPT system with a transmitter and receiver composed of patch array antennas operating at 10 GHz. Additionally, we implement a test bed operating at 5.8 GHz. Through the simulations and experiments, the amplitude controllers of partially-connected hybrid beamfocusing architecture can be reduced by half compared with the fully digital beamfocusing to achieve the optimal RF-PTE. Therefore, an economical and less complex MPT system can be implemented by using the hybrid beamfocusing method.