1-cc computer using UWB-IR for wireless sensor network

An ultra-small, high-data-rate, low-power 1-cc computer (OCCC) with an UWB-IR (ultra-wideband impulse-radio) transceiver was developed for a wireless sensor network. Thanks to bear-chip implementation and a flexible printed circuit board, the size of the computer is only 1 cm³. To achieve 10-Mbps data rate, a middle-class 32-bit microcontroller, which has both a bus interface and a USB 2.0 controller, was selected. Low-power techniques, such as transition of microcontroller status to standby mode by using an external real-time clock during wait times, power shutdown of halted circuits, and detailed control of UWB-IR transceiver status, are applied. The effect of these low-power techniques is verified by measuring the time history of current consumption of the OCCC. It was confirmed that the OCCC can provide wireless communication at a transmission rate of 258 kbps over a distance of 30 m.