A low cost low quiescent dissipation DC-DC converter for wireless sensor networks

This paper proposes a compact DC-DC buck converter with low output power and very low quiescent current dissipation for use in an ultra-capacitor based wireless sensor networks (WSNs) nodes. This converter is controlled by a self-oscillation topology in order to achieve less silicon area and lower quiescent dissipation than the conventional designs. The work is implemented in the standard 0.35um CMOS process with a die size of 0.05mm² and the total quiescent current is only 80uA. Simulation results show that at 1.2V output for 50mA load, the power supply regulation ratio is 1.3%. And the load regulation ratio is 1.2% within the whole load range.