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

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是大幅减少家庭自动化设备等短距离无线电链路所需的功率。无线技术已经在我们的日常生活中发挥着重要作用，预计在未来几年将进一步扩展到由数十亿个自主传感器组成的网络：所谓的物联网。在一种设想中，传感器使用微小的、低成本的无线微尘收集数据，并通过网状网络传输数据，同时仅依靠拾取的电力或电池供电。在这里，小型化、频谱效率高、低功耗的无线通信链路是必不可少的。特别是，家庭和工业自动化市场的使用量正在经历指数级的增长，由电池供电的低成本温度、光和功率传感器以及无线控制开关已经成为一个巨大的市场。该项目旨在通过生产只需当前技术一小部分功率的无线电来帮助实现这一愿景。随着节能和资源使用的减少，家庭用户和商业办公大楼的潜在经济效益都是显著的。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%。该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目建议开发一种基于微电子机械系统(MEMS)的无线电，可大幅降低运行功率。目前可用的无线电设备消耗的电池功率为10‘S毫瓦，远程设备需要大电池，从而增加了成本和体积。在这样的功耗下，泛在传感器节点网络的愿景仍然很难实现，这种网络只能依靠回收的电力或电池电力长时间运行。通过将MEMS技术与传统的CMOS设计相结合，这里提出的系统将使功耗比传统技术降低两个数量级，低到足以使这些无线电设备仅靠电池供电就可以连续运行。第一阶段SBIR的工作将集中在使用适合于批量生产的制造工艺来设计和验证这种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，同时在接收模式下以100微瓦或更低的功率运行。

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.