Design of a Low Input Voltage DC-DC Boost Converter with a Zero Current Detection Circuit for Energy Harvesting Applications

Energy harvesting circuits (EHV) are developed as an alternative solution to provide power to autonomous sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSN) [1]. DC-DC boost converter raises a low input voltage harvested from an ambient energy source and provides a usable voltage for autonomous-powered wireless sensor. This converter uses a Zero Current Detection (ZCD) circuit. The converter sizing strategy was implemented using LTSPICE and Maple environment. The proposed system was simulated using 0.18μm CMOS technology. Using a load of 10 KΩ, the voltage generated in the output is 1V from an input voltage of 0.3 V. The simulated conversion gain is 3.7and the output power is 164μW.