A Sub-nW 2.4 GHz Transmitter for Low Data-Rate Sensing Applications

• Main Authors: Mercier, Patrick Philip (Author), Bandyopadhyay, Saurav (Author), Lysaght, Andrew Christopher (Contributor), Stankovic, Konstantina M. (Contributor), Chandrakasan, Anantha P. (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Harvard University- (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2015-11-13T12:38:21Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

This paper presents the design of a narrowband transmitter and antenna system that achieves an average power consumption of 78 pW when operating at a duty-cycled data rate of 1 bps. Fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process, the transmitter employs a direct-RF power oscillator topology where a loop antenna acts as a both a radiative and resonant element. The low-complexity single-stage architecture, in combination with aggressive power gating techniques and sizing optimizations, limited the standby power of the transmitter to only 39.7 pW at 0.8 V. Supporting both OOK and FSK modulations at 2.4 GHz, the transmitter consumed as low as 38 pJ/bit at an active-mode data rate of 5 Mbps. The loop antenna and integrated diodes were also used as part of a wireless power transfer receiver in order to kick-start the system power supply prior to energy harvesting operation.
Semiconductor Research Corporation. Interconnect Focus Center
Semiconductor Research Corporation. C2S2 Focus Center
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant K08 DC010419)
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant T32 DC00038)
Bertarelli Foundation