A Fully Integrated, 290 pJ/bit UWB Dual-Mode Transceiver for cm-Range Wireless Interconnects

Author

Gambini, Simone ; Crossley, John ; Alon, Elad ; Rabaey, Jan M.

Author_Institution

Berkeley Wireless Res. Center, Berkeley, CA, USA

Volume

47

Issue

3

fYear

2012

fDate

3/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

586

Lastpage

598

Abstract

We present an ultra-wideband transceiver designed for ultra-low-power communication at sub-10 cm range. The transceiver operates at a 5.6 GHz carrier frequency, chosen to minimize path loss when using a 1 cm² antenna, and can switch its architecture between self-synchronous rectification and low-IF to adapt its power consumption to the channel characteristic in real time. A low-power digital circuit exploits redundancy in the modulation scheme to provide a real-time BER estimate used to close the mode-switching loop. Implemented in 65 nm CMOS, the transceiver consumes 25 μW when transmitting and 245 μW when receiving in low-power mode, plus 45 μW in the clock generator, and only requires an external antenna. Dual-mode operation allows range extension and mitigates interference.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; error statistics; interference suppression; low-power electronics; radio transceivers; ultra wideband technology; CMOS technology; UWB dual-mode transceiver; clock generator; frequency 5.6 GHz; low-power digital circuit; mode-switching loop; path loss; power 245 muW; power 45 muW; real-time BER estimate; self-synchronous rectification; size 25 mum; size 65 nm; ultra-low-power communication; wireless interconnects; Antennas; Gain; Impedance; Power demand; Radio frequency; Receivers; Wireless communication; Adaptive circuits; CMOS; UWB; low-power; sensor networks; short range; ultra-wide band;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9200

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSSC.2011.2177690

Filename

6122036