The Design Challenges of IoT: From System Technologies to Ultra-Low Power Circuits

Xiaoyan WANG  Benjamin BÜSZE  Marianne VANDECASTEELE  Yao-Hong LIU  Christian BACHMANN  Kathleen PHILIPS  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics   Vol.E100-C   No.6   pp.515-522
Publication Date: 2017/06/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1353
DOI: 10.1587/transele.E100.C.515
Type of Manuscript: INVITED PAPER (Special Section on Analog Circuits and Their Application Technologies)
Category: 
Keyword: 
wireless transceiver,  sleep mode,  ultra-low-power,  

Full Text: FreePDF(3.3MB)

Summary: 
In order to realize an Internet-of-Things (IoT) with tiny sensors integrated in our buildings, our clothing, and the public spaces, battery lifetime and battery size remain major challenges. Power reduction in IoT sensor nodes is determined by both sleep mode as well as active mode contributions. A power state machine, at the system level, is the key to achieve ultra-low average power consumption by alternating the system between active and sleep modes efficiently. While, power consumption in the active mode remains dominant, other power contributions like for timekeeping in standby and sleep conditions are becoming important as well. For example, non-conventional critical blocks, such as crystal oscillator (XO) and resistor-capacitor oscillator (RCO) become more crucial during the design phase. Apart from power reduction, low-voltage operation will further extend the battery life. A 2.4GHz multi-standard radio is presented, as a test case, with an average power consumption in the µW range, and state-of-the-art performance across a voltage supply range from 1.2V to 0.9V.