Rectifier Circuit Design for IoT and 5G
Applications
1st Mounira BEN YAMNA 2nd Nabil DAKHLI
MACS Laboratory/ENIG, Innov’COM Lab/Sup’COM
University of Gabes University of Carthage
Gabes, Tunisia Ariana, TUNISIA
benyemnamounira@gmail.com nabil.dakhli@supcom.tn
Abstract—This work presents the design of a rectifier cir-
cuit with single Schottky diode HSMS-2860 operating at 3.5
GHz. The rectifying circuit is developed for Internet of Things
(IoT) and 5G applications. It has been designed and optimized
with KEYSIGHT ADS software. The RF-DC conversion circuit
achieves an efficiency of 63.6% and DC output voltage of 1.2 V
with a DC load equal to 2 KΩ, and this for 0 dBm input RF
power.
Index Terms—rectifier, Schottky diode, conversion RF-DC,
energy harvesting, conversion efficiency
I. I NTRODUCTION
Recently, techniques of energy harvesting and wireless
transmission have emerged as high potential solutions to
ensure the energy autonomy of wireless sensors [1] . The most
important component of wireless power transmission system
is the rectenna.
A rectenna is composed of a receiving antenna and a rectifier
circuit. As shown in Fig. 1, the antenna converts the received
electromagnetic waves into a RF signal, then this signal is
transferred to the input of the rectifier element via a matching
circuit. The latter ensures maximum power transfer from the
antenna to the diode and rejects the harmonics generated by
the non-linear element (diode) to prevent them from being
radiated again by the antenna, thus reducing the efficiency of
the rectenna. A low pass filter is placed after the diode in
order to transfer only the DC component of the signal to the
resistive load. The load models the impedance presented by
the sensor [2].
Fig. 1. Rectenna architecture.
The efficiency of a rectenna depends mainly on the conversion
efficiency of the rectifier. Various topologies can be used to
design a rectifier circuit: series, shunt and voltage doubler.
3rd Hedi SAKLI
MACS Laboratory/ENIG,
University of Gabes
Gabes, Tunisia
EITA Consulting, France
saklihedi12@gmail.com
The rectifier with a single diode is the most used topology,
because of its simplicity and high conversion efficiency at low
input power [3].
The Schottky diode is the best candidate in this context
compared to PN diodes. Indeed, its threshold voltage varies
between 0.1V to 0.3V, it is more sensitive to low voltage levels
delivered by the antenna. It can provide a DC voltage from
low power densities in the order of -20 dBm [4].
Several works and realizations of rectennas have been designed
with a rectifier circuit based on a Schottky diode such as
[5], where the rectenna has achieved a power conversion
efficiency of 20% at GSM bands (900 MHz and 1800 MHz)
based on a Schottky diode SMS-7630, with a receiving power
level of -20 dBm. While in [6], the rectifier used a HSMS
-2822 diode with voltage doubler topology, harvested an RF
signal with conversion efficiency of 57% at 2.45 GHz. The
proposed rectenna in [7] operated also at 2.45 GHz, reached
an efficiency of 62%. In [8], a RF-DC conversion efficiency
reached 63% at 5.78 GHz operation frequency with an input
power of 25 mW.
II. C HOICE OF S CHOTTKY DIODE
In the RF domain, the choice of a diode depends on its
various operating parameters. The Schottky diode is known
to be stable at low powers and frequencies above 1 GHz due
to its low threshold voltage and very fast switching [9]. The
following figure Fig. 2 shows the non-linear equivalent circuit
of the Schottky diode. With Rs is the series resistance, Cj is
the junction capacitance, Vj is the junction voltage and Rj is
the junction resistance [10].
The diodes used are generally commercial ones, their in-
trinsic parameters cannot be modified. However, it is essential
to have an idea of the influence of these parameters in order
to choose the most suitable device [11].
In the case of the rectifier,the conversion efficiency is equal to
PDC
ef f iciency(%) = × 100 (1)
PRF
with PDC is the output DC power and PRF is the input RF
power
 Fig. 2. Equivalent electrical circuit of the Schottky diode.

According to J. O. McSpadden,the efficiency can be expressed

by the following relationship [12]:
1
ef f iciency(%) = × 100 (2)
A+B+C
with: Fig. 3. Efficiency as a function of junction capacitance Cj0 of the diode.

RL Vj 2 1
A= (1 + ) [θ(1 + − 1.5 tan(θ)] (3) B. Effect of the series resistance Rs
πRs Vout 2 cos2 θ
The series resistance of the Schottky diode representes
Rs RL Cj2 ω 2 Vj Vj dissipation by Joule effect. A low value of this resistance
B= (1 + ) (tan(θ) − θ) (4) means low losses in the diode and therefore high efficiency.
2π Vout Vout
In order to see its effect on the circuit conversion operation,
RL Vj Vj efficiency was calculated for different values of Rs , from 10
C= (1 + ) (tan(θ) − θ) (5) to 400 Ω, with a load RL , a capacitance Cj0 and a junction
πRs Vout Vout
voltage Vj equal to 2 kΩ, 0.15 pF and 0.1 V, respectively. The
πRs results obtained are given in Fig. 4. It is remarked that the
tan(θ) − θ = Vj
(6)
RL (1 + Vo ut )

s
Vj
Cj = Cj0 ) (7)
Vo ut + Vj

ω = 2πf and Cj0 are the pulsation and the junction voltage
at 0 V, respectively.
θ is the phase shift during which the diode is conducting.
Based on a program simulated in Matlab, efficiency variation is
plotted by varying a single parameter of the Spice model of the
diode each time while keeping values of the other parameters
constant.

A. Effect of the junction capacitance Cj0

The junction capacitance Cj0 models the charge storage
effects of the junction. The diode achieves its best efficiency
when its forward voltage is close to the breakdown voltage.
This corresponds to a storage capacitance close to 0 pF[13].
The Fig. 3 shows the variation of the efficiency as a function
of Cj0 over the range 0 pF to 1 pF with a load RL , a series
resistance Rs and a junction voltage Vj equal to 2 kΩ, 20
Ω and 0.1 V, respectively. It is noticed that the efficiency
decreases when Cj0 increases. Thus, it is important to have
the lowest possible junction capacitance.
Fig. 4. Efficiency as a function of series resistance Rs of the diode.
effect of the series resistance of the diode is similar to that of
the junction capacitance Cj0 .
C. Effect of the junction voltage Vj
For the parameters of the diode, the load RL , the ca-
pacitance Cj0 , and Rs were chosen as 2 kΩ, 0.15 pF, and
20Ω, respectively. The conversion efficiency was obtained by
varying the junction voltage from 0 to 10 V. From Fig. 5, it
is observed that the efficiency is very sensitive to the junction
voltage. When Vj decreases, the efficiency increases.

Fig. 6. Efficiency as a function of the incident RF power for three types of

Schottky diode series: HSMS-286x, HSMS-285x and HSMS-282x .

Fig. 5. Efficiency as a function of junction voltage Vj of the diode.

Consequently, the key points which intervene in the choice

of the diode are:
• A low internal resistance to reduce losses in the diode,
• A low threshold voltage for operation with low values of Fig. 7. Rectifier circuit design.
RF power at the input,
• A low junction capacitance to maximize efficiency.
capacitor of 5 pF was placed after the diode, as a low-pass filter
Therefore, the selection of the Schottky diode must take into
thus making it possible to filter the fundamental component
account all the constraints mentioned above as a function
as well as the harmonics and to keep only the DC component
of the operating conditions already defined as well as of
of the signal.The optimum load resistance in simulation is 2
the main design objective of maximizing efficiency. In this
KΩ.
context, three series of Schottky diodes from Avago Tech-
Fig. 8 shows the results of the non-linear simulation of the
nologies, available on the market: HSMS-285x, HSMS-286x
rectifier circuit at the frequency of 3.5 GHz with an input
and HSMS-282x, were considered. Each series is characterized
RF power of 0 dBm and a load RL equal to 2 KΩ. It is
by a set of Spice parameters given in the table.1 below. To
observed that the input signal strength is mainly concentrated
facilitate the choice, the efficiency is plotted as function of
in the fundamental at 3.5 GHz (Vin = -1.34 dBm) which is
incident RF power using the developed Matlab program, for
transferred to a DC component of the output signal (Vout =
each type of series with frequency = 3.5 GHz and RL = 1
11 dBm). The Fig. 9 represents the evolution over time of
KΩ, as shown in Fig. 6.

III. R ECTIFIER DESIGN

A rectifier RF-DC using an Avago HSMS-2860 diode in
series was designed and simulated with KEYSIGHT ADS
software. The design of rectifier circuit is shown in Fig. 7.

The used Schottky diode has a low series resistance Rs of 6

Ω, an ultra-low zero-bias junction capacitance Cj0 of 0.18 pF,
and 7 V breakdown voltage Vbr .
This rectifier uses an impedance matching circuit consisting
of a 10 nH inductor and a stub. The adaptation circuit allows
an input reflection coefficient S(1, 1) of -21 dB at 3.5 GHz. A Fig. 8. Simulated spectrum of the input and output signals of the rectifier.
the input and output voltage of the RF-DC converter at the
frequency 3.5 GHz. The maximum input voltage is 0.25 V
while the rectified output voltage is approximately 1.2 V.
Fig. 9. Time signal at the input and output of the rectifier.
A. Influence of the filtering capacitance Cf
The filtering capacitance is an essential element in the
rectifier circuit. Its role is to block the fundamental signal
and the unwanted harmonics generated by the Schottky diode.
In order to examine the effect of the filtering capacitance, the
value of this element in the circuit is varied between 0.1 pF and
50 pF with a step of 5 pF. The load RL is set at a value of 2 KΩ
and the input power at 0 dBm. The results of simulation given
in Fig. 10 show the evolution of the conversion efficiency.
From a value of 5 pF, the capacitance of the DC filtering has
no longer any influence on the efficiency. It remains almost
constant. This value of Cf of 5 pF, makes it possible to reach
an optimum value of conversion efficiency 63.5%.
Fig. 10. Conversion efficiency as function of filtering capacitance.
B. Influence of the RL load
The RL load is a key element in the RF-DC conversion
system. A simulation is done of the circuit for a Cf filtering
capacitance of 5 pF, an input power of 0 dBm at 3.5 GHz and
an RL load which varies from 100 Ω to 10 KΩ with a step
of 100 Ω. Examining Fig. 11, it can be seen that the RF-DC
conversion efficiency increases and reaches its maximum value
63.5% for a value of RL equal to 2 KΩ. From this value, which
can be considered as the optimal one, the efficiency decreases
very quickly.
Fig. 11. Conversion efficiency as function of RL load.
C. Influence of the RF input power
The efficiency of the rectifier system has a direct relation-
ship with the input RF power. Fig. 12 shows the variations
of the conversion efficiency in terms of input power. These
results are obtained for the following parameters: frequency,
filtering capacitance Cf and load RL , 3.5 GHz, 5 pF and 2
KΩ, respectively.
Efficiency reaches an optimum value of 63.5% for a power of
0 dBm then it decreases very quickly for higher power levels.
Therefore, to obtain optimum efficiency values between 50%
and 63%, the RF power levels must be between 0 dBm and 7
dBm.
Fig. 12. Conversion efficiency as function of RF input power.
IV. C ONCLUSION
The RF-DC conversion circuit at 3.5 GHz was studied in
this work. It is capable of converting the collected electromag-
netic energy into DC signal. The rectifier analysis was per-
formed under ADS using the Harmonic Balance (HB) which
is a non-linear simulation method. The various simulations
realized clarifies the effects of the various parameters of the
circuit (the filtering capacitance Cf , the load RL and the
RF input power Pin ), and those of the Schottky diode (the
junction voltage Vj , the capacitance junction Cj0 and series
resistor Rs ), on the efficiency of the conversion circuit. This
circuit will then be connected to an antenna to measure the
electromagnetic powers in an open and closed space and to
detect those which exceed the limits and do not respect the
standards for the human health.
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