2008 Research Summary

A 1 V, 100 µW Pulse-Based Short Range Wireless Transceiver

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Simone Gambini, Davide Guermandi and Jan M. Rabaey

This project explores the suitability of baseband impulse radio to the realization of ultra-low-power wireless links at a very short operating range. In this operational regime, coupling occurs in the near field, so that radiative antenna results are ineffiecient. We demonstrate that by using a .8 cm diameter off chip inductor, pulse-based communication can be achieved between nodes placed at a 5 cm distance. To minimize timing accuracy requirements, an energy detection architecture similar to that described in [1] is used. The receiver employs a low noise amplifier to reduce the input noise bandwidth and damp the oscillations induced by the high-quality factor inductor, followed by a cascade of open loop gain stages that restore the signal to full swing. Power dissipation is reduced through aggressive duty-cycling using a windowing signal synchronized to the incoming bitstream through an on-chip phase locked loop, obviating the need for an on-board precise crystal oscillator.

[1]

T. Sakuray et al., "A 1 V, 300 µW Flashing UWB Transceiver Based on Double Thresholding Scheme," Proc. VLSI Symp., 2006.