Smart power optimization for wireless transceivers

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The evolution of wireless communications follows two different directions: one focused on star-mesh architectures, with expensive infrastructure and "low cost" mobile terminals (e.g. 4G cellular network) and one based on cheap devices for peer-to-peer communications (e.g. WLAN, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and RFID). Cellular communication represents one of the most dynamic and fruitful markets of the last decade with more than 1.7 million of mobile phones sold in 2011 and similar volumes expected for 2012. Alongside this consolidated reality, Wireless Sensor Networks represent a new generation of wireless communication tailored to automation and environmental monitoring, with an expected growth from 450M$ up to 2B$ in the next 10 years 2021. For both cellular and WSNs devices, the battery life and the cost of the terminal represent key elements in the development of the next generation of wireless transceivers. The goal of this project is to develop circuits and subsystems able to minimize the power dissipation and limit the cost of such transceivers following two main principles: adaptive optimization and integrated functionality. The former is based on the idea of developing structures whose performance can be reconfigured as a function of the operating condition, discarding traditional worst-case design methodologies. The latter is focused on the design of circuits where currents and devices are "reused" to simultaneously perform multiple functions minimizing both area and power consumption.