Smart power optimization for wireless transceivers

无线通信的发展遵循两个不同的方向：一个侧重于星形网格架构，具有昂贵的基础设施和“低成本”移动终端（例如4G蜂窝网络）；另一个基于廉价的点对点通信设备（例如WLAN、无线传感器网络（WSNs）和RFID）。蜂窝通信是过去十年中最具活力和最富有成效的市场之一，2011年的手机销量超过170万部，预计2012年的销量将达到类似水平。与此同时，无线传感器网络代表了为自动化和环境监测量身定制的新一代无线通信，预计在未来10年，2021年将从4.5亿美元增长到20亿美元。对于蜂窝和wsn设备来说，电池寿命和终端成本是下一代无线收发器发展的关键因素。该项目的目标是开发电路和子系统，能够最大限度地降低功耗，并限制这种收发器的成本，遵循两个主要原则：自适应优化和集成功能。前者是基于开发结构的思想，其性能可以作为操作条件的函数重新配置，抛弃传统的最坏情况设计方法。后者侧重于电路设计，其中电流和器件被“重用”，以同时执行多种功能，最大限度地减少面积和功耗。

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.