Ultra-Low Power Wireless Front-End Integrated Circuits for the Internet of Things

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Emerging wireless sensor networks (WSN), wireless personal area networks (WPAN), wireless body sensor network (WBAN) are the key components of Internet of Things(IoT), bringing high demand for ultra-low power, low-cost and high performance transceivers. Conventional transceivers are often designed with low power-efficiency, low flexibility and high cost, which limits their deployment of emerging applications. This research program will focus on design techniques for ultra-low power, low-cost, flexible and reliable receivers for wireless microsystems. To achieve this target, injection lock techniques will be explored and used in a variety of ways. These techniques provide two distinct benefits: a) The use of injection-locked to demodulate ASK/FSK/PSK signals leads to simple non-coherent architecture for the receiver, which is important for low power consumption; b) The unique characteristics of injection locked oscillators offers both flexibility and reliability for the receiver.This program will focus on two main topics;1) The study of injection-locked oscillators. Systematic and in-depth analysis will be performed. The types of oscillator, the configuration of the circuits and the characteristics of the incident signal will be explored with regard to their effects on locking range. The special application of injection-locked oscillators for chirped signals will also be investigated. The outcome of this topic will be both a theoretical advancement, and the foundation for the subsequent design phase.2) The design techniques for flexible and reliable receivers. In this part, novel receivers will be designed and validated through circuit simulation tools and lab measurements. The wide locking range of the oscillator is the key building block in the development of these circuits, leading to low power requirements and high performance. The performance of the receiver will be examined with respect to power consumption, data rate, noise and linearity.Finally, this research program will provide excellent training opportunities and a multi-disciplinary research environment in which students will obtain knowledge and skills for future academic and industrial research in low-power circuit design.