Ultra-Low Power RFIC Solutions for Wireless Sensor Networks

• Main Author: Kraimia, Hassen
• Language: English
• Published: Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux I 2013
• Subjects: [PHYS:COND:CM_GEN] Physics/Condensed Matter/Other; [PHYS:COND:CM_GEN] Physique/Matière Condensée/Autre; [SPI:OTHER] Engineering Sciences/Other; [SPI:OTHER] Sciences de l'ingénieur/Autre; Wireless sensor networks; Integrated circuits; Front-end RF; Cmos; Ultra-low power
• Online Access: http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01066815; http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/01/06/68/15/PDF/KRAIMIA_HASSEN_2013_CORR.pdf

Since their emergence, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have been growing continually becoming a key player in many applications such as military tracking, remote monitoring, bio-sensing and home automation. These networks are based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard which is dedicated to low rate wireless personal area networks (LR-WPANs) in the unlicensed radio band (868MHz/915MHz/2.4GHz). Low power consumption, low cost of implementation and high level of integration are the main challenges of these systems. As radio frequency transceiver is one of the most power hungry block in wireless sensor node, power consumption of radio frequency front-end (RFFE) must be reduced. To deal with, several approaches are possible, either at circuit level by investigating operating modes of transistors and merging functionalities or at system level by searching novel demodulation architecture. This thesis explores the specific requirements and challenges for the design of ultra-low power radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), leading to the design of a compact demodulator implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology and compatible with all modulation schemes.