Researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) have developed a new metasurface-based antenna designed to harvest energy from radio waves, according to the Optical Materials Express, providing power to devices with low energy requirements.
“By eliminating wired connections and batteries, these antennas could help reduce costs, improve reliability and make some electrical systems more efficient,” said USF research team leader Jiangfeng Zhou.
The new antenna can harvest 100 microwatts of power, because the metamaterial used to make the antenna exhibits “perfect absorption of radio waves,” researchers said. Metasurfaces provide an “effective surface impedance” for various applications including manipulating electromagnetic waves in microwave and optical frequencies, according to De Gruyter Group.
Clayton Fowler, a USF researcher, said, “The technology could also be adapted so that a radio wave source could be provided to power or charge devices around a room.”
In the experiments, a cell phone was placed close to the metasurface-based antenna during a phone call and captured enough energy to power an LED, according to Zhou, who said it would be more practical to harvest energy from cell phone towers.
Other colleges are tapping the proliferation of 5G infrastructure to create power. Georgia Tech is trying to harvest RF, reported Mobile Europe, with support from the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Science Foundation. A small, flexible Rotman-lens-based rectifying antenna system that worked within the 28 GHz band provided a 21-fold increase in harvested energy compared with another device, reported Mobile Europe.
Additionally, a world where IoT devices are powered by energy harvested directly from Bluetooth, WiFi, and cell phone signals is envisioned by OPPO, a Chinese wireless handset maker, through the use of Zero-Power Communications. For example, low-cost electronic tracking tags can be applied to locate the items, and long-distance tracking devices can be attached to endangered migratory birds that will last their lifetime. Zero-Power Communications systems will also be able to support industrial sensor network applications in extreme environments where the deployment and maintenance costs of using traditional active devices is high, according to OPPO.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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