SBIR Phase I: Microelectromechanical System Radio Transceivers for Low-Power Wireless Networks

SBIR 第一阶段：用于低功耗无线网络的微机电系统无线电收发器

• 批准号: 1549465
• 负责人: Tristan Rocheleau
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: MuMEC, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1549465&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Microelectromechanical; System; Radio

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is a drastic reduction in the power needed for short-range radio links, such as those used in home automation devices. Wireless technology, which already plays a major part in our daily lives, is expected to further expand to networks of billions of autonomous sensors in coming years: the so-called Internet of Things. In one vision, sensors employing tiny, low-cost wireless motes collect and transmit data through a mesh network while operating only on scavenged or battery power. Here, small form-factor, spectrum efficient, low-power wireless communication links are essential. In particular, the home and industrial automation markets are experiencing exponential growth in usage, and low-cost battery-operated temperature, light, and power sensors combined with wirelessly controlled switches have already become a large market. This project aims to help bring this vision to reality by producing radios that require a small fraction of the power of current technology. With power savings and resource usage reduction, the potential economic benefit to both home users and commercial office buildings is significant. Indeed, this market is already over seven billion dollars in the US alone, with over 8% yearly growth expected. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes development of a Microelectromechanical System (MEMS)-based radio offering a steep reduction in operating power. Currently available radios consume battery unfriendly powers of 10's of milliWatts, requiring large batteries for remote devices, with resultant increased costs and size. With such power consumption, the vision of ubiquitous sensor node networks, operating for long periods on only scavenged or battery power, remains difficult to achieve. By combining MEMS technology with traditional CMOS design, the proposed system here will enable a two order of magnitude reduction in power consumption compared to conventional technology, low enough that these radios will allow continuous operation on battery power alone. The work of this Phase I SBIR will focus on designing and verifying performance of such MEMS radios using fabrication processes suitable for mass production. The end goal of this project is to demonstrate a complete MEMS-based radio compatible with the widely-used Z-wave protocol while operating at or below 100 microWatt in receive-mode.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是大幅减少短距离无线电链路所需的功率，例如家庭自动化设备中使用的功率。无线技术已经在我们的日常生活中发挥了重要作用，预计在未来几年将进一步扩展到数十亿自主传感器的网络：即所谓的物联网。在一个愿景中，传感器采用微小的低成本无线微尘，通过网状网络收集和传输数据，同时仅使用回收的或电池电源。在这里，小尺寸、频谱高效、低功耗的无线通信链路至关重要。特别是，家庭和工业自动化市场的使用量正在呈指数级增长，低成本电池供电的温度、光和功率传感器与无线控制开关相结合已经成为一个巨大的市场。该项目旨在通过生产只需要当前技术一小部分功率的无线电来帮助实现这一愿景。随着电力节省和资源使用的减少，家庭用户和商业办公楼的潜在经济效益是显着的。事实上，仅在美国，这个市场就已经超过70亿美元，预计年增长率超过8%。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目提出了一个基于微机电系统（MEMS）的无线电的发展，提供了一个急剧减少的工作功率。目前可用的无线电消耗几十毫瓦的电池不友好功率，需要用于远程设备的大电池，结果增加了成本和尺寸。由于这样的功耗，普遍存在的传感器节点网络的愿景，仅在清除或电池电源上长时间运行，仍然难以实现。 通过将MEMS技术与传统CMOS设计相结合，与传统技术相比，本文提出的系统将使功耗降低两个数量级，低到足以使这些无线电设备仅依靠电池电源即可连续工作。第一阶段SBIR的工作重点是使用适合大规模生产的制造工艺设计和验证此类MEMS无线电的性能。该项目的最终目标是展示一个完整的基于MEMS的无线电兼容广泛使用的Z波协议，同时在接收模式下工作在100微瓦或以下。