Battery-free RF/Microwave Systems

Abstract:
In the near future one of the main challenging tasks is the wireless powering of a multitude of ubiquitous devices and machines, to allow truly perpetual wireless-powered communication (WPC). This talk addresses possible RF architectures of transmitting and receiving sides for battery-less wireless sensor network scenarios. Multi-domain design techniques, combining EM theory and numerical simulation with nonlinear circuit design, demonstrate successful system implementations. Novel design examples will be discussed, such as tags, incorporating UWB signaling passively generated, for high precision localization (centimeter-level) and their relevant exploitation for predictive maintenance in industrial plants. Smart solutions for energy-on-demand focusing will be presented. Design challenges for both the transmitting and receiving subsystems are introdced together with performance achievements in real scenarios.
BIO: Alessandra Costanzo is full Professor at Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna, Italy, since 2018 where she leads the RF and wireless lab. She is currently involved in research activities dedicated to design entire wireless power transmission systems, based on the combination of EM and nonlinear numerical techniques, adopting both far-field and near-field solutions, for several power levels and operating frequencies. She is VP for publication of the IEEE RFID Council. Chair of the Wireless power Transfer Conference & Expo (WPTCE) steering committee past AE of the IEEE Transaction on MTT, past-chair of MTT-25. She will be the chair of EuMC2022, Milan, ITALY. She is IEEE Fellow.