Title :
Voltage-to-frequency converter for low-power sensor interfaces
Author :
Azcona, C. ; Calvo, B. ; Medrano, N. ; Celma, S.
Author_Institution :
Group of Electron. Design - I3A, Univ. of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Abstract :
This paper presents a low-power rail-to-rail temperature compensated voltage-to-frequency converter (VFC) which constitutes the last stage of a sensor read-out interface targeting portable applications, such as wireless sensor networks. Results for a 0.18 μm - 1.2 V CMOS VFC ASIC implementation show for an input range of (0 - 1.2 V) an output frequency range of (0.1 - 1.0 MHz), adequate to digitize the signal with the direct counting method in the sensor node microcontroller. The proposed VFC has a power consumption of 60 μW in normal operation, 35 nW in sleep mode, and it is temperature insensitive for a temperature range of (-40, 120°C).
Keywords :
CMOS digital integrated circuits; application specific integrated circuits; compensation; frequency convertors; intelligent sensors; microcontrollers; CMOS VFC ASIC; direct counting method; power 35 nW; power 60 muW; sensor interfaces; sensor node microcontroller; sensor read-out interface; size 0.18 mum; temperature compensation; voltage 1.2 V; voltage to frequency converter; CMOS integrated circuits; Frequency measurement; Power demand; Resistors; Temperature measurement; Transistors; Wireless sensor networks;
Conference_Titel :
Sensors, 2011 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Limerick
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-9290-9
DOI :
10.1109/ICSENS.2011.6127176
