KR102121744B1 - Energy Harvesting Apparatus, System, and Method for Estimating Ambient Energy Intensity - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an energy harvesting device, a system, and a method for estimating the ambient energy intensity while harvesting ambient energy. According to the present invention, the energy harvesting device comprises an energy converter, an energy storage device, an output voltage/current detector, and a switch unit. The energy converter receives ambient energy to convert the ambient energy into direct current (DC) power having a DC voltage and a DC current, and output the same. The energy storage device receives and stores the DC power. The output voltage/current detector has a certain reference load value, and detects at least one of the DC voltage and DC current outputted from the energy converter to estimate the intensity of the ambient energy. The switch unit connects the energy converter and the energy storage device or connects the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector.

Description

Energy Harvesting Apparatus, System, and Method for Estimating Ambient Energy Intensity

The present invention relates to an energy harvesting system, and more particularly, to an energy harvesting apparatus, system and method for estimating the intensity of the input ambient energy while receiving and receiving ambient energy.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) technology spreads in a wide range of fields, the use of ultra-small/ultra-low power IoT devices is expected to increase explosively, and related industries are also expected to grow. However, since the IoT device also adopts a power supply method through a battery or wired power connection for driving, there are constraints on the usage environment of the IoT device and maintenance costs, which acts as a barrier to the proliferation of related devices.

Recently, in order to solve the problem of utilizing existing IoT devices, disposable IoT devices have been developed that are implemented in an ultra-low power/ultra-low-cost type and have the convenience of writing and discarding while performing basic functions with limited communication speed.

In addition, in order to solve the problem caused by the use of a battery having a finite power capacity of the IoT device, the power system technology of the IoT device connected with the energy harvesting technology capable of improving power regeneration and power survivability through collection/conversion of ambient energy is also required. Is becoming.

Published Patent Publication No. 2019-0015231 (2019.02.13.)

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an energy harvesting apparatus, system, and method for estimating the intensity of the input ambient energy while performing energy harvesting by receiving ambient energy.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an energy converter that receives the ambient energy and converts it into DC power having DC voltage and DC current and outputs it; An energy storage device receiving and storing the DC power; An output voltage/current detector that has a constant load value and detects at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current output from the energy converter to estimate the intensity of the ambient energy; And a switch unit for connecting the energy converter and the energy storage device or connecting the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector.

The DC voltage and the DC current detected based on the constant load value are proportional to the intensity of ambient energy.

The output voltage/current detector may include at least one of a passive element and an active element.

When the ambient energy is RF energy, the energy converter may be an RF-to-DC converter.

The energy storage device may include at least one of a secondary battery and a supercapacitor.

The energy harvesting device according to the present invention, interposed between the switch unit and the energy storage device, a DC regulator for converting the DC voltage output from the energy converter to a loadable DC voltage; have.

The energy harvesting apparatus according to the present invention controls the switch unit, and when the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector are connected to the switch unit, at least one of DC voltage and DC current detected from the output voltage/current detector is connected. And a controller configured to receive and estimate the intensity of the ambient energy from at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current.

When the energy harvesting, the controller connects the energy converter and the energy storage device to the switch unit.

When estimating the ambient energy, the controller connects the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector to the switch unit.

The controller may estimate the intensity of the surrounding energy periodically or aperiodically.

In another aspect, the present invention, the energy harvesting device receives the surrounding energy into the energy converter, converting it into DC power having DC voltage and DC current, and outputting it; In the case of energy harvesting, the energy harvesting device connecting the energy converter and the energy storage device to a switch unit to store DC power output from the energy converter in the energy storage device; When estimating the ambient energy intensity, the energy harvesting device connects the energy converter and an output voltage/current detector having a constant load value to the switch unit, and the DC voltage output from the energy converter to the output voltage/current detector and Detecting at least one of the DC currents; And estimating the intensity of the ambient energy by at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current detected by the energy harvesting device.

The present invention is also an energy harvesting device having an energy converter, a switch unit, an energy storage device, and an output voltage/current detector having a constant load value, and a method for estimating the ambient energy intensity of a load for an energy harvesting system including a load. , The load connecting the energy converter and the energy storage device to the switch of the energy harvesting device to store the DC power output from the energy converter to the energy storage device; The load connecting the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector to the switch unit to detect at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current output from the energy converter with the output voltage/current detector; And receiving at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current detected by the load from the output voltage/current detector, and estimating the intensity of the ambient energy as at least one of the received DC voltage and the DC current. It provides a method for estimating the ambient energy intensity of a load for an energy harvesting system.

The present invention is also an energy harvesting device for generating DC power by collecting ambient energy, and detecting at least one of DC voltage and DC current of the DC power; And a load that receives the DC power from the energy harvesting device and operates.

The energy harvesting device includes: an energy converter that receives ambient energy and converts it into the DC power having the DC voltage and the DC current, and outputs the converted energy; An energy storage device receiving and storing the DC power; An output voltage/current detector having a constant load value and detecting at least one of the DC voltage and the DC output from the energy converter to estimate the intensity of the ambient energy; And a switch unit connecting the energy converter and the energy storage device or connecting the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector.

The energy harvesting device controls the switch unit, and when the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector are connected to the switch unit, receives at least one of DC voltage and DC current detected from the output voltage/current detector, The controller may estimate the intensity of the ambient energy from the received DC voltage and the DC current.

The energy harvesting device may further include a DC regulator interposed between the switch unit and the energy storage device and converting the DC voltage output from the energy converter into a DC voltage usable by the load.

The load controls the switch unit, and when the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector are connected to the switch unit, receives and receives at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current detected from the output voltage/current detector. The intensity of the ambient energy may be estimated from at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current.

And the load may include an IoT device.

According to the present invention, since the energy harvesting device can estimate the intensity of the ambient energy while performing the energy harvesting by collecting the ambient energy, it can be collected in the surrounding environment without the addition of an additional sensor for monitoring the ambient energy. You can simply provide information about the intensity of the surrounding energy.

The energy harvesting device according to the present invention is an output voltage/current detector having a constant load value, and detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current output from the energy converter, and detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current from the surrounding energy. You can estimate the intensity of That is, since the output DC voltage and DC current detected based on a constant load value have a property proportional to the intensity of the ambient energy input to the energy converter, an additional sensor is added for monitoring the ambient energy using these properties. Without, you can simply estimate the intensity of the surrounding energy.

1 is a block diagram showing an energy harvesting system for estimating ambient energy intensity according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the energy harvesting device of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the output voltage/current detector of FIG. 2.
4 is a graph showing a change in output voltage according to a change in output load value under the same input power condition.
5 is a graph showing a change in output voltage according to a change in input power under a constant load value condition.
6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of estimating an ambient energy intensity of an energy harvesting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a block diagram showing an energy harvesting system for estimating ambient energy intensity according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of estimating an ambient energy intensity of an energy harvesting system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

It should be noted that in the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the embodiments of the present invention are described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted without detracting from the gist of the present invention.

The terms or words used in the present specification and claims described below should not be construed as being limited to ordinary or lexical meanings, and the inventor is appropriate as a concept of terms to describe his or her invention in the best way. Based on the principle that it can be defined, it should be interpreted as meanings and concepts consistent with the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the configuration shown in the embodiments and drawings described in this specification is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and does not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention, and various equivalents that can replace them at the time of this application It should be understood that there may be and variations.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment]

1 is a block diagram showing an energy harvesting system for estimating ambient energy intensity according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the energy harvesting system 100 according to the first embodiment includes an energy harvesting device 10 and a load 60. The energy harvesting device 10 collects ambient energy to generate DC power, and detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current of DC power to estimate the intensity of the ambient energy. And the load 60 operates by receiving DC power from the energy harvesting device 10.

Here, the energy harvesting device 10 estimates the ambient energy intensity while harvesting the ambient energy. The energy harvesting device 10 includes an energy harvesting unit 20, a switch unit 30, and an output voltage/current detector 40. The energy harvesting unit 20 collects ambient energy to generate DC power and stores the generated DC power. The energy harvesting unit 20 supplies DC power required for driving the load 60. The output voltage/current detector 40 has a constant load value, and among the DC voltage and DC current of DC power generated by the energy harvesting unit 20 to estimate the intensity of ambient energy input to the energy harvesting unit 20 At least one is detected. The switch unit 30 switches energy harvesting and estimation of ambient energy intensity.

In addition, the load 60 is an electronic device for actually driving, and includes, for example, a sensor, an IoT device, and the like. IoT devices include industrial/home IoT sensors, beacons, smart tags, rental bicycle theft prevention services, medical services, environmental monitoring services, building condition management services, agricultural and livestock management services, logistics services, medical patient management services, remote environment monitoring services, etc. It can be applied to various fields, but is not limited to this.

The energy harvesting apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 as follows. Here, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the energy harvesting device 10 of FIG. 1. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the output voltage/current detector 40 of FIG. 2. 4 is a graph showing a change in output voltage according to a change in output load value under the same input power condition. And FIG. 5 is a graph showing a change in output voltage according to a change in input power under a constant load value condition.

The energy harvesting device 10 according to the first embodiment includes an energy harvesting unit 20, a switch unit 30 and an output voltage/current detector 40. Here, the energy harvesting unit 20 includes an energy converter 21 and an energy storage device 25. The energy converter 21 receives ambient energy, converts it into DC power having DC voltage and DC current, and outputs it. The energy storage device 25 receives and stores DC power. The output voltage/current detector 40 has a constant load value and detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current output from the energy converter 21 in order to estimate the intensity of ambient energy. In addition, the switch unit 30 connects the energy converter 21 and the energy storage device 25 or connects the energy converter 21 and the output voltage/current detector 40. The energy harvesting unit 20 may further include a DC regulator 23. The energy harvesting device 10 may further include a controller 50.

The energy converter 21 is a converter that receives ambient energy and converts it into DC power. Here, the surrounding energy is energy that can be easily obtained in the surrounding environment, and includes, for example, solar energy, RF energy, piezoelectric energy, friction force energy, and the like. When the ambient energy is RF energy, the energy converter 21 may be an RF-to-DC converter.

The switch unit 30 switches under the control of the controller 50 to connect the energy converter 21 to one of the energy storage device 25 and the output voltage/current detector 40. When performing energy harvesting, the switch unit 30 connects the energy converter 21 to the energy storage device 25. When estimating the intensity of ambient energy, the energy converter 21 is connected to the output voltage/current detector 40.

The energy storage device 25 receives and stores DC power through the energy converter 21. The energy storage device 25 supplies power required for the load 60 under the control of the controller 50. The energy storage device 25 includes at least one of a secondary battery and a supercapacitor.

The DC regulator 23 is interposed between the switch unit 30 and the energy storage device 25, and converts the DC voltage output from the energy converter 21 into a DC voltage that can be used by the load 60, thereby saving the energy storage device ( 25). The energy storage device 25 stores DC power that has passed through the DC regulator 23.

The output voltage/current detector 40 detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current output from the energy converter 21. Since the output voltage/current detector 40 has a constant load value, the energy converter 21 outputs DC voltage and DC current proportional to the intensity of the ambient energy input to the energy converter 21. The output voltage/current detector 40 is connected to the output terminal of the energy converter 21 to detect at least one of DC voltage and DC current output from the energy converter 21.

The output voltage/current detector 40 may be implemented as a passive element or an active element having a constant load value. Since the power consumption of the passive element is relatively small compared to the active element, the output voltage/current detector 40 is preferably composed of a passive element. FIG. 3 discloses an example in which the output voltage/current detector 40 is implemented as a passive element including at least one of a resistor and a capacitor. For example, when the output voltage/current detector 40 is composed of a resistor as shown in FIG. 3(a), a constant load value may be 10 µs or more, and preferably 10 µs to 10 µs.

The reason for detecting the output DC voltage of the energy converter 21 with the output voltage/current detector 40 having a constant load value will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 as follows.

First, if the energy converter 21 outputs a DC voltage in proportion to the intensity of the ambient energy input regardless of a change in the output load value, the intensity of the ambient energy input from the output DC voltage of the energy converter 21 can be estimated. have.

That is, if the energy converter 21 outputs a constant DC voltage regardless of the change in the output load value for the same intensity of ambient energy, the intensity of the ambient energy input from the output DC voltage of the energy converter 21 can be estimated. .

However, as shown in FIG. 4, the energy converter 21 increases the strength of the input power from the output DC voltage because the output DC voltage also changes when the output load value changes for the same input power (energy). Cannot be estimated In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents the output load value (㏁), and the vertical axis represents the output DC voltage (V).

In other words, the load value of the load 60 including the IoT device generally varies depending on the operation situation. The change in the load value according to the operating situation is unpredictable in a power system that supplies power. However, the power system may be configured to be able to supply the maximum output power required by the load 60. Since the energy harvesting system 100 generates electric power using ambient energy, whether or not energy harvesting is possible and efficiency is determined according to the ambient energy situation and the output load situation of the load 60. Depending on the output load situation of the load 60, the value of the DC voltage output from the energy converter 21 is changed even though the intensity of the surrounding energy is the same.

Conversely, if a constant load value is always maintained, the value of the DC voltage output from the energy converter 21 is determined in proportion to the intensity of the input ambient energy. Accordingly, it can be seen that the energy converter 21 generates an output DC voltage level in proportion to the magnitude of the input ambient energy for a constant or fixed output load value, as shown in FIG. 5. That is, when the estimation of the ambient energy intensity is required, the output DC voltage proportional to the intensity of the ambient energy can be detected by connecting the output voltage/current detector 40 having a constant load value to the energy converter 21. And the intensity of the surrounding energy can be estimated from the detected DC voltage. In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis represents input power (dBm; intensity of ambient energy), and the vertical axis represents output DC voltage (V).

As such, the output voltage/current detector 40 serves to maintain a constant load value. When it is necessary to estimate the intensity of the input ambient energy, when the output terminal of the energy converter 21 is connected to the output voltage/current detector 40, the output DC voltage is a constant voltage corresponding to the intensity of the input constant ambient energy. Form a level. Therefore, since the output voltage/current detector 40 has a constant load value, it is possible to estimate the input ambient energy intensity by detecting the output DC voltage value of the energy converter 21.

Meanwhile, the reason for detecting the output DC voltage of the energy converter 21 with the output voltage/current detector 40 having a constant load value has been described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, but with the output voltage/current detector 40 The reason for detecting the output DC current of the energy converter 21 is the same as the reason for detecting the output DC voltage, so a description thereof will be omitted. That is, the output DC current of the energy converter 21 is proportional to the intensity of the input ambient energy.

In addition, the controller 50 controls the overall operation of the energy harvesting device 10. The controller 50 may estimate the intensity of the input ambient energy while performing energy harvesting through the control of the switch unit 30.

In order to perform energy harvesting, the controller 50 connects the energy converter 21 and the energy storage device 25 to the switch unit 30 to convert DC power output from the energy converter 21 to the energy storage device 25 ).

In order to perform the estimation of the ambient energy intensity, the controller 50 switches the connection of the energy converter 21 and the energy storage device 25 to the switch unit 30 so that the energy converter 21 and the output voltage/current detector ( 40). The controller 50 detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current output from the energy converter 21 with the output voltage/current detector 40. The controller 50 receives at least one of the DC voltage and DC current detected from the output voltage/current detector 40 and estimates the intensity of the ambient energy input from at least one of the received DC voltage and DC current. In addition, the controller 50 may transmit the estimated intensity of the surrounding energy to the load 60.

The controller 50 may periodically or aperiodically estimate the ambient energy intensity. Alternatively, the controller 50 may perform estimation of the ambient energy intensity at the request of the load 60.

The controller 50 may perform estimation of the intensity of the surrounding energy after the energy storage device 25 is charged with power above a certain level. That is, when the energy storage device 25 is in a state in which it is possible to operate by charging a power of a predetermined level or more, the controller 50 may perform estimation of the surrounding energy intensity.

A method of estimating the ambient energy intensity of the energy harvesting device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6 as follows. Here, FIG. 6 is a flow chart according to a method for estimating the ambient energy intensity of the energy harvesting device 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, an example of detecting a DC voltage has been disclosed to estimate the ambient energy intensity.

First, in step S10, the energy harvesting device receives ambient energy through an energy converter, converts it into DC power having a DC voltage, and outputs it.

Next, in step S30, the energy harvesting device determines whether energy harvesting or ambient energy intensity estimation.

When energy harvesting is performed as a result of the determination in step S30, in step S50, the energy harvesting device connects the energy converter and the energy storage device to the switch unit to store DC power output from the energy converter in the energy storage device.

When the ambient energy intensity is estimated as a result of the determination in step S30, in step S70, the energy harvesting device connects the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector to the switch to detect the DC voltage output from the energy converter with the output voltage/current detector. do.

In step S90, the energy harvesting device estimates the intensity of the surrounding energy from the detected DC voltage.

In step S100, the energy harvesting device determines whether an end signal is input. If the end signal is not input in step S100, the energy harvesting device performs again from step S30.

After step S90, the energy harvesting device may transmit the estimated intensity of the surrounding energy to the load.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the energy harvesting device collects ambient energy and estimates the intensity of the ambient energy while performing energy harvesting. Therefore, the environment is not added without additional sensors for monitoring the ambient energy. Can simply provide information about the intensity of the surrounding energy that can be collected.

The energy harvesting apparatus according to the first embodiment may detect a DC voltage output from the energy converter with an output voltage/current detector having a constant load value, and estimate the intensity of ambient energy from the detected DC voltage. That is, since the output DC voltage detected based on a constant load value has a characteristic proportional to the intensity of the ambient energy input to the energy converter, the ambient energy can be used without adding an additional sensor for monitoring the ambient energy using these characteristics. You can easily estimate the intensity of

In other words, in the case of energy harvesting, the amount of power generated by collecting the surrounding energy is micro or nanowatt, which is very small compared to the existing battery and wired power supply systems. Therefore, the output voltage/current detector 40, the controller 50, or the load 60 driven in the energy harvesting system should be driven with ultra-low power. The method of estimating the ambient energy intensity according to the first embodiment can efficiently estimate the ambient energy intensity by detecting the output DC voltage with low power in the energy harvesting system 100.

[Second Embodiment]

Meanwhile, in the first embodiment, an example in which the energy harvesting device 10 estimates the ambient energy intensity by detecting the DC voltage output from the energy converter 21 with the output voltage/current detector 40 is disclosed. It is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the energy harvesting device 110 detects at least one of the DC voltage and DC current output from the energy converter 21 by the output voltage/current detector 40, and detects the DC voltage And the estimation of the ambient energy intensity using at least one of the DC currents may be performed at the load 160.

7 is a block diagram showing an energy harvesting system 200 for estimating ambient energy intensity according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the energy harvesting system 200 according to the second embodiment includes an energy harvesting device 110 and a load 160. The energy harvesting device 110 collects ambient energy to generate DC power, and detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current of the DC power. And the load 160 is operated by receiving DC power from the energy harvesting device 110, and controls the driving of the energy harvesting device 110, DC voltage and DC current detected from the energy harvesting device 110 The intensity of the surrounding energy is estimated by receiving at least one of them.

The energy harvesting device 110 according to the second embodiment includes an energy harvesting unit 20, a switch unit 30 and an output voltage/current detector 40. Here, the energy harvesting unit 20 includes an energy converter 21 and an energy storage device 25, and may further include a DC regulator 23.

Since the energy harvesting device 110 according to the second embodiment is the same as the energy harvesting device 10 according to the first embodiment, except that it does not include a controller, description of overlapping components is omitted do.

In addition, the load 160 controls the overall operation of the energy harvesting device 110. The load 160 estimates the intensity of the input ambient energy while performing energy harvesting through the control of the switch unit 30.

That is, in the second embodiment, the load 160 may perform the function of the controller according to the first embodiment.

In order to perform energy harvesting, the load 160 connects the energy converter 21 and the energy storage device 25 to the switch unit 30 to convert DC power output from the energy converter 21 to the energy storage device 25 ).

In order to perform the estimation of the ambient energy intensity, the load 160 switches the connection between the energy converter 21 and the energy storage device 25 to the switch unit 30, thereby converting the energy converter 21 and the output voltage/current detector ( 40). The load 160 detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current output from the energy converter 21 with the output voltage/current detector 40. The load 160 receives at least one of the DC voltage and DC current detected from the output voltage/current detector 40 and estimates the intensity of the ambient energy input from at least one of the received DC voltage and DC current.

The load 160 may periodically or aperiodically estimate the ambient energy intensity.

The load 160 may perform estimation of the ambient energy intensity after the energy storage device 25 is charged with power above a certain level. That is, when the energy storage device 25 is in a state in which it is possible to operate by charging a power of a predetermined level or more, the load 160 may perform estimation of the surrounding energy intensity.

A method of estimating the ambient energy intensity of the energy harvesting system 200 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8 as follows. Here, FIG. 8 is a flow chart according to a method of estimating the ambient energy intensity of the energy harvesting system 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, an example in which DC current is detected to estimate the ambient energy intensity is disclosed.

First, in step S10, the energy harvesting device 110 receives ambient energy through an energy converter, converts it into DC power having DC current, and outputs it.

Next, in step S30, the load 160 determines whether energy harvesting or ambient energy intensity estimation.

When energy harvesting is performed as a result of the determination in step S30, in step S50, the load 160 connects the energy converter and the energy storage device to the switch unit of the energy harvesting device 110 to energy the DC power output from the energy converter. Save to storage device.

When the ambient energy intensity is estimated as a result of the determination in step S30, in step S70, the load 160 connects the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector to the switch unit to detect the DC current output from the energy converter with the output voltage/current detector. do.

Next, in step S75, the output voltage/current detector transmits the detected DC current to the load 160.

Next, in step S80, the load 160 receives the DC current detected from the output voltage/current detector.

And in step S90, the load 160 estimates the intensity of the surrounding energy with the received DC current.

On the other hand, the embodiments disclosed in the specification and the drawings are merely presented as specific examples to help understanding, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is obvious to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains that other modifications based on the technical spirit of the present invention can be implemented in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

10, 110: Energy harvesting device
20: energy harvesting department
21: energy converter
23: DC regulator
25: energy storage device
30: switch unit
40: output voltage/current detector
50: controller
60, 160: load
100, 200: Energy harvesting system

Claims (18)

An energy converter that receives ambient energy, converts it into DC power having DC voltage and DC current, and outputs the converted energy;
An energy storage device receiving and storing the DC power;
An output voltage/current detector having a constant load value and detecting at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current output from the energy converter to estimate the intensity of the ambient energy; And
A switch that connects the energy converter and the energy storage device during energy harvesting, cuts off the connection between the energy converter and the energy storage device when estimating ambient energy intensity, and switches the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector to switch. part;
Energy harvesting device comprising a. According to claim 1,
The energy harvesting device, characterized in that the DC voltage and the DC current detected based on the constant load value is proportional to the intensity of the surrounding energy. According to claim 1,
The output voltage/current detector comprises at least one of a passive element and an active element. According to claim 1,
When the ambient energy is RF energy, the energy converter is an energy harvesting device, characterized in that the RF-to-DC converter. According to claim 1,
The energy storage device is an energy harvesting device comprising at least one of a secondary battery and a supercapacitor. According to claim 1,
A DC regulator interposed between the switch unit and the energy storage device and converting the DC voltage output from the energy converter into a DC voltage that can be used by a load;
Energy harvesting device further comprising a. According to claim 1,
Controlling the switch unit, when the energy converter and the output voltage / current detector is connected to the switch unit receives at least one of the DC voltage and DC current detected from the output voltage / current detector, the received DC voltage and the A controller for estimating the intensity of the ambient energy from at least one of DCs;
Energy harvesting device further comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein the controller
During energy harvesting, connect the energy converter and the energy storage device to the switch unit,
When estimating the ambient energy, the energy harvesting device, characterized in that for connecting the energy converter and the output voltage / current detector to the switch unit. The method of claim 8,
The controller has a periodic or aperiodic energy harvesting device, characterized in that for estimating the intensity of the surrounding energy. An energy harvesting device receiving ambient energy through an energy converter and converting it into DC power having DC voltage and DC current and outputting it;
In the case of energy harvesting, the energy harvesting device connecting the energy converter and the energy storage device to a switch unit to store the DC power output from the energy converter in the energy storage device;
When estimating the ambient energy intensity, the energy harvesting device cuts off the connection between the energy converter and the energy storage device to the switch unit, and connects the energy converter and an output voltage/current detector having a constant load value to the output voltage/ Detecting at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current output from the energy converter with a current detector; And
Estimating the intensity of the ambient energy by at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current detected by the energy harvesting device;
A method of estimating an ambient energy intensity of an energy harvesting device comprising a. 11. The method of claim 10, In the step of estimating the intensity of the surrounding energy,
The DC voltage and the DC current detected based on the constant load value is proportional to the intensity of the surrounding energy intensity estimation method of the energy harvesting device. An energy harvesting device having an energy converter, a switch unit, an energy storage device, and an output voltage/current detector having a constant load value, and a method for estimating ambient energy intensity of a load for an energy harvesting system including a load,
Storing the DC power output from the energy converter in the energy storage device by connecting the energy converter and the energy storage device to the load switch unit of the energy harvesting device;
The load cuts off the connection between the energy converter and the energy storage device to the switch unit, and connects the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector to DC voltage and DC output from the energy converter to the output voltage/current detector Detecting at least one of the currents; And
Receiving at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current detected by the load from the output voltage/current detector, and estimating the intensity of the ambient energy with the received DC voltage and the DC current;
Method for estimating the ambient energy intensity of a load for an energy harvesting system comprising a. The method of claim 12, In the step of estimating the intensity of the surrounding energy,
The DC voltage and the DC current detected based on the constant load value is a method for estimating the ambient energy intensity of the load for an energy harvesting system, characterized in that proportional to the intensity of the ambient energy. An energy harvesting device that collects ambient energy to generate DC power and detects at least one of DC voltage and DC current of the DC power; And
Includes; load that operates by receiving the DC power from the energy harvesting device;
The energy harvesting device,
An energy converter that receives ambient energy, converts it into the DC power having the DC voltage and the DC current, and outputs the converted energy;
An energy storage device receiving and storing the DC power;
An output voltage/current detector having a constant load value and detecting at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current output from the energy converter to estimate the intensity of the ambient energy; And
A switch that connects the energy converter and the energy storage device during energy harvesting, cuts off the connection between the energy converter and the energy storage device when estimating ambient energy intensity, and switches the energy converter and the output voltage/current detector to switch. part;
Energy harvesting system comprising a. 15. The method of claim 14, The energy harvesting device,
Control the switch unit, when the energy converter and the output voltage / current detector is connected to the switch unit receives at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current detected from the output voltage / current detector, the received DC voltage and A controller that estimates the intensity of the ambient energy from at least one of the DC currents;
Energy harvesting system further comprising a. 15. The method of claim 14, The energy harvesting device,
A DC regulator interposed between the switch unit and the energy storage device and converting the DC voltage output from the energy converter into a DC voltage usable by the load;
Energy harvesting system further comprising a. The method of claim 14, wherein the load,
Controlling the switch unit, when the energy converter and the output voltage / current detector is connected to the switch unit receives at least one of the DC voltage and the DC current detected from the output voltage / current detector, the received DC voltage And estimating the intensity of the ambient energy from at least one of the DC currents. The method of claim 14,
The load has an energy harvesting system characterized in that it comprises an IoT device.

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