Playing card with rectum. Credit: Christopher Moore, Georgia Tech.
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Today, the world is saturated with electromagnetic signals, which represent a lot of relatively easily available energy. Just have the right technology on hand. The Georgia Tech team has such technology, simple and practical. It is a 3D printed rectene (rectenna, rectifying antenna) – an antenna that can convert electromagnetic radiation into direct current – the size of a playing card. This rectifier extracts energy from the 5G network signal and uses it to operate electrical equipment. This makes the 5G network an energy infrastructure.
Wireless networks have long been in the spotlight for efforts to harness the energy of electromagnetic waves. Some projects were interested in the waves of Wi-Fi networks, others in the waves of television and radio broadcasting. One technology even sought to extend the battery life of a smartphone by using radio waves generated by the phone itself.
Rectena creators, from left Manos Tentzeris, Aline Eid and Jimmy Hester. Credit: Christopher Moore, Georgia Tech.
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However, 5G networks significantly change the situation. They were designed for fast communication. And because of that, their microwave frequencies carry a lot of radiated energy. In this way, the creators of 5G networks, apparently unintentionally, created a fantastic opportunity for miners of electromagnetic waves. Now they can develop electromagnetic wave recovery devices that are much more efficient than current technology.
In terms of microwave energy, similar technologies have emerged before. Before the emergence of 5G networks, however, they were not practical. Extraction of energy from microwaves over longer distances requires large rectangles. And that’s the problem, because the bigger the rectum, the more it has to be directed directly to the microwave source.
Georgia Tech, logo.
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The Georgian engineering team solved this with so-called Rotman lenses, a popular component in many of today’s radar and electronic warfare systems. In short, these lenses allow radars or even rectans to cover a much larger space without having to move or rotate. The result is a 3D printed and literally bendable system that is able to extract energy from 5G network microwaves coming from any direction. At the same time, this new rectum uses 21 times more energy than the best comparable systems to date.
Even so, it’s not a godsend of energy. The new rectum will extract about 6 microwatts from the microwave transmitter of the 5G network, which is 180 meters away. But it’s definitely better than nothing. For the foreseeable future, such performance should be sufficient for small sensors and devices, especially within the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as for a variety of handy wearable devices. It would be a shame to let the energy of the 5G network waves be useless.
Video: Leveraging the 5G Network to Wirelessly Power IoT Devices
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