RF transmitter using the dual-pulse position modulation method for low-power smart micro-sensing chip

• Published in: IEEJ transactions on electrical and electronic engineering 2012-05, Vol.7 (3), p.337-341
• Main Authors: Gu, Bon Ju, Lee, Wang Hoon, Sawada, Kazuaki, Ishida, Makoto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Circuit properties; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical machines; Electronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Integrated circuits; Oscillators, resonators, synthetizers; pulse modulation; Regulation and control; RF transmitter; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Signal convertors; smart micro-sensing chip; wireless sensor system
• ISSN: 1931-4973; 1931-4981
• DOI: 10.1002/tee.21737

This paper presents a low‐power radio frequency (RF) transmitter using dual‐pulse position modulation (DPPM) for a smart micro‐sensing chip (SMSC) with sensors and large scale integrated circuit (LSI) on the same chip. The DPPM method is presented by a fixed pulse and a variable pulse within the same time frame. The distance between the fixed pulse and the variable pulse describes the amplitude of the input signal. A modulator and a ring oscillator were designed for the RF transmitter using the DPPM method. In the modulator, the pulse width modulation (PWM) signal is generated by the intersective method, and narrow pulses are extracted at the rising and falling positions of the generated PWM signal. The designed oscillator has the function of an oscillation controller. The RF transmitter was fabricated with sensors for an SMSC by complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The power consumption of the fabricated modulator was 4.5 mW. The power consumption of the proposed RF transmitter was measured as 7.0–7.3 mW at an input signal of 0.8–2.5 V. The RF transmitter using the DPPM method was able to reduce the power consumption by a maximum of 50.3% compared to a transmitter using the PWM method, because in the latter the dissipated power was 8.4–14.5 mW at the same input signal. © 2012 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.