A MEMS-based vacuum sensor with a PLL frequency-to-voltage converter

Allidina, Karim; Taghvaei, M.; Nabki, Frédéric; Cicek, Paul-Vahé; El-Gamal, M.N.

doi:10.1109/icecs.2009.5410846

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…THE VACUUM MEASUREMENT SYSTEM Many system architectures can be used to estimate the pressure from the frequency of a resonator sensor. In [9], a power-efficient design was proposed based on a phase-locked loop (PLL) system. Fig.…”

Section: B Transimpedance Amplifiermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An auto-calibration system based on a PLL similar to the one presented in [9] can be used, where the voltagecontrolled oscillator is replaced by the sensing resonator. Upon activation of the auto-calibration system, the PLL adjusts the actuation voltage of the sensing resonator to match that of the reference.…”

Section: B Transimpedance Amplifiermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From the characteristics of the resonator, it is determined that the necessary gain-bandwidth product of the TIA is 1 THz. The TIA in [9] was optimized for the 4.53 MHz resonator, and has a gain of 96 dB, a 3-dB bandwidth of 57 MHz, and automatic gain control circuitry to avoid exerting the non-linearities of the MEMS resonator. The TIA consumes 100 µW from a 1 V supply.…”

Section: B Transimpedance Amplifiermentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A MEMS-based temperature-compensated vacuum sensor for low-power monolithic integration

Taghvaei

Cicek

Allidina

et al. 2010

Proceedings of 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems

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This paper presents a MEMS resonator-based vacuum sensor with a low-power transimpedance amplifier and a mixer-based frequency-to-digital converter. The MEMS resonator is fabricated in a CMOS-compatible process, and a 130 nm CMOS technology is used to design the integrated circuitry. The vacuum sensor operates in the pressure range from 10 to 1200 mbar with a resolution of ~2 mbar. The system is temperature-compensated between -10°C and 60°C. The simulated power consumption of the entire system is less than 495 W from a 1 V supply. I. INTRODUCTIONVacuum sensors are essential to monitor pressure levels in a variety of applications, e.g. aerospace, automotive, medical, etc. These sensors must be accurate in the presence of environmental variations, e.g. of temperature, while still providing a low-power, low-cost, and compact solution, especially in mobile applications. A MEMS beam resonator, whose frequency of vibration shifts with ambient pressure variations, was designed to ensure accuracy over a wide range of temperatures. The MEMS process used to fabricate this resonator is fully compatible with standard CMOS technology, allowing for a single-chip solution with features such as temperature compensation and auto-calibration. This work expands on the previously demonstrated concept of mixing resonant frequencies [1, 2] to create a low-power integrated pressure sensor system. The system offers accurate and reliable performance over a wide temperature span, while still exhibiting the sensing range of many commercial sensors, e.g. [3]. A resonant sensor was chosen for its numerous advantages compared to other sensor types such as piezoresistive or capacitive diaphragm-based sensors and Pirani gauges. Since resonant sensors rely on variations in frequency as opposed to amplitude, they are less susceptible to noise and interference [4,5]. This translates into measurements with a high degree of accuracy, as well as increased sensitivity and resolution. Resonant sensors also exhibit better long-term stability than piezoresistive and capacitive counterparts [6], both of which involve diaphragms that are susceptible to wear and tear. Moreover, resonant sensors are less prone to hysteresis effects, which can adversely affect other sensor types [5].This paper first discusses the MEMS resonator sensor, then describes the sensing system, and finally presents the simulation results.

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Section: B Transimpedance Amplifiermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Transimpedance Amplifiermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Transimpedance Amplifiermentioning

confidence: 99%

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A MEMS-based temperature-compensated vacuum sensor for low-power monolithic integration

Taghvaei

Cicek

Allidina

et al. 2010

Proceedings of 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems

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“…Conventional resonance frequency readout circuits can be classified into two types, the time-based measurement architecture and the frequency-based architecture. Nevertheless, the previous time-based or frequency-based resonance sensor readout circuits either require large T MEAS [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] or have a limited relative accuracy [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 ], inherent from the circuit architectures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The frequency-based measurement architectures [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 ] are used to shorten the measurement time with the help of phase-locked loops (PLLs) and successive approximation (SAR) operation [ 23 , 24 ]. The sensor works as the load of the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) inside the PLL.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resonance Frequency Readout Circuit for a 900 MHz SAW Device

Liu

Zhang

Weng

et al. 2017

Sensors

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A monolithic resonance frequency readout circuit with high resolution and short measurement time is presented for a 900 MHz RF surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor. The readout circuit is composed of a fractional-N phase-locked loop (PLL) as the stimulus source to the SAW device and a phase-based resonance frequency detecting circuit using successive approximation (SAR). A new resonance frequency searching strategy has been proposed based on the fact that the SAW device phase-frequency response crosses zero monotonically around the resonance frequency. A dedicated instant phase difference detecting circuit is adopted to facilitate the fast SAR operation for resonance frequency searching. The readout circuit has been implemented in 180 nm CMOS technology with a core area of 3.24 mm2. In the experiment, it works with a 900 MHz SAW resonator with a quality factor of Q = 130. Experimental results show that the readout circuit consumes 7 mW power from 1.6 V supply. The frequency resolution is 733 Hz, and the relative accuracy is 0.82 ppm, and it takes 0.48 ms to complete one measurement. Compared to the previous results in the literature, this work has achieved the shortest measurement time with a trade-off between measurement accuracy and measurement time.

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Monolithic MEMS resonator based pressure sensor and readout design

Chuang

Wen

2016

2016 International SoC Design Conference (ISOCC)

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A MEMS-based vacuum sensor with a PLL frequency-to-voltage converter

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

A MEMS-based temperature-compensated vacuum sensor for low-power monolithic integration

A MEMS-based temperature-compensated vacuum sensor for low-power monolithic integration

Resonance Frequency Readout Circuit for a 900 MHz SAW Device

Monolithic MEMS resonator based pressure sensor and readout design

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