CSR: Large: Collaborative Research: Integrating Circuits, Sensing, and Software to Realize the Cubic-mm Computing Class

CSR：大型：协作研究：集成电路、传感和软件以实现立方毫米计算级别

• 批准号: 1111541
• 负责人: David Wentzloff
• 金额: $ 253.3万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-08-15 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1111541&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CSR; Large; Collaborative; Research; Integrating

Applications of wireless sensor nodes are evolving at a previously unimaginable rate. But current technology is limited because devices are bulky - measuring one cubic centimeter or more - and hampered by short lifetimes. This project is producing a one cubic millimeter sensor node. This ultra-miniaturized device is a complete sensing platform that includes transducers (for imaging, temperature sensing and other signal detection), wireless communication, a high accuracy timer, processor, memory, a battery and energy harvesting that provides the node with an extended lifetime.The central challenge in reducing the form factor for sensor nodes is to reduce power consumption and densely package discrete components (crystals, inductors, etc.). To this end, this team's innovations involve research and development of:1. A novel processor that operates at a supply voltage near the threshold voltage of the transistors for optimal energy consumption.2. A new ultra-low-leakage memory system.3. An Ultra Wide-Band (UWB) transmitter and receiver that can communicate with other nodes over a distance of three meters with an integrated antenna. 4. A 100pW timer that is temperature compensated and designed for reduced jitter to allow accurate synchronization between sensor nodes and enable short, low energy radio communication windows.5. A new CMOS imaging approach capable of ultra-low power motion detection and image-acquisition, and, reconfigurable to act as a solar energy harvesting unit. 6. An energy-aware software development environment to control the nodeThese PIs implemented early versions of several of these technologies in silicon, demonstrating the potential to package them as sensor nodes. The team's track record of producing ultra-low power circuits, and other sensing components, position them to deliver the needed 1000× form factor reduction. This research team will assemble and package 100 first- and second-generation of these sensor node platforms and disseminate them to the broader community for trials in a wide range of uses. The development of cubic-millimeter sensor nodes will enable applications that have long been envisioned but were unachievable. For example, sensory skins could cover surfaces with a dense deployment of nodes that monitor the properties of the manifold itself or its surroundings. Implantable intelligence can enable deeply embedded physical and biological processes, e.g., malignant tumor growth monitoring or intra-ocular pressure sensing to determine the risk for retinal detachment. Applications such as these, and a myriad of other "Thinking and Linking" applications, can give everyday objects sensing, computing, communication, and tracking ability, allowing, for example, research ranging from the social network patterns of small insects to asset tracking in dynamic environments like hospitals. By shrinking sensor node size to one cubic millimeter, with potentially perpetual lifetime, the concept of "smart dust" can be taken from fiction to reality.By disseminating the first generation of these sensors to members of the sensor network community, this project will dramatically accelerate the adoption of cubic-millimeter-class computing devices. This will have immediate impact on a wide array of research programs for intelligently sensing, tracking, measuring and optimizing physical processes. This research in turn will have a fundamental and long term impact on a diverse set of applications with critical societal import, ranging from energy conservation, environmental quality management, and health care.

无线传感器节点的应用正以前所未有的速度发展。但目前的技术是有限的，因为设备体积庞大——尺寸为1立方厘米或更多——而且寿命短。这个项目正在生产一个一立方毫米的传感器节点。这种超小型设备是一个完整的传感平台，包括传感器（用于成像，温度传感和其他信号检测），无线通信，高精度计时器，处理器，存储器，电池和能量收集，为节点提供延长的使用寿命。减少传感器节点外形因素的核心挑战是降低功耗和密集封装离散组件（晶体，电感器等）。为此，该团队的创新涉及研发：1。一种新型处理器，其工作电压接近晶体管的阈值电压以达到最佳能耗。一种新型超低泄漏存储系统。一种超宽带（UWB）发射器和接收器，可以通过集成天线与三米外的其他节点进行通信。4. 一个100pW的定时器，温度补偿，设计用于减少抖动，允许传感器节点之间的精确同步，并实现短，低能量的无线电通信窗口。一种新的CMOS成像方法，能够超低功耗运动检测和图像采集，并且可以作为太阳能收集单元进行重新配置。6. 这些pi在硅中实现了其中几种技术的早期版本，展示了将它们封装为传感器节点的潜力。该团队在生产超低功耗电路和其他传感元件方面的记录，使它们能够提供所需的1000倍外形尺寸缩小。该研究小组将组装和包装100个第一代和第二代传感器节点平台，并将其传播到更广泛的社区进行广泛使用的试验。立方毫米传感器节点的发展将使长期以来设想但无法实现的应用成为可能。例如，感官皮肤可以覆盖表面，密集部署节点，监控流形本身或周围环境的属性。植入式智能可以实现深度嵌入的物理和生物过程，例如恶性肿瘤生长监测或眼内压传感，以确定视网膜脱离的风险。诸如此类的应用程序，以及无数其他“思考和链接”应用程序，可以赋予日常物品感知、计算、通信和跟踪能力，例如，允许从小昆虫的社会网络模式到医院等动态环境中的资产跟踪的研究。通过将传感器节点的尺寸缩小到一立方毫米，并具有潜在的永久使用寿命，“智能灰尘”的概念可以从小说变成现实。通过向传感器网络社区的成员传播第一代这些传感器，该项目将极大地加速三毫米级计算设备的采用。这将对智能传感、跟踪、测量和优化物理过程的广泛研究项目产生直接影响。这项研究反过来将对一系列具有重要社会意义的应用产生根本性和长期的影响，包括节能、环境质量管理和医疗保健。