Energizing and Powering Microsystems

Networked wireless microsensors can not only monitor and manage power consumption in small- and largescale applications for space, military, medical, agricultural, and consumer markets but also add cost-, energy-, and life-saving intelligence to large infrastructures and tiny devices in remote and difficult-to-reach places. Ultra-small systems, however, cannot store sufficient energy to sustain monitoring, interface, processing, and telemetry functions for long. And replacing or recharging the batteries of hundreds of networked nodes can be labor intensive, expensive, and oftentimes impossible. This is why alternate sources are the subject of ardent research today. Except power densities are low, and in many cases, intermittent, so supplying functional blocks is challenging. Plus, tiny lithium-ion batteries and super capacitors, while power dense, cannot sustain life for extended periods. This talk illustrates how emerging microelectronic systems can draw energy from elusive ambient sources to power tiny wireless sensors.