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suprege

suprege

Summary

The objective is to investigate a new micropower wireless data transmission solution over short distance, in the UHF ISM frequency bands (430 and 920 MHz). The micropower transceiver will make use of an original architecture based on the super-regeneration principle. This circuit will be developed by the Electronics Laboratory of EPFL as a monolithic IC. The principle of super-regeneration, which is based on the variation of the start-up time of an oscillator as a function of the signal coupled from the antenna, allows a very simple transceiver architecture, and appears to be particularly suited to micropower applications, compared to classical solutions such as the superheterodyne, the low IF (Intermediate Frequency) or the direct conversion receiver.

The present project seeks to take up the basic idea of superregeneration by introducing original analog integrated circuits techniques for low-power performance such as automatic power-down techniques, as well as improved selectivity, sensitivity and cancellation of parasitic radiation compared to a discrete-components solution. The core of the superregeneration system being an oscillator, the receiver and transmitter functions make full use of the same circuit blocks. The whole concept has been validated by simulation. A first version of the core of the receiver has been realised in AMS BICMOS 0.8 µm technology.

The superregenerative transceiver will be used in 3 industrial applications which share the constraint of requiring micropower wireless data transmission over short distance: (1) a remote control for vehicle alarms (Transval), (2) wireless computer peripherals (Logitech), and (3) a wireless data transmission system for water counters (Mead Microelectronics).

Objectives

system-level design;

design trade-offs and optimisation of the micropower receiver / transmitter as a function of various parameters (power consumption, area, bandwidth, sensitivity, etc);

modulation / demodulation and interface with data transmission systems;

realisation of the integrated micropower receiver / transmitter based on the super-regeneration principle;

realisation of 3 demonstrators dedicated to each industrial application.

Participants

EPFL- LEG (CH), Transval SA (F), Logitech SA (CH), Mead sa (CH)

Design Story

Public Deliverables