A 10pJ/bit 135Mbps IR-UWB transmitter using pulse position modulation and with on-chip LDO regulator in 0.13µm CMOS for biomedical implants

This paper describes a compact low-power high-datarate impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) transmitter IC for biomedical implants. The transmitter is powered through an on-chip low-dropout (LDO) regulator to tune its oscillation frequency which, together with the pulse width control, ensures that the transmitted pulse´s power spectral density (PSD) fits within the FCC mask and has a BW ≥ 500MHz. The transmitter uses pulse position modulation (PPM) and the maximum measured datarate is 135Mbps with a figure of merit of 10pJ/bit. The chip is fabricated in 0.13μm CMOS. The core VCO occupies (35 × 125)μm² area, while the area of both the regulator and the PPM oscillator is (0.325 × 0.17)mm².