Antenna capacitance for energy storage
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprisinga device for wireless communications, comprising:
- an antenna;
an electronic circuit coupled to the antenna;
a power harvesting circuit coupled to the antenna, the power harvesting circuit to obtain electrical energy from a power source;
wherein the antenna is operable as a capacitor to store at least a portion of the electrical energy harvested by the power harvesting circuit, and to provide at least a portion of the stored electrical energy as operating power to the electronic circuit.
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Abstract
Various embodiments of the invention may include an antenna for a wireless device, the antenna operable to store electrical energy received from a power source. The stored electrical energy may then be used to power the circuitry of the device. Storing electrical power in this manner may allow the device to temporarily continue operating when the incoming harvested energy becomes too weak to instantaneously provide all the power needed to continue operating the device. In some embodiments the wireless device is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising
a device for wireless communications, comprising: -
an antenna; an electronic circuit coupled to the antenna; a power harvesting circuit coupled to the antenna, the power harvesting circuit to obtain electrical energy from a power source; wherein the antenna is operable as a capacitor to store at least a portion of the electrical energy harvested by the power harvesting circuit, and to provide at least a portion of the stored electrical energy as operating power to the electronic circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus, comprising
an antenna assembly for connection to a device for wireless communications, the antenna assembly comprising: -
a first antenna element having a dielectric material between a first electrical conductor and a second electrical conductor to form a first electrical capacitor to store electrical energy to operate the device; a first set of electrical contacts to couple a radio frequency (RF) signal from the first antenna element to a set of antenna connections of the device; and a second set of electrical contacts to couple the first electrical capacitor to a set of power connections of the device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising the RFID tag circuit.
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14. A method, comprising:
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receiving electrical energy from a power generating source; storing at least a portion of the received electrical energy in an antenna element configured as a capacitor; and providing at least a portion of the stored electrical energy as electrical power to operate circuitry that controls wireless communications through the antenna. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification