A UWB-IR Transmitter Using Frequency Conversion in Nonlinear Transmission Lines With 16 pJ/pulse Energy Consumption

We present a new architecture for an ultrawideband impulse radio transmitter using Bragg frequency ringing on a nonlinear transmission line. This technique has the potential to generate microwave pulses with energy consumption in the 16-22 pJ/pulse range and shows unique properties, including energy consumption scaling with the inverse of frequency, and the ability to generate frequencies exceeding the fT of the driver circuit. We fabricate 10, 20, and 30 GHz transmitters in 0.13-μm RF-CMOS to establish the energy scaling property. We demonstrate wireless transmission over several meters using a low-sensitivity, off-the-shelf receiver and show a best energy performance of 16 pJ/pulse.