A Comprehensive Survey on RF Energy Harvesting: Applications and Performance Determinants

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Science
• Wireless Communications

Background:

• Internet of Things (IoT) devices require long-lasting power, often in inaccessible environments, making battery replacement challenging.
• Energy harvesting, particularly Radio Frequency (RF) energy harvesting, is a promising solution to power IoT devices sustainably.
• Existing research lacks a consolidated view of factors influencing RF power harvesting system performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of RF power harvesting techniques and their applications.
• To survey the literature on factors affecting RF energy harvesting performance.
• To identify limitations, challenges, and future research directions in RF powered networks.

Main Methods:

• Review of application domains and performance requirements for RF power harvesting.
• Summary of RF power harvesting techniques and associated power densities.
• Comprehensive literature survey on performance-influencing factors: evaluation metrics, propagation models, rectenna architectures, and MAC protocols.

Main Results:

• Overview of diverse application domains and performance requirements for RF power harvesting.
• Categorization of RF power harvesting techniques and their power densities.
• Identification of key performance influencers including evaluation metrics, propagation models, rectenna designs, and MAC protocols.

Conclusions:

• RF energy harvesting is crucial for the longevity and reliability of IoT networks.
• A consolidated understanding of performance factors is needed to advance RF power harvesting technology.
• Further research is required to address limitations and challenges in current RF powered networks.