Two-way radio harvester and transmitter

• US 9,867,024 B1
• Filed: 11/08/2016
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Larson, Christian
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Khai M
• Application Number:
  US15/346,508
• Time in Patent Office: 427 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/24 with receiving set
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

Devices, methods, systems, and computer-readable media for a two-way radio harvester and transmitter are described herein. One or more embodiments include a two-way radio harvester and transmitter comprising a rectifier connected between a receive element and a storage element to harvest and convert a signal into direct current (DC) power and store the DC power, a gate coupled to the storage element and a controller to allow the DC power in the storage element to power the controller when the gate reaches a power threshold and closes, and a transmitter connected between the controller and a transmit element to convert data containing information about preselected items by the controller into radio frequency (RF) signals to be transmitted by the transmit element.

Claims

1. A two-way radio harvester and transmitter, comprising:

a rectifier connected between a receive element and a storage element to harvest and convert a signal received by the rectifier into direct current (DC) power and store the DC power in the storage element;

a gate coupled to the storage element;

a controller to allow the DC power in the storage element to direct at least some of the stored power to the controller when the gate reaches a power threshold and closes, wherein the power threshold is dependent on at least power level and time needed to send data containing information about preselected items by the controller; and

a transmitter connected between the controller and a transmit element to convert the data containing information about preselected items by the controller into radio frequency (RF) signals to be transmitted by the transmit element.

2. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein a radio frequency (RF) signal is harvested by the receive element.

3. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the gate switches on a voltage signal.

4. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the information synthesized by the controller includes at least one of:

temperature, global position system (GPS), or vital signs data.

5. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the receive element uses a first frequency band to harvest the signal and the transmit element uses a second frequency band to send the data containing information about preselected items.

6. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the storage element includes at least one of:

a supercapacitor, an ultracapacitor, a capacitor bank, or a battery.

7. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the controller is a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or a microcontroller.

8. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the transmitter includes an amplifier.

9. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the transmit antenna is a dipole antenna, monopole antenna, chip antenna, or a planar inverted F antenna (PIFA).

10. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the transmit antenna transmits in a WiFi frequency band, an L band frequency band, or an ultra-high frequency (UHF) band.

11. The two-way radio harvester and transmitter of claim 1, wherein the receive element is tuned in to a frequency band between 300 and 500 MHz to receive two-way radio signals.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmit element and the receiver device use a first frequency band and the receive element uses a second frequency band.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the two-way radio harvester and transmitter sends the information to the receiver device once the storage element has stored enough of the DC power to make a reliable transmission.

14. A system for a two-way radio harvester and transmitter, comprising:

a two-way radio harvester and transmitter device comprising;

a rectifier connected between a receive element and a storage element to harvest and convert a signal into direct current (DC) power and store the DC power in the storage element;

a gate coupled to the storage element and a controller to allow the direct current (DC) power in the storage element to power the controller when the gate reaches a power threshold, wherein the power threshold is dependent on at least power level and time needed to send data containing information about preselected items by the controller;

a transmitter connected between the controller and a transmit element to convert the data containing information about preselected items by the controller into radio frequency (RF) signals to be transmitted by the transmit element; and

a receiver device to receive the information from the two-way radio harvester and transmitter device.

15. A system for a two-way radio harvester and transmitter, comprising:

a two-way radio harvester and transmitter device comprising;

a rectifier connected between a receive element and a storage element to harvest and convert a portion of a signal into direct current (DC) power and store the DC power in the storage element;

a gate coupled to the storage element and a controller to allow the direct current (DC) power in the storage element to power the controller when the gate reaches a power threshold, wherein the power threshold is dependent on at least power level and time needed to send data containing information about preselected items by the controller;

a transmitter connected between the controller and a transmit element to convert the data containing information about preselected items by the controller into radio frequency (RF) signals to be transmitted by the transmit element of a two-way radio harvester and transmitter;

a data collector device to gather auxiliary information and to provide the auxiliary information to the controller of the two-way radio harvester and transmitter device to be synthesized; and

a receiver device to receive the information from the two-way radio harvester and transmitter device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the data collector device is a temperature sensor, global positioning system (GPS), or vital signs sensor.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the data collector device is powered by the DC power from the storage element.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the data collector device includes a power source.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the data collector device is powered by the power source and the DC power from the storage element is used by the two-way radio harvester and transmitter.