Charge Pumps for Ultra-Low-Power Applications: Analysis, Design, and New Solutions

In this brief a brief tutorial of charge pump topologies for management of self-powered nodes in ultra-low-power applications, such as Internet of Things nodes, is presented. It aims to provide to the designer guidelines to choose the most suitable solution, according to the given design specifications. After a brief historic evolution, the main design equations of charge pumps and a collection of the recent proposed topologies and regulation schemes are discussed, allowing for qualitative insight into the state-of-the-art of integrated topologies.