Matching the Power, Voltage, and Size of Biological Systems: A nW-Scale, 0.023-${\rm mm}^{3}$ Pulsed 33-GHz Radio Transmitter Operating From a 5 kT/q-Supply Voltage

Abstract

This paper explores the extent to which a solid-state transmitter can be miniaturized, while still using RF for wireless information transfer and working with power densities and operating voltages comparable to what could be harvested from a living system. A 3.1 nJ/bit pulsed millimeter-wave transmitter, 300 by 300 by 250 in size, designed in 32-nm SOI CMOS, operates on an electric potential of 130 mV and 3.1 nW of dc power. Farfield data transmission at 33 GHz is achieved by supply-switching an LC-oscillator with a duty cycle of . The time interval between pulses carries information on the amount of power harvested by the radio, supporting a data rate of 1 bps. The inductor of the oscillator also acts as an electrically small on-chip antenna, which, combined with millimeter-wave operation, enables the extremely small form factor.Index Terms-Antennas, low power design, monolithic integrated circuits, radio frequency oscillators. 1549-8328

Hybrid integrated biological–solid-state system powered with adenosine triphosphate

“…Integration of ATP-harvesting ion pumps could provide a means to power future CMOS microsystems scaled to the level of individual cells 22 . In molecular diagnostics, the integration of pore-forming proteins such as alpha haemolysin 23 or MspA porin 24 with CMOS electronics is already finding application in DNA sequencing 25 .…”

A 385×385µm² 0.165V 0.27nW Fully-Integrated Supply-Modulated OOK Transmitter in 65nm CMOS for Glasses-Free, Self-Powered, and Fuel-Cell-Embedded Continuous Glucose Monitoring Contact Lens

“…The self-oscillating voltage doubler and Dickson charge pump are adopted as a boost converter. This enables low power boost conversion from a low input voltage without off-chip components or special process characteristic such as deep-trench capacitors (250 fF/µm 2 ) [10]. They are utilized to achieve low power consumption, sacrificing conversion efficiency.…”

A 6.1-nA Fully Integrated CMOS Supply Modulated OOK Transmitter in 55-nm DDC CMOS for Glasses-Free, Self-Powered, and Fuel-Cell-Embedded Continuous Glucose Monitoring Contact Lens

“…2 and 3 show the schematics of the proposed circuit of a boost converter and an RF LC-based power oscillator including its simulated result. To improve compatibility with volume-limited contact lens application, an off-chip-inductorbased boost converter [5] cannot be adopted. However, the conventional switched-capacitor-based converter [6] cannot satisfy our requirement from the viewpoint of leakage current.…”

“…Table I shows the performance comparison among the state-of-the-art low-power CMOS glucose sensor [1], a boost converter [5], and a pulsed transmitter with two input terminals [6]. Our proposed sensor outperforms the others in terms of current consumption while maintaining a competitive size.…”