Low power receiver design utilizing weak inversion and RF energy harvesting for demodulation

A topic of intense study in RF wireless research is that of wireless sensor networks. Wireless sensor networks are characterized by the ad-hoc distribution in an area of many tiny sensor devices. Because these networks often must operate in areas without and pre existing infrastructure, they are typically required to operate for extended periods of time on single battery charge. Thus, low power design techniques are important technologies for wireless sensor networks. Towards this goal, several techniques and novel ideas are presented for improving sensitivity and reducing power requirements. Through the application of these techniques, a 1.0 V, 1 mW low power OOK fully integrated receiver implemented using 0.13 mum CMOS technology is presented. The chip receives a RF signal with a sensitivity of -90 dBm at a data rate of 1 Mbps at 2.2 GHz.