Low-power ultra-wideband wavelets generator with fast start-up circuit

A low-power fully integrated ultra-wideband (UWB) wavelet generator is presented. This UWB generator is intended for low-power and low-complexity UWB radio technology using the noncoherent energy collection approach. The wavelet generator is based on a cross-coupled inductance-capacitance (LC) oscillator. It can be directly driven by two digital signals, which can modulate the length, position, and phase of the output wavelet. An additional digital circuit improves the startup time of the oscillator so that the oscillator and output buffers can be switched off between each wavelet generation. The entire chip-including output buffers-uses a 0.18-μm CMOS technology. When operating at 10 megapulses per second (Mp/s) with a 1.2-GHz bandwidth wavelet, the generator provides a typical average output power of -20 dBm and consumes only 1.8 mW. The differential output signal is a multicycle waveform centered at 4.5 GHz.