A Dual-Mode Passive Rectifier for Wide-Range Input Power Flow

To increase power conversion efficiency (PCE), we introduce a new rectifier, which combines advantages of cross-coupled and cross-coupled bridge rectifiers by switching between the two topologies according to the incoming signal power level. In conventional designs, cross-coupled topology attains up to 80% PCE in the low-power range, while cross coupled bridge topology attains up to 80% in the mid-power range. Hence, the proposed passive rectifier provides a minimum of 57% PCE in the entire low- and mid-power ranges. To switch between the two topologies, a voltage detector is used to sense very low input voltages followed by a control circuit. The TowerJazz 0.18-mu m TS18PM CMOS high voltage power management process has been used for this analysis.