Low complexity, 165 µW, 5 Mbit/s wideband radio front-end with range of several meters

This paper details the design, implementation, simulation and measurement of an ultra low power, low complexity, wideband RF front end. The RF transceiver front end is suitable for short range, relatively high data rate applications (5 Mbit/s). The transmitter consists of an SRD-based pulse generator. The pulse generator is triggered by bursts of low frequency carrier. The narrow bursts of carrier are used to signal a data ´1´ and cause the pulse generator to output a series of narrow, wide bandwidth, impulses. The output RF impulses are sent through a pair of wideband, high gain, Vivaldi antennas. The received pulses are envelope detected by a wideband active FET detector. A SPDT FET-based switch is used to allow antenna sharing and consumes approximately 15 muW. The transmitter is passive and requires a drive signal of 0.5 mW. The overall power consumption of the receiver is 150 muW. A non linear model running inside ADS is used to model the SRD-based pulse generator. The transceiver is the lowest complexity, lowest power wideband RF front end published and has a range of several meters.