EAGER: Ultra-low-power, Universal, Multi-rate Bio-signal Transceiver SoC for Medical Diagnosis and Brain-Machine Interface Applications

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。该研究项目的目标是推进通用生物信号采集系统芯片(SoC)的愿景。这样的系统将具有感知来自人体的各种生物信号的能力。其方法是使用单个可重构的超低功耗低噪声放大器和多速率、时间交错的模数转换器(ADC)来支持多通道、多种类型的传感器数据。这与最近关于生物信号采集的研究形成对比，该研究侧重于以特定类型的生物信号为目标的定制集成电路，例如心电(ECG)信号或脑电(EEG)信号。另一个目标是在SoC上包括一个低功耗的射频收发器，用于发送信号数据和接收配置信息。从智能方面的优点来看，该项目有可能克服生物传感器SoC信号调理功能块的技术挑战。目标信号的多功能性导致对放大器前端的动态范围的要求非常宽。在非常低的信噪比条件下检测信号的需要也是电路设计的挑战。使用cmos来降低成本阻止了一些已知技术的使用来解决这些挑战。为此，该项目研究了一种可重新配置的低噪声放大器。这种方法是多学科的，集成了数字信号处理、模拟和混合信号集成电路设计以及医学科学。从更广泛的影响来看，拟议的研究有可能为获取生物信号提供重要的新能力，并大幅降低此类系统的成本。如果成功，这一转变可能会对诊断医疗保健、家庭医疗保健、个人健身以及假肢和其他设备的脑控人机界面的应用产生重大影响。一名研究生将得到拟议项目的支持。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The objective of this research project is to advance the vision of a universal bio-signal acquisition system-on-chip (SoC). Such a system would have the ability to sense a wide variety of biological signals from the human body. The approach is to use a single reconfigurable ultra-low power low-noise amplifier and multi-rate, time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to support multi-channel, multi-type sensor data. This is in contrast to recent research on biological signal acquisition that focuses on custom integrated circuits that target a particular type of biological signal, such as an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal or an encephalogram (EEG) signal. Another goal is to include a low-power radio frequency (RF) transceiver on the SoC to transmit signal data and receive configuration information.With respect to intellectual merit, the project has the potential to overcome technical challenges in the signal conditioning functional block for a bio-sensor SoC. The targeted signal versatility leads to a requirement for a very wide dynamic range for the amplifier front-end. The need to detect signals in very low signal-to-noise conditions also presents a circuit design challenge. Using CMOS to reduce cost prevents the use of some known techniques to address these challenges. The project investigates a reconfigurable low-noise amplifier for this purpose. The approach is multidisciplinary, integrating digital signal processing, analog and mixed-signal integrated circuit design, and medical science.With respect to broader impacts, the proposed research has the potential to provide significant new capabilities for acquiring biological signals and to substantially lower the cost of such systems. If successful, this transformation could have significant impact on applications in diagnostic healthcare, home healthcare, personal fitness, and brain-controlled human-machine interfaces for prosthetic and other devices. One graduate student will be supported by the proposed project.