Smart Wireless Sensor System by Microwave Powering for Space-by-Wireless

In this paper, a wireless sensor system for spacecraft health monitoring is demonstrated. The system combines data communication with microwave power transmission (MPT) in a single tone of 5.8 GHz frequency band using time division operation. The first contribution to Space-by-Wireless includes fabrication of low-cost lightweight prototype by use of Active Integrated Antenna (AIA) and Hybrid Semiconductor Integrated Circuit (HySIC). The second one is to introduce a selector which allows a wide range of RF input power and automatically switches the rectifiers so as to improve the RF-DC conversion efficiency of wireless sensors. The experimental results show the feasibility of simultaneous data sending and power transmission by conducting the proposed system.