Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental Sensing
The trend towards ubiquitous electronics drives the development of autonomous hardware components with longer operating times. This work presents a novel ultra-low power analog sensor frontend (AFE) for environmental sensing applications. Relevant operation parameters like resolution (6 to 13 bit),...
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IEEE
2021-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Open Journal of Circuits and Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9494747/ |
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| author | Marcel Jotschke Peter Reichel Wilmar Carvajal Ossa Jeongwook Koh Torsten Reich Christian Mayr |
| author_facet | Marcel Jotschke Peter Reichel Wilmar Carvajal Ossa Jeongwook Koh Torsten Reich Christian Mayr |
| author_sort | Marcel Jotschke |
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| description | The trend towards ubiquitous electronics drives the development of autonomous hardware components with longer operating times. This work presents a novel ultra-low power analog sensor frontend (AFE) for environmental sensing applications. Relevant operation parameters like resolution (6 to 13 bit), sample rate (1 to 7.5 kS/s), voltage gain (−6 to 12 dB), transimpedance (1.5 to 12 M<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \boldsymbol {\Omega }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), and moving average (1 to 128 taps) are real-time programmable. Four input channels are separately configurable to process voltage, current and potentiometric signals of external or internal sources. The flexible channel-wise configuration enables processing of various signal types and therefore offers a versatile solution for sensors from the Internet-of-Things (IoT) market segment. The AFE integrates switched-capacitor amplifiers, 13 bit, 10 kS/s successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC), bias references, oscillator, digital signal pre-processing and communication in a system-on-chip. A novel sensor power regime supports the flexible read-out of commercial IoT sensors, resulting in excellent power consumption. Fabricated samples in 180nm technology show an ultra-low power consumption of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8.8\,\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The SAR ADC achieves 10.6 effective bits while consuming <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.8\,\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, resulting in a Figure-of-Merit of 116.0 fJ/conv.-step. Measurements with commercial sensors prove the AFE’s suitability for an energy-harvester-powered IoT environmental sensor node. |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2644-1225 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
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| series | IEEE Open Journal of Circuits and Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-14bf8a8586b44d6ea88a93b760d3060a2025-08-20T01:54:55ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of Circuits and Systems2644-12252021-01-01244545610.1109/OJCAS.2021.30812509494747Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental SensingMarcel Jotschke0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4072-2625Peter Reichel1Wilmar Carvajal Ossa2Jeongwook Koh3Torsten Reich4Christian Mayr5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3502-0872Fraunhofer IIS/EAS, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Division Engineering of Adaptive Systems, Dresden, GermanyFraunhofer IIS/EAS, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Division Engineering of Adaptive Systems, Dresden, GermanyFraunhofer IIS/EAS, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Division Engineering of Adaptive Systems, Dresden, GermanyFraunhofer IIS/EAS, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Division Engineering of Adaptive Systems, Dresden, GermanyFraunhofer IIS/EAS, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Division Engineering of Adaptive Systems, Dresden, GermanyChair of Highly-Parallel VLSI-Systems and Neuromorphic Circuits, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, GermanyThe trend towards ubiquitous electronics drives the development of autonomous hardware components with longer operating times. This work presents a novel ultra-low power analog sensor frontend (AFE) for environmental sensing applications. Relevant operation parameters like resolution (6 to 13 bit), sample rate (1 to 7.5 kS/s), voltage gain (−6 to 12 dB), transimpedance (1.5 to 12 M<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \boldsymbol {\Omega }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), and moving average (1 to 128 taps) are real-time programmable. Four input channels are separately configurable to process voltage, current and potentiometric signals of external or internal sources. The flexible channel-wise configuration enables processing of various signal types and therefore offers a versatile solution for sensors from the Internet-of-Things (IoT) market segment. The AFE integrates switched-capacitor amplifiers, 13 bit, 10 kS/s successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC), bias references, oscillator, digital signal pre-processing and communication in a system-on-chip. A novel sensor power regime supports the flexible read-out of commercial IoT sensors, resulting in excellent power consumption. Fabricated samples in 180nm technology show an ultra-low power consumption of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8.8\,\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The SAR ADC achieves 10.6 effective bits while consuming <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.8\,\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, resulting in a Figure-of-Merit of 116.0 fJ/conv.-step. Measurements with commercial sensors prove the AFE’s suitability for an energy-harvester-powered IoT environmental sensor node.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9494747/Analog to digital converterslow power/low voltage circuitsSAR ADCsensor/actuator interface circuitsswitched-capacitor circuits |
| spellingShingle | Marcel Jotschke Peter Reichel Wilmar Carvajal Ossa Jeongwook Koh Torsten Reich Christian Mayr Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental Sensing IEEE Open Journal of Circuits and Systems Analog to digital converters low power/low voltage circuits SAR ADC sensor/actuator interface circuits switched-capacitor circuits |
| title | Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental Sensing |
| title_full | Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental Sensing |
| title_fullStr | Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental Sensing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental Sensing |
| title_short | Flexible Multi-Channel Analog-Frontend for Ultra-Low Power Environmental Sensing |
| title_sort | flexible multi channel analog frontend for ultra low power environmental sensing |
| topic | Analog to digital converters low power/low voltage circuits SAR ADC sensor/actuator interface circuits switched-capacitor circuits |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9494747/ |
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