A +10dBm 2.4GHz Transmitter with sub-400pW Leakage and 43.7% System Efficiency
Author(s)
Paidimarri, Arun; Ickes, Nathan J.; Chandrakasan, Anantha P.
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Extreme energy constraints inherent in many exciting new wireless sensing applications (such as [1-3]) virtually dictate that such systems operate with extremely low duty cycles, harvesting and storing energy over long periods of time before waking up to perform brief measurement and communication tasks. However, such duty cycling only works if the sleep power of the system is less than the average power available from the power source, which may only be as much as a few nA. In this work, we present an RF transmitter designed to operate in an extremely low duty-cycle industrial monitoring system. The primary challenges are achieving high efficiency in the active mode while transmitting as high as +10dBm and simultaneously minimizing the leakage during the sleep mode. We address these in a +10dBm Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitter test-chip through 1) low voltage design (0.68V) for switching power and short-circuit power reduction, 2) extensive power gating of unused blocks and 3) a negative-V[subscript GS] biasing technique for PA leakage reduction without affecting its on-performance.
Date issued
2015-02Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Microsystems Technology LaboratoriesJournal
Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Citation
Paidimarri, Arun, Nathan Ickes, and Anantha Chandrakasan. "A +10dBm 2.4GHz Transmitter with sub-400pW Leakage and 43.7% System Efficiency." 2015 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (February 2015).
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISBN
978-1-4799-6224-2