[C21] An Energy Harvesting Image Sensor SOC with 5.8μW/mm2 Power Generation and 0.77 frames/second Self-Powered Frame Rate

Abstract

We present an image sensor SOC consisting of a 64×48 array of logarithmic energy harvesting pixels and associated readout circuits.When idle, the pixel array can be configured to harvest and store energy in an off-chip battery or super capacitor, which offers the potential for self-powered operation where the system can be run with energy harvested solely from the chip. Measurement results from the image sensor node show peak harvested power of 5.8μW, which equates to the system being able to process a frame every 1.3 seconds (25.3 seconds considering transmitter) if operated solely from harvested energy. The sensor is also able to switch into harvesting mode autonomously whenever a frame has been processed, thus demonstrating the feasibility of implementing self-powered sensor nodes for low power, low frame rate IoT applications.