Design of Tri-Band Microstrip Patch Rectenna for Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting System

This paper presents a tri-band patch antenna integrated with a rectifier circuit for radiofrequency energy harvesting systems. This rectenna is more suitable for low power wireless sensors networks with rechargeable battery supplies. The radiating part is the rectangular patch with corrugated edge tapered at one of its sides operating at tri-band in the WLAN and C band. The rectenna is integrated with a radiating patch reducing the overall size of the rectenna without compromising antenna performances. The rectenna is modeled using an Ansoft HFSS simulator and is fabricated on a low-cost FR4 substrate. The performances of the rectenna are measured in the anechoic chamber and are in good agreement with simulated results. The antenna achieves a -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 100 MHz (2.4-2.5 GHz & 5-5.1 GHz) in the WLAN band in addition to 150 MHz (4-4.15 GHz) in the C band. A DC power output of 298 mV is obtained in the operating bands.