Energy-Efficient Low-Complexity CMOS Pulse Generator for Multiband UWB Impulse Radio

This paper presents an energy-efficient low-complexity pulse-generator design technique for multiband impulse-radio ultrawide-band (IR-UWB) system in 0.18-mum CMOS technology. The short pulses are generated based on the on/off switching operation of an oscillator with subband switching functionality, which is mandatory for multiband IR-UWB systems. The relation between the oscillator switching operation and the resulting output pulse envelope, which determines pulse spectral characteristics, is analyzed, and the design guidelines for topology and component values are presented. Measurements show the output pulses with the duration of 3.5 ns, which corresponds to 520-MHz bandwidth. The output pulse spectrum centered at 3.8 GHz fully complies with the Federal Communication Commission spectral mask with more than 25 dB of sidelobe suppression without the need for additional filtering. Thus, the low-complexity pulse generator can maintain its simplicity for low cost with core chip size of 0.3 mm². The pulse generator shows an excellent energy efficiency with average energy dissipation of 16.8 pJ per pulse from 1.5-V supply. The proposed pulse generator is best suited for energy-detection IR-UWB systems.