CSR: Large: Collaborative Research: Integrating Circuits, Sensing, and Software to Realize the Cubic-mm Computing Class

无线传感器节点的应用正在以前所未有的速度发展。但目前的技术受到限制，因为设备体积庞大--测量一立方厘米或更多--而且使用寿命短。该项目正在生产一个1立方毫米的传感器节点。这种超小型化的设备是一个完整的传感平台，包括传感器(用于成像、温度传感和其他信号检测)、无线通信、高精度定时器、处理器、存储器、电池和能量收集，为节点提供更长的寿命。降低传感器节点外形系数的主要挑战是降低功耗并密集封装分立元件(晶体、电感等)。为此，该团队的创新涉及以下方面的研究和开发：1.一种新型处理器，其电源电压接近晶体管的阈值电压，以实现最佳的能量消耗。一种新型的超低漏电存储系统。一种超宽带(UWB)发射器和接收器，可通过集成天线与距离为3米的其他节点进行通信。4.100pW定时器，经过温度补偿并设计用于减少抖动，以允许传感器节点之间的准确同步，并实现短、低能量的无线电通信窗口。一种新的CMOS成像方法，能够进行超低功耗的运动检测和图像采集，并可重新配置为太阳能收集单元。6.控制节点的节能软件开发环境这些PI用硅实现了其中几种技术的早期版本，展示了将它们封装为传感器节点的潜力。该团队在生产超低功耗电路和其他传感组件方面的过往记录，使它们能够实现所需的1000倍外形因数缩减。该研究小组将组装和包装100个第一代和第二代传感器节点平台，并将它们传播到更广泛的社区，用于广泛用途的试验。立方毫米传感器节点的开发将使人们长期设想但无法实现的应用成为可能。例如，感官皮肤可以用密集部署的节点覆盖表面，这些节点监控歧管本身或其周围的属性。植入式智能可以实现深度嵌入的物理和生物过程，例如恶性肿瘤生长监测或眼压传感，以确定视网膜脱离的风险。像这样的应用程序，以及无数其他的“思考和链接”应用程序，可以赋予日常物体感知、计算、通信和跟踪能力，例如，允许进行从小昆虫的社会网络模式到医院等动态环境中的资产跟踪的研究。通过将传感器节点的大小缩小到1立方毫米，并具有永久使用寿命，“智能尘埃”的概念可以从虚构变为现实。通过将第一代传感器传播给传感器网络社区的成员，该项目将极大地加速立方毫米级计算设备的采用。这将对智能传感、跟踪、测量和优化物理过程的广泛研究计划产生直接影响。这项研究反过来将对一系列具有关键社会意义的应用程序产生根本性和长期的影响，包括能源节约、环境质量管理和医疗保健。

Applications of wireless sensor nodes are evolving at a previously unimaginable rate. But current technology is limited because devices are bulky - measuring one cubic centimeter or more - and hampered by short lifetimes. This project is producing a one cubic millimeter sensor node. This ultra-miniaturized device is a complete sensing platform that includes transducers (for imaging, temperature sensing and other signal detection), wireless communication, a high accuracy timer, processor, memory, a battery and energy harvesting that provides the node with an extended lifetime.The central challenge in reducing the form factor for sensor nodes is to reduce power consumption and densely package discrete components (crystals, inductors, etc.). To this end, this team's innovations involve research and development of:1. A novel processor that operates at a supply voltage near the threshold voltage of the transistors for optimal energy consumption.2. A new ultra-low-leakage memory system.3. An Ultra Wide-Band (UWB) transmitter and receiver that can communicate with other nodes over a distance of three meters with an integrated antenna. 4. A 100pW timer that is temperature compensated and designed for reduced jitter to allow accurate synchronization between sensor nodes and enable short, low energy radio communication windows.5. A new CMOS imaging approach capable of ultra-low power motion detection and image-acquisition, and, reconfigurable to act as a solar energy harvesting unit. 6. An energy-aware software development environment to control the nodeThese PIs implemented early versions of several of these technologies in silicon, demonstrating the potential to package them as sensor nodes. The team's track record of producing ultra-low power circuits, and other sensing components, position them to deliver the needed 1000× form factor reduction. This research team will assemble and package 100 first- and second-generation of these sensor node platforms and disseminate them to the broader community for trials in a wide range of uses. The development of cubic-millimeter sensor nodes will enable applications that have long been envisioned but were unachievable. For example, sensory skins could cover surfaces with a dense deployment of nodes that monitor the properties of the manifold itself or its surroundings. Implantable intelligence can enable deeply embedded physical and biological processes, e.g., malignant tumor growth monitoring or intra-ocular pressure sensing to determine the risk for retinal detachment. Applications such as these, and a myriad of other "Thinking and Linking" applications, can give everyday objects sensing, computing, communication, and tracking ability, allowing, for example, research ranging from the social network patterns of small insects to asset tracking in dynamic environments like hospitals. By shrinking sensor node size to one cubic millimeter, with potentially perpetual lifetime, the concept of "smart dust" can be taken from fiction to reality.By disseminating the first generation of these sensors to members of the sensor network community, this project will dramatically accelerate the adoption of cubic-millimeter-class computing devices. This will have immediate impact on a wide array of research programs for intelligently sensing, tracking, measuring and optimizing physical processes. This research in turn will have a fundamental and long term impact on a diverse set of applications with critical societal import, ranging from energy conservation, environmental quality management, and health care.