A 5.8 GHz CMOS Analog Front-End Targeting RF Energy Harvesting for Microwave RFIDs with MIMO Reader

Targeting the feasible application of microwave RFID systems with MIMO reader technology for tracking small objects in multipath fading conditions, we present a fully integrated Analog Front-End (AFE) designed and fabricated in a standard 65-nm CMOS technology for low power passive RFID tags in the 5.8 GHz ISM band. A differential drive power scavenging unit is dimensioned to provide a 1.2 V rectified voltage resulting in a 1 V regulated voltage for the AFE while supplying a 50 μW load. Transistors with standard threshold voltage (V
_th
) have been used for implementation. Measurements of the fabricated circuits show a maximum Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) of 71.8% at -12.5 dBm, and an input quality factor (Q-factor) of approximately 10.