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Evolution of Simultaneous Wireless Information

and Power Transfer (SWIPT) for the IoT World

Alessandra Costanzo, Diego Masotti, Giacomo Paolini,

Dominique Schreurs
Alessandra Costanzo (alessandra.costanzo@unibo.it), Diego Masotti
(diego.masotti@unibo.it), and Giacomo Paolini (giacomo.paolini4@unibo.it) are
with Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, DEI - Department of
Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering “Guglielmo Marconi,”,
Bologna, Italy.
Dominique Schreurs (dominique.schreurs@kuleuven.be) is with KU Leuven, ESAT-
WaveCore, Leuven, Belgium.

Introduction

In these last past few years, many interesting approaches have been studied
and designed to go towardsadvance the practical implementation of the concepts
of wireless information and power transfer (WIPT) [1] and simultaneous wireless
information and power transfer (SWIPT) [2], [3] in the contexts of everyday
life, academic research, and also industrial fieldsindustry.
The ever-growing array of internet of things (IoT) technologies presents a
tangible answer to the need of for modern densely populated networks of
wirelessly connected devices. In this context, node maintenance is a challenging
task given both the enormous size of these networks and the location of the
devices, that which can be potentially spread over difficult-to-be-reachhed
areas.

Fig. 1. Envisioned scenario for SWIPT applications: the combination of RF energy

sources and communication signals allows the implementation of networks composed of
battery-less IoT devices.

In particular, the paradigm of SWIPT [4] is currently being investigated in a

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wide range of different systems for industrial applications combined with

emerging technologies typical of the industrial internet of things (IIoT),
namely wireless sensor networks (WSN) enabling that enable unlimited and
uninterrupted connectivity in generic industrial environments. The main goal is
to continuously monitor key components of the equipment with smart sensors that
are able to track, almost in almost real-time rotation, position, speed,
temperature, acceleration, and all the other vital parameters of the devices
that have to be monitored [5].
One of the more urgent features requested todesired in the wireless sensor
nodes is the capability ability to autonomously operate through energy
harvesting (EH) techniques rather than to be plugged-in with the presence of
obstructive cables, or to depend on batteries which present have a limited
lifetime. Moreover, batteries are not soless reliable at high temperatures and
might require multiple replacements over the node’s period of lifespan, thus
dramatically increasing dramatically the maintenance cost. Several
implementations of sensors of this kind have been presented in the literature,
(e.g., relying on light [6], [7], wind [7], kinetic [8], thermoelectric [9], or
piezoelectric [10] energy harvesting). But they all have to face the limit
dueare limited to by the frequent unavailability of the corresponding energy
source. Vice versaOn the other hand, electromagnetic (EM) energy is always
available in humanized environments, and plenty of solutions for its
exploitation are present in the literature [11]-[14]. In this case, the limit
consists of the low level of energy to be harvested [15].
In Fig. 1, an envisioned scenario for a typical SWIPT application is
represented: the basic element is the simultaneous presence of RF/microwave
power sources and communication signals, that which could also coincide in some
cases, allowing both the interconnection of IoT devices and their energetic
support without the need of for cables or batteries.
The development of wireless power transfer (WPT) solutions , exploitingthat
exploit intentional sources [16], and the reduction of the node- power-
consumption enabled unconstrained sensor powering with a reliable and well-
controlled energy source, with have the two-fold advantage of conceiving
achieving the archetype of “green power”, by getting rid of batteries, and of
abatingreducing the need of for maintenance of the hardware devices [17]-[20].
In that senseFor the latter, predictive maintenance is becoming increasingly
becoming one of the most critical targetsimportant, because of the necessity
need for of continuous monitoring of the equipment’s most critical parts and
the prevention of theirin order to prevent damage in a timely manner [21].
Great emphasis has been laid on solutions exploiting that exploit
radiofrequency (RF) waves to power sensor nodes which monitor key objects, with
the additional intention to significantly reduce the use of cables in the nearby
area. For this purpose, near-field inductive solutions have been adopted [22],
[23], as well as prototypes exploiting far-field radiative WPT [24]. Having said
that, one of the obstacles concerns the fact that these sensors are most
frequently placed inside or in the vicinity of metallic environments where the
antenna (and the sensing circuitry) can come in close contact with metal tools.

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Indeed, the application scenario needs to be well characterized from the EM

point of view, because of possible multiple reflections, detuning, fading, and
shadowing effects that could can occur; as an example, the challenge of RFID
tags over metallic plates is described and dealt with and described in [25].
This article reviews some recent promising solutions in both the near- and
far-field applications, where SWIPT becomes a reality thanks to challenging
design choices.

Reactive SWIPT for Power Electronics in Industry 4.0

The first solutions of for wireless power and data delivery that are covered
by in this work exploit the near (or reactive) EM field which is provided by
near-locatedby sources in the low (LF: 30-300 kHz) [26] or high (HF: 3-30 MHz)
[27] frequency range, to realize the so-called near-field SWIPT (NF-SWIPT). This
very particular case does not imply EM wave propagation, but it is just a matter
of EM reactive coupling with coils (involving magnetic fields) or electrodes
(involving electric fields) acting as transmitters and receivers. In most cases,
the power level of these systems goes from a few W to kW, for what concerns
power transmission, but still involving low powers (μW or mW) for communication
purposes.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 2. Block schematic of (a) a system for near-field wireless power and data
transfer, and (b) a typical structure of the communication cell [28].

A typical example for explaining the overall working principles and the
architecture of a NF-SWIPT system is represented in Fig. 2(a) [28]: this work
proposes a system consisting of a single inductive link enabling wireless power

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and data transmission with multiple carriers. This method can be applied for
high-power WPT operating in the kHz range, and the selected data-carrier
frequency is selected at least one order of magnitude higher than the power
frequency; in this way, a frequency division multiplexing technique can be
applied, transmitting power and data by employing different carrier frequencies
and controlling them independently.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 3. Picture of the (a) the inductive coils and (b) the communication board
presented in [28].

One can say that the integration between bidirectional data communication and
a high-power WPT system is proposed here: in fact, the power and data transfer
share the same inductive link between coreless coils (Fig. 3(a)). The
communication cells schematized in Fig. 2(b) and represented in Fig. 3(b)
feature transmitter and receiver operation modes: for the first one, a signal
amplifier is used as a source to transmit data, whereas for the second, the
rectifier and its matching network are designed to receive from the transmitter
side the data carrier which is demodulated and read by a microcontroller unit
(MCU).

A similar solution is presented in [29], where the same pair of inductive

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coils is adopted both for NF-WPT and for communication purposes. The main
problem to face is, also in this case, to transmit simultaneously data with low-
power protocols and a strong energy signal. It has been demonstrated by means of
simulations and measurements of the overall system, that a robust data
transmission system achieving a large signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is possible
even with in the presence of a simultaneous power transfer of several kW.
The approach followed in [29] previews the communication carrier at the
frequency of 8 kHz, which is lower than the energy transfer one (150 kHz, with
power transmission of 3 kW). In With this waymethod, the harmonics generated by
the electronic power supply switching circuit will be outside of the
communication band. The measurements revealed an SNR of 51.1 dB without power
transfer and 39.7 dB with simultaneous energy transmission of 3 kW adopting a
binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulated signal with a data rate of 1 kbps;
this means that communication is very tolerant against of interferences that can
be created by the simultaneous presence of energy transfer in the near-field.

In [30], a typical structure of for a multiple input-multiple output (MIMO)

system for SWIPT at 13.56 MHz is presented, using signal transmission based on
magnetic inductances for supporting one data and multiple parallel power flows,
as depicted in Fig. 4. One of the possible applications for this schemeof this
approach is an NFC-based access point. The overall system has been optimized to
guarantee a sufficient quality-of-service (QoS) level (SNR greater than or equal
to 10 dB for the data stream in this case), as well as maximum overall power
received at the three reception coils.

Fig. 4. Example of an NF-SWIPT system making use of a tri-dimensional inductive coil

for transmission (Tx), three single-coils for power reception (PR-Rx1, PR-Rx2, PR-Rx3),
and a single coil for data reception (DR-Rx) [30].

The theme of simultaneous near-field WPT and communication data transfer for
industrial applications (ei.ge., in the automotive and railway sectors) is also
developed in [31]; here, a series connection of sliding resonant coils at 100
kHz has been designed and employed to maintain constant coupling along the
entire track, and therefore guaranteeing constant link and power-rectifying
performances. This has beenwas done using a selected couple of transmitting
coils and a geometrically optimized receiver. The A photograph and the general
representation of the entire system are reported in Fig. 5(a) and 5(b),
respectively.

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The goal of [31] was to develop a system that is able to simultaneously

transfer power and data, independently of its position and of the misalignment
of the facing coils, thanks to a constant coupling factor. A simultaneous
implementation of a multiple-input single-output (MISO) communication link has
beenwas realized in the microwave range through co-localized patch antennas
operating in the mid-field region.
In particular, the system is composed of a single (bigger) receiving coil
separated at a distance of 6 cm from four (smaller) transmitting coils. In Fig.
5(b), the power (P1, P2, P3) and data transfer ports (D1, D2, D3) are
highlighted in red and green respectively. It is also possible to notice see in
the picture the patch antennas that are incorporated inside the coils.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 5. (a) Photograph of the structure composed of inductive sliding coils and (b)
schematical representation of the overall NF-SWIPT system [31].

For what concerns the information exchange, these patch antennas are placed
at the center of each coil in order to enable Wi-Fi transmission at 5.24 GHz.
At this point, it is worth saying that in industrial scenarios that are
typically harsh from the EM point of view, the communication link is very often
deteriorated by electromagnetic interference (EMI); for example, if the system
is located inside an environment full of metal parts. The idea of pPutting a
patch antenna at 5.24 GHz in each transmitting coil provides enough margin to

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overcome EMI with the a power signal that is very robust. Validation
measurements demonstrated that it is feasible to transfer 100 W of power to the
load with the inductive NF-SWIPT coils, as well as to maintain a stable Wi-Fi
connection at 100 Mbps with an attenuation of the signal that is low enough to
provide integrity in very noisy industrial scenarios.

Finally, an interesting opportunity for practical implementation of NF-SWIPT

in automatic machineries machinery has been investigated and realized in [32];
moving to higher frequencies, (i.e., 868 MHz in the ultra-high frequency (UHF)
band), which is an uncommon choice for near-field designs, . the The system
exploits a self-resonant capacitive near-field link for data communication
combined with a compact standard inductive WPT system operating at 50 kHz. The
design of the UHF link is motivated by the increase of in the channel transfer
efficiency obtained by exploiting two facing auto-resonant structures, i.e.,
split-ring resonators (SRRs), one at each end side of the link, as shown in Fig.
6(a). The involved distance (d) is of a few (or a fraction of)
millimetresmillimeters, as in many industrial applications: in this case, free
rotation of the SRRs is considered. Fig. 6(b) shows the a view of one element of
the SWIPT system, along with the co-location of the inductive windings for the
power transfer, too. To conclude, this research proves that a reactive link at
UHF can be successfully exploited in the near-field range for remote passive
sensing purposes instead of employing the conventional low-frequency RFID bands.

Rotating half
(cut view)

Rotating half

(a) (b)
Fig. 6. (a) Representation of the entire stack-up of the SRR communication link. The
distance d represents the clearance between two SRRs, and the angle α is the relative
angular position of the outer strips’ slots positions. (b) 3D view of the
transmitting/receiving SWIPT element [32].

Far-Field SWIPT for Low-Power Wireless Sensor Networks in

the IoT World

Nowadays, the exploitation of RF sources placed further from the receivers is

the most common way to achieve far-field simultaneous wireless information and
power transfer (FF-SWIPT). In this case, the involved frequencies are in the
microwave (300 MHz - 30 GHz) [33] or millimeter wave (30 GHz - 300 GHz) [34]

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range.

One of the most common solutions adopted to achieve FF-SWIPT is to employ

ultra-wide band (UWB) signals for communication or localization functions, and
at the same time allowing RF energy harvesting within the UHF band (300 MHz - 3
GHz) [35], [36].
An iIndoor positioning system (IPS) is considered one of the newa developing
technologies technology of the last past few years, and the several different
methods have been adopted for its actuation are several and different. In that
sense, tThe use of UWB (typically backscattered) signals [37], [38] is
advantageous because the exploitation of a very large range of frequencies
allows to avoids possible effects of fading and shadowing that could can occur
with high probability in indoor environments at certain frequencies. However,
these procedures need a certain number of anchors inside the room under
evaluation to become effective.
As an example, Figs. 7(a) and 7(b) represent the schematic diagram of the
overall system and of the RFID passive tag for high-accuracy indoor localization
, respectively, presented in [36]. In this work, an UWB indoor positioning
system enhanced with EH capabilities at 868 MHz has been realized, aiming at
localization and tracking of floating objects inside space stations.
The battery-less tags schematically represented in Fig. 7(a) are powered
thanks toby a power transfer unit (called an “energy shower”), which is
basically an RF single tone transmitter in the upper UHF band with the function
of feeding all the nearby tags in the nearby. Moreover, these tags include a
pulse generator in the 3-5 GHz UWB band that needs energy to make the
localization possible. Validation measurements that have been carried out on the
European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Rover showed a very satisfactory accuracy of
about 1 cm with energization distances larger than 10 meter.

(a)

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(b)

Fig. 7. (a) Schematic of a UWB/UHF system and (b) block diagram of the corresponding
battery-less tag equipped with UWB pulse generator for passive localization in space
environments [36].

Always consideringAnother very interesting SWIPT for space applications, a

very interesting solution has beenis introduced in [39], with higher WPT
operating frequencies; the scheme schematic of the wireless sensor system fed by
a microwave power transfer (MPT) unit at 5.8 GHz for “Space-by-Wireless”
purposes is described in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8. Envisioned scenario for SWIPT at 5.8 GHz in a wireless sensor system for
spacecraft health monitoring [39].

The wireless sensor node unit is mainly primarily composed of an active

integrated antenna (AIA) and a hybrid semiconductor integrated circuit (HySIC),
combined with an energy harvester equipped with a selector allowing which allows
for a wide range of RF input powers and automatically switches ing the
rectifiers to maximize the RF-to-dc DC power conversion efficiency (PCE) at the
nodes. Six of them the nodes are used for validation measurements and are
equipped with thermocouples in order to send the information of temperature to
the base station every second.
Moreover, the base station also acts also as an MPT source working at the
same frequency adopted for the transmission of communication beacons with an
approach based on time division operations, as explained in Fig. 9.

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Fig. 9. Envisioned scenario for SWIPT at 5.8 GHz in a wireless sensor system for
spacecraft health monitoring [39].

In [40], a WSN architecture for structural health monitoring (SHM) in harsh

environments has been realized. It consists of a meshed grid architecture
composed of wirelessly powered and battery-free sensing and communicating nodes.
The sensing nodes are used to sense the physical world, ; they are battery-free
and wirelessly powered by a dedicated radiofrequency source via a far-field
wireless power transmission system. The data collected by the sensing nodes are
sent to the communicating nodes that interface the physical world with the
digital world through the Internet.
The prototype of the sensing node (Fig. 10) using long range wide area
network (LoRaWAN) uplink wireless communication has been assembled with
temperature and relative humidity sensors, and experiments have been performed
to specifically characterize it.

Fig. 10. Picture of the components of the sensing node prototype realized in [40].

A further step forward is provided in [41] – [43], where original circuits

are realized for WPT enhanced with backscatter demodulation of amplitude-shift
keying (ASK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) signals.

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The first prototype presented in [41] is composed of the RF power harvester

employing a receiving antenna, an impedance matching network, a power management
unit (PMU), and the sensor to be powered, ; and ofas well as the backscatter
modulator that which has its receiving antenna, an impedance matching network,
and a switch to control the reflection coefficient.
From the energy harvester point of view, the aim is to store RF energy at 1.8
GHz and to transfer data at 2.45 GHz with passive backscattering techniques. In
that sense, aA dual-band matching network is employed to match the two different
impedances in order to achieve better efficiency at the frequencies of 1.8 GHz
for WPT and 2.45 GHz for the implementation of the backscattering approach.
On the other side, a pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT,
Avago ATF-54143, acting as a switch) modulates the impedance of the antenna of
the circuit for backscatter modulation, causing a change in the amount of
energy reflected by the antenna itself.
Finally, an integration of backscattering and energy harvesting circuits is
achieved (Fig. 11), with the final goal to of obtaining, for different states of
the transistor (0 and 0.6 V at the gate) and for the two different frequencies,
modulation combined with WPT. This work showed that it is possible to supply a
wireless sensor together with backscatter communications in order to bethat is
continuously powered during the operation mode.

Fig. 11. Block diagram of the system proposed for RF energy harvesting and
backscattering [41].

Subsequently, the same approach has been followed for including higher order
modulation schemes, such as (4-QAM) [42]. However, the dimensions of the circuit
are in this case too large and with the extension to higher order modulation,
such as sixteen-state quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM), should be even
larger. For this reason, a new implementation has been evaluated in [43] for 16-
QAM modulation.

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Fig. 12. Schematic implementation of 16-QAM demodulation [43].

As schematically represented in Fig. 12, this novel model employs a Wilkinson

power divider, and each branch is terminated with a line and an ideal impedance.
The lines present a 45° -phase shift with respect to each other, to allow the
reflected wave from each branch to be 90° -shifted from the otherits
counterpart.
This solution allows achieving a higher bit rate with a limited amount of RF
power with via the adoption of a modulation technique that enables a high-
bandwidth wireless communication while requiringwith very low power demands.
This solution can be combined with WPT for ultralow-power wireless applications
requiring that require high bandwidth communications communication, such as the
UWB indoor localization systems described beforeabove.

A One method to achieve SWIPT from Gaussian frequency-shift keying (GFSK)

modulated signals, (i.e., the modulation adopted by Bluetooth low energy (BLE))
), can be the one that has been approachedis explored in [44]. In this case, the
circuit of the node, composed of a matching network and a voltage-doubler
rectifier, has beenwas designed and realized to harvest energy from continuous
wave (CW) sources, multitone signals (3-, 4-, and 5-tones), and frequency-
modulated signals, such as FSK or GFSK.
However, at the same time, it is possible to exploit the same topology with
the aim of achieving an FM-to-AM conversion, in order to recognise recognize the
stream of bits that is sent from a BLE transmitter, as depicted in Fig. 13.
Attention must be paid to the correct choice of the cut-off frequency at the
output of the rectifier, that which has to be set taking into account the
bandwidth of the signal, its data-rate, and the deviation of the selected FSK
modulation.

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Fig. 13. Input voltage, output voltage, and efficiency for the presented rectifier,
with the bandwidth of the output filter set at 2 MHz [44].

A further step to reach actual SWIPT with the same circuit can be achieved by
adopting the same approach as in [38]. In particular, at the output of the
voltage doubler acting as a rectifier (D1 and D2) with its matching network
(MN), an additional inductor (L1) can play the role of a diplexer: it can guide
the dc DC current to the load (RL1) for energy harvesting purposes and, at the
same time, realize a path for the demodulation (FM-to-AM conversion) of the
input signal’s bits managed by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC, represented
by the load RL2), as schematized shown in Fig. 14.

Fig. 14. Schematic of SWIPT (energy harvesting plus demodulation of FSK modulated
signals) achieved within the same circuit for BLE inputs.

The results obtained for this layout are reported in Figs. 15. For these
circuit simulations performed with Keysight ADS, a BLE signal with a frequency
carrier at 2.426 GHz has been considered, with a bit rate of 1 Mbps (Fig. 15
(a)) and 125 kbps (Fig. 15 (b)). From these figures, it is possible to retrieve
the input sequence of zeros immediately followed by ones at the output of the
demodulation part of the circuit (Vout). For what concerns the energy harvesting
path, for an input power of 0 dBm, an average RF-to-dcDC PCE of 47% is
guaranteed.

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(a)
(b)
Fig. 15. Output voltage VOUT at the demodulator path for BLE at (a) 1 Mbps and (b) 125
kbps.

Another important aspect to be considered for SWIPT purposes is the

optimization of modulated signals for achieving both higher PCEs and, at the
same time, correct data transfer without loss of information. The main objective
is to design and employ waveforms increasing that increase the dc DC output
power for EH, but alsowhile enhancing the information rate, which is also
recognized as the maximization problem of the rate-power (RP) region, by
reaching a trade-off between data rate and delivered power [45].
In that sense, in [46] two novel FSK modulation schemes are presented: the
first one makes use of waveforms suitable for improving WPT conversion
efficiency by optimizing the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), in particular
by adopting uniform multitone FSK signals.
On the other hand, the proposed non-uniform multitone FSK modulation
technique employs multitone signals also in this case, but with different
frequency spacings between the tones within one symbol with the aim of
increasing the amount of information per symbol, thus improving spectral
efficiency and wireless information transmission (WIT) performance.
Moreover, here the signal can be decoded thanks to the non-linear
characteristics of the diode(s) that are present in the EH part. Then, it is
possible to decode the information by means of the same rectifying circuit
without the need of for a power-consuming local oscillator (LO).

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Fig. 16. Schematic and system model for a single-wave rectifying circuit, showing the
coexistence at the output of dc DC (from WPT) and baseband (BB, for wireless
information transfer, WIT) signals [46].

Conclusion

This article features a reviews of recent techniques and different possible

solutions for simultaneous wireless communication and powering of IoT devices,
both in both reactive and radiative conditions. Many solutions have been
implemented through near-field approaches for feeding power electronics
applications (automotive, packaging, railway services) combined with
communication protocols optimized for sensing important vital parameters of the
devices under test. Much larger is the research literature with respect to far-
field applications, that need radiative elements (antennas, or rectennas) to
operate. Moreover, a new approach for to SWIPT of GFSK modulated signals (e.g.,
BLE) has beenis proposed, with the aim of exploiting the same circuit for WPT
and data communication; the final goal is to create a wireless sensor node that
can be fully autonomous from the energy point of view, with all the ensuing
consequences, (i.e., the removal of batteries and the limited (or nearly
cancelledremoved) maintenance time and with economical effort).
However, it can be said that nnear-field prototypes are surely more mature
and advanced from a technological and industrial perspective; conversely,
radiative solutions in far-field are still developing and need further steps to
be validated in order to be put onvalidation before entering the market, also
with the requirement of anas well as regulatory evaluation from the regulatory
point of view.
These interesting topics and challenges should provide a boost for can surely
represent a booster in the future for the next research studies and practical
applications to in industry 4.0 and in general to in the IoT world, with the aim
of developing an adequate response for the always increasing demand of
wirelessly connected devices, preferably without the need of for energy
sustainment coming from batteries.

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 This article has been accepted for publication in IEEE Microwave Magazine. This is the author's version which has not been fully edited and
content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/MMM.2021.3109554

Acknowledgement

This work was partly funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University
and Research (MIUR) within the framework of the PRIN 2017 “WPT4WID” project of
national interest, and by the FWO Flanders and SBO “IoBaLeT”, and “BLUESS”
projects.

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