Ultra low power detection circuits in 130nm CMOS for a wireless UWB localization system

This paper presents two detection circuits with an ultra low power consumption in the nW-range. A voltage detection circuit is designed and measured of which the output switches if the supply voltage reaches 1 V. It consumes an average current of merely 3 nA. Also a power dip detection circuit is designed and measured which detects if an RF-signal is present at the input. The minimal needed input power is -24.5 dBm, and it operates from a supply voltage of 0.5 V up to 1 V and consumes only 5 nW to 65 nW respectively when active. It operates with a carrier frequency from 40 MHz up to 900 MHz. It can serve as an OOK-demodulator for bitrates up to 6.67 kbps. The die area of both circuits combined, excluding buffers and including decoupling capacitors, is 310 mum times 550 mum.