An ultrawideband system architecture for tag based wireless sensor networks

With the latest improvements in device size, power consumption, and communications, sensor networks are becoming increasingly more popular. There has also been a great increase in the popularity of commercial applications based on ultrawideband (UWB). Impulse radio (IR) based UWB technology utilizes noise-like signal, has potentially low complexity and low cost, is resistant to severe multipath, and has very good time domain resolution allowing for location and tracking applications. In this paper, the architecture and performance of a noncoherent low complexity UWB impulse radio based transceiver designed for low data rate, low cost sensor network applications is presented. The UWB-IR transmitter is based on a delay locked loop (DLL) and UWB monocycle pulse generator. The UWB-IR receiver utilises a noncoherent, energy detection based approach, which makes it largely independent of the shape of the transmit waveform and robust to multipath channels. The test circuits are designed for 0.35 /spl mu/m SiGe BiCMOS technology. This paper presents system simulations results as well as the performance of key functional blocks of the designed UWB application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) transceiver architecture. The simulated power consumption of UWB-IR transceiver circuits is 136 mW with 100% duty cycle with a 3.3 V power supply.     

A CMOS IR-UWB Transceiver Design for Contact-Less Chip Testing Applications

This paper presents a novel CMOS impulse radio (IR) ultra-wide-band (UWB) transceiver system design for future contact-less chip testing applications using inductive magnetic coupling as wireless interconnect. The proposed architecture is composed of a simple and robust design of a Gaussian monocycle impulse generator at the transmitter, a wideband short-range on-chip transformer for data transmission, and a g_m-boosted common-gate low-noise amplifier in the UWB receiver path. SpectreRF post-layout simulation with a 90-nm CMOS technology shows that the transceiver operates up to a 5 Gb/s data rate, and consumes a total of 9 mW under a 1-V power supply.     

A 132 Mb/s, 1bit 4224 M samples/s sub-sampling, low-complexity and energy-efficient BPSK transceiver for all-digital 3–5 GHz IR-UWB

In this paper, a 3–5 GHz impulse radio ultra wideband BPSK transceiver is presented. A new all-digital architecture is applied in the proposed transceiver. The transceiver has no mixer and low complexity. The transmitter employs a RLC network response filter to achieve the adjustable pulse parameters, which includes pulse width, pulse bandwidth and pulse amplitude. Considering the low duty ratio, a proposed on/off output buffer in the transmitter is applied to save the power consumption. To simplify the receiver, the radio frequency input signal is amplified and sampled directly by a 1bit 4224 MHz sub-sampling ADC. The ADC comprises by 16 paralleled comparators for low power. Each comparator operates at 264 MHz and can be self-calibrated. The transceiver is implemented in SMIC 0.13 μm CMOS process at the supply of 1.2 V. The measured results show the adjustable parameters: the pulse amplitude is from 110 to 370 mV, the pulse width is from 900 to 1,600 ns and the pulse bandwidth is from 2.0 to 2.78 GHz. The data rate is 132 Mb/s between the transceiver. The transmitter and the receiver only consume 18.2 and 330 pJ/pulse, respectively. The receiver sensitivity is ?75 dBm at the bit error rate of 10^?3.     

基于DS18B20的短距无线温度检测系统

基于一种新型单线可编程数字温度传感器DS18820的测温原理,以低功耗的MSP430F1611单片机为微控制器,设计了一种的短距无线温度检测系统,并通过无线模块nRF401实现数据的无线收发。给出了微控制模块、LCD显示模块、无线收发模块和温度传感器模块的设计以及系统的软件开发。实验结果表明：系统实现了短距、多点的温度检测;利用无线收发模块和CLD显示模块,节约了现场调试时间,实现了系统的便携式设计并提高了温控系统的稳定性;利用MSP430单片机的超低功耗以及DS18820的单线接口方式,实现了整个系统的低功耗设计,并简化了系统的结构。     

A self-duty-cycled 7.2–8.5 GHz IR-UWB receiver for low power and low data rate applications

A self-duty-cycled non-coherent impulse radio-ultra wideband receiver targeted at low-power and low-data-rate applications is presented. The receiver is implemented in a 130 nm CMOS technology and works in the 7.2–8.5 GHz UWB band, which covers the IEEE 802.15.4a and 802.15.6 mandatories high-band channels. The receiver architecture is based on a non-coherent RF front-end (high gain LNA and pulse detector) followed by a synchronizer block (clock and data recovery or CDR function and window generation block), which enables to shut down the power-hungry LNA between pulses to strongly reduce the receiver power consumption. The main functions of the receiver, i.e. the RF front-end and the CDR block, were measured stand-alone. A maximum gain of 40 dB at 7.2 GHz is measured for the LNA. The RF front-end achieves a very low turn-on time (<1 ns) and an average sensitivity of ?92 dBm for a 10^?3 BER at a 1 Mbps data rate. A root-mean-square (RMS) jitter of 7.9 ns is measured for the CDR for a power consumption of 54 µW. Simulation results of the fully integrated self-duty-cycled 7.2–8.5 GHz IR-UWB receiver (that includes the measured main functions) confirm the expected performances. The synchronizer block consumes only 125 µW and the power consumption of the whole receiver is 1.8 mW for a 3% power duty-cycle (on-window of 30 ns).     

一种适用于无线传感器通信的UWB收发机结构

论文介绍了一种使用低速率超宽带技术实现的适用于无线传感器网络通信的收发机结构,这种结构采用结构简单的IR-UWB(Impulse Radio UWB)方法,能满足无线传感器节点低功耗、低硬件复杂度的要求。这种结构发射机采用SRD(Step Recovery Diode)二极管来产生UWB脉冲信号,接收机则使用结构简单的能量检测方法。     

UWB wireless sensor networks: UWEN - a practical example

The research topic of sensor networks has been around for some time. With improvements in device size, power consumption, communications, and computing technology, sensor networks are becoming more popular for an ever increasing range of applications. Since 2002, there has been an increased in the popularity of commercial applications based on ultra wideband. This, in turn, has ignited interest in the use of this technology for sensor networks and fuelled research in the area. Impulse-radio-based UWB technology has a number of inherent properties that are well suited to sensor network applications. In particular, UWB systems have potentially low complexity and low cost, have noise-like signal, are resistant to severe multipath and jamming, and have very good time domain resolution allowing for location and tracking applications. This article examines one example of a UWB sensor network for outdoor sport and lifestyle applications.     

A 3.1 to 5 GHz CMOS Transceiver for DS‐UWB Systems

This paper presents a direct‐conversion CMOS transceiver for fully digital DS‐UWB systems. The transceiver includes all of the radio building blocks, such as a T/R switch, a low noise amplifier, an I/Q demodulator, a low pass filter, a variable gain amplifier as a receiver, the same receiver blocks as a transmitter including a phase‐locked loop (PLL), and a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). A single‐ended‐to‐differential converter is implemented in the down‐conversion mixer and a differential‐to‐single‐ended converter is implemented in the driver amplifier stage. The chip is fabricated on a 9.0 mm² die using standard 0.18 µm CMOS technology and a 64‐pin MicroLead Frame package. Experimental results show the total current consumption is 143 mA including the PLL and VCO. The chip has a 3.5 dB receiver gain flatness at the 660 MHz bandwidth. These results indicate that the architecture and circuits are adaptable to the implementation of a wideband, low‐power, and high‐speed wireless personal area network.     

A/D Precision Requirements for Digital Ultra-Wideband Radio Receivers

Ultra wideband radio (UWB) is a new wireless technology that uses narrow pulses to transmit information. Implementing an “all-digital” UWB receiver has numerous potential benefits ranging from low-cost and ease-of-design to flexibility. Digitizing an RF signal near the antenna, however, introduces its own set of challenges and has traditionally been considered infeasible. A high-speed, high-resolution analog-digital converter (ADC) is difficult to design, and is extremely power-hungry. The viability of an “all-digital” architecture, therefore, hinges upon the specifications of this block. In this paper, we demonstrate that 4 bits of resolution are sufficient for reliable detection of a typical UWB signal that is swamped in noise and interference.     

UWB for multi-gigabit/s communications beyond 60 GHz

The recently allocated 71–76 GHz and 81–86 GHz bands provide an opportunity for realizing Line Of Sight (LOS) links for directional point-to-point “last mile” applications. An efficient use of this spectrum may allow wireless to finally “catch up” with wires, leading to systems such as “multi-Gigabit wireless Ethernet,” and “wireless fiber.” However, the transmission at such a frequency range is characterized by several additional challenges compared to lower frequency bands, from both technological and propagation point of view, which makes difficult to use them efficiently. In this scenario, IR (Impulse Radio) UWB (Ultra Wide Band) technology might offer some more degrees of freedom for the design of a highly integrated and low cost transceiver. This work has at its core the design and BER (Bit Error Rate) performance evaluation of an IR-UWB architecture based on an 85 GHz up-conversion stage of train of Gaussian pulses having duration lower than 1 ns. Finally, we compare performance of this architecture with the ones of a more traditional continuous wave communications system with FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) modulation. Simulation results show that BER performance, in presence of RF non-linearities, for an IR-UWB transceiver architecture operating at 85 GHz (with same data rate and bandwidth) are better than a coherent BFSK scheme working in a similar scenario. Finally, some conclusions are reported, pointing out the UWB antenna design and the future works related to the modeling of the channel at frequencies beyond 60 GHz and the implementation of the test bed.     

A novel multi-antenna impulse radio UWB transceiver for broadband high-throughput 4G WLANs

In the last years, a lot of attention has been devoted to both multi-antenna systems with space-time orthogonal block coding (STOBC) and ultra wideband (UWB) transceivers based on impulse-radio (IR) technologies. In this short contribution we anticipate the architecture of a novel transceiver merging both multi-antenna and pulse position modulation (PPM) IR-UWB techniques and then we test the performance in flat-faded application scenarios typical of emerging broadband 4G WLANs. Three main appealing features are retained by the sketched transceiver scheme. First, it allows to equip the UWB receiver with reliable estimates of the (possibly time-varying) underlying multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) UWB without reducing the overall information throughput conveyed by the system. Second, the performance confirms that the proposed transceiver is able to achieve "full diversity" even at SNRs as low as 1.5-2 dB. As a consequence, the resulting BERs outperform those of current Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) IR-UWB transceivers over two orders of magnitude even at SNR's as low as 3-4 dB. Third, at target BER's below 10/sup -2/ and radiated powers around 250 /spl mu/W, the coverage ranges allowed by the proposed MIMO IR-UWB scheme typically outperform those of conventional SISO IR-UWB ones of about two orders of magnitude.     

An Analysis of Interference Mitigation Capability of Low Duty-Cycle UWB Communications in the Presence of Wideband OFDM System

Low duty-cycle (LDC) algorithm is interference mitigation technique, which can reduce the average interference to the existing radio systems by lowering pulse repetition interval or pulse occupation time. In this paper, the coexistence environment between low data rate ultra wideband (UWB) communication system such as wireless sensor network and the existing wideband system using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) such as 4th generation mobile cellular system (4G), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), and field pickup unit (FPU) is considered. In order to analyze the interference mitigation capability of LDC algorithm with impulse based UWB (LDC-UWB) system, the frame error rate (FER) of wideband OFDM system is examined for two types of LDC-UWB system: the signal with random polarity such as binary pole signals and without random polarity such as mono pole signals. We present that LDC algorithm is an efficient interference mitigation technique for low data rate UWB communication via computer simulations regardless of definitions of transmitted energy of UWB communication system, and also that the signal with random polarity is suitable for LDC-UWB system to mitigate interference to the other radio systems. We further investigate the adequate duty-cycle of LDC-UWB system for each definition of transmitted power of UWB communication.     

A 3–10 GHz Ultra Wideband Receiver LNA in 0.13 \mu m CMOS

A fully integrated low-power, low-complexity ultra wideband (UWB) 3–10 GHz receiver front-end in standard 130 nm CMOS technology is proposed for UWB radar sensing applications. The receiver front-end consists of a full UWB band low-noise amplifier and an on-chip diplexer. The on-chip diplexer has a 1 dB insertion loss and provides a \(-\) 30 dB isolation. The diplexer switch was co-designed with the receiver input matching network to optimize the power matching while simultaneously achieving good noise matching performance. The receiver low-noise amplifier provides a 3–10 GHz bandwidth input matching and a power gain of 17 dB. The overall receiver front-end consumes an average power of 13 mW. The core area of the transceiver circuit is 500 \(\mu \) m by 700 \(\mu \) m.     

Toward the software realization of a GSM base station

Advances in processor and analog-to-digital conversion technology have made the software approach an increasingly attractive alternative for implementing radio-based systems. For mobile telephony base stations, the advantages with the new architecture are obvious: great cost savings by using one transceiver per base transceiver station (BTS) instead of one per channel, tremendous flexibility by moving system-specific parameters to the digital part, and allowing the support of a wide range of modulation and coding schemes. This paper considers the software implementation of a GSM BTS, and analyzes the performance of each of its radio interface modules. The performance of each software module is evaluated using both a % CPU metric and a processor-independent metric based on SPEC benchmarks. The results can be used to dimension systems, e,g., to estimate the number of software-based GSM channels that can be supported by a given processor configuration, and to predict the impact of future processor enhancements on BTS capacity. Two novel aspects of this work are the portability of the software modules and the platform-independent evaluation of their computational requirements     

A CMOS ultra-wideband impulse radio transceiver for 1-mb/s data communications and /spl plusmn/2.5-cm range finding

A CMOS ultra-wideband impulse radio (UWB-IR) transceiver was developed in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. It can be used for 1-Mb/s data communications as well as for precise range finding within an error of /spl plusmn/2.5 cm. The power consumptions of the transmitter and receiver for data communication are 0.7 and 4.0 mW, respectively. When an LNA operates intermittently through bias switching, the power consumption of the transceiver is only 1 mW. The range for data communication is 1 m with BER of 10/sup -3/. For ranging applications, the transmitter can reduce the power to 0.7 /spl mu/W for 1k pulses per second, and the receiver consumes little power. The transceiver design, all-digital transmitter, and intermittent circuit operation at the receiver reduce the power consumption dramatically, which makes the transceiver well suited for applications like sensor networks. The electronic field intensity is lower than 35 /spl mu/V/m, and thus the UWB system can be operated even under the current Japan radio regulations.     

一种低功率SSB收发信机的设计

低功率业余无线电收发信机是业余无线电爱好者们急需的低功率通信设备.本文介绍了一种低功率SSB收发信机的设计方法及其工作原理.该收发信机提供15 m和20 m两个波段,利用芯片MC1596实现SSB信号的产生及检波,利用芯片NE602完成混频,固定中频为9 MHz.该机体积小、重量轻、成本低、性能好,在低功率业务无线电通信领域中,具有较高的实用价值和广阔的应用前景.     

A continuous-time IR-UWB RAKE receiver for coherent symbol detection

The ultra-wide bandwidth released for unlicensed use by FCC a decade ago has initiated significant research efforts. The large ultra-wide bandwidth is attractive not only for increased data transfer speed but may also be exploited for added functionality like high-precision ranging in wireless sensor networks. RAKE based receivers are preferred for ultra-wideband (UWB) technology due to wide bandwidth. However, designing RAKE based correlating receivers remains quite challenging. Correlating receivers are also power consuming due to high-speed DSPs, ADC and matched filter. Timing synchronization is another issue associated with correlating receivers. In this paper a impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) RAKE receiver is presented utilizing a continuous-time binary value coding scheme for power-efficiency and coherent symbol detection without the need for synchronization to achieve precise ranging using time-of-flight technique. A working prototype of the IR ranging transceiver which uses the IR-UWB RAKE receiver is presented with measured high-precision ranging towards 1.4 cm.     

Self‐Powered Sensors Enabled by Wide‐Bandgap Perovskite Indoor Photovoltaic Cells

A new approach to ubiquitous sensing for indoor applications is presented, using low‐cost indoor perovskite photovoltaic cells as external power sources for backscatter sensors. Wide‐bandgap perovskite photovoltaic cells for indoor light energy harvesting are presented with the 1.63 and 1.84 eV devices that demonstrate efficiencies of 21% and 18.5%, respectively, under indoor compact fluorescent lighting, with a champion open‐circuit voltage of 0.95 V in a 1.84 eV cell under a light intensity of 0.16 mW cm^?2. Subsequently, a wireless temperature sensor self‐powered by a perovskite indoor light‐harvesting module is demonstrated. Three perovskite photovoltaic cells are connected in series to create a module that produces 14.5 µW output power under 0.16 mW cm^?2 of compact fluorescent illumination with an efficiency of 13.2%. This module is used as an external power source for a battery‐assisted radio‐frequency identification temperature sensor and demonstrates a read range by of 5.1 m while maintaining very high frequency measurements every 1.24 s. The combined indoor perovskite photovoltaic modules and backscatter radio‐frequency sensors are further discussed as a route to ubiquitous sensing in buildings given their potential to be manufactured in an integrated manner at very low cost, their lack of a need for battery replacement, and the high frequency data collection possible.     

A software-defined radio FPGA implementation of OFDM-based PHY transceiver for 5G

This paper introduces a software-defined radio implementation of an OFDM-based transceiver for the prototyping and testing of 5G physical layer algorithms. The implementation uses high level abstraction tools to develop and test the algorithms, significantly reducing the time and effort needed to test new features. The proposed architecture adopts interconnecting FIFOs between each functional block, reducing the critical paths and enabling complex designs to be implemented at higher clock rates. The proposed LTE-like transceiver is implemented using COTS FPGA and RF development boards. The real-time over-the-air demonstrator has an on-the-fly scalable bandwidth from 20 to 61.44 MHz, attaining close to 500 Mb/s when using 256-QAM modulation.     

An ultra-low power energy-efficient microsystem for hydrogen gas sensing applications

This paper presents a fully integrated power management and sensing microsystem that harvests solar energy from a micro-power photovoltaic module for autonomous operation of a miniaturized hydrogen sensor. In order to measure H₂ concentration, conductance change of a miniaturized palladium nanowire sensor is measured and converted to a 13-bit digital value using a fully integrated sensor interface circuit. As these nanowires have temperature cross-sensitivity, temperature is also measured using an integrated temperature sensor for further calibration of the gas sensor. Measurement results are transmitted to the base station, using an external wireless data transceiver. A fully integrated solar energy harvester stores the harvested energy in a rechargeable NiMH microbattery. As the harvested solar energy varies considerably in different lighting conditions, the power consumption and performance of the sensor is reconfigured according to the harvested solar energy, to guarantee autonomous operation of the sensor. For this purpose, the proposed energy-efficient power management circuit dynamically reconfigures the operating frequency of digital circuits and the bias currents of analog circuits. The fully integrated power management and sensor interface circuits have been implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS process with a core area of 0.25 mm². This circuit operates with a low supply voltage in the 0.9–1.5 V range. When operating at its highest performance, the power management circuit features a low power consumption of less than 300 nW and the whole sensor consumes 14.1 μA.