Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor Readers
The signal-processing architecture of passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors presents significant implementation challenges due to its radar-like operational principle and the inherent complexity of discrete component-based hardware design. While System-in-Package (SiP) has demonstrated remarka...
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/14/4308 |
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| author | Zhen Mao Bing Li Linning Peng Jinghe Wei |
| author_facet | Zhen Mao Bing Li Linning Peng Jinghe Wei |
| author_sort | Zhen Mao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The signal-processing architecture of passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors presents significant implementation challenges due to its radar-like operational principle and the inherent complexity of discrete component-based hardware design. While System-in-Package (SiP) has demonstrated remarkable success in miniaturizing electronic systems for smartphones, automotive electronics, and IoT applications, its potential for revolutionizing SAW sensor interrogator design remains underexplored. This paper presents a novel architecture that synergistically combines time-domain ADC design with SiP-based miniaturization to achieve unprecedented simplification of SAW sensor readout systems. The proposed time-domain ADC incorporates an innovative delay chain calibration methodology that integrates physical unclonable function (PUF) principles during time-to-digital converter (TDC) characterization, enabling the simultaneous generation of unique system IDs. The experimental results demonstrate that the integrated security mechanism provides variable-length bit entropy for device authentication, and has a reliability of 97.56 and uniqueness of 49.43, with 53.28 uniformity, effectively addressing vulnerability concerns in distributed sensor networks. The proposed SiP is especially suitable for space-constrained IoT applications requiring robust physical-layer security. This work advances the state-of-the-art wireless sensor interfaces by demonstrating how time-domain signal processing and advanced packaging technologies can be co-optimized to address performance and security challenges in next-generation sensor systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f092422c3c647f68baf1dead3cab6e2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f092422c3c647f68baf1dead3cab6e22025-08-20T03:56:45ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-07-012514430810.3390/s25144308Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor ReadersZhen Mao0Bing Li1Linning Peng2Jinghe Wei3School of Cyber Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, ChinaSchool of Cyber Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, ChinaSchool of Cyber Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, ChinaChina Electronics Technology Group Corporation No. 58 Research Institute, Wuxi 214072, ChinaThe signal-processing architecture of passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors presents significant implementation challenges due to its radar-like operational principle and the inherent complexity of discrete component-based hardware design. While System-in-Package (SiP) has demonstrated remarkable success in miniaturizing electronic systems for smartphones, automotive electronics, and IoT applications, its potential for revolutionizing SAW sensor interrogator design remains underexplored. This paper presents a novel architecture that synergistically combines time-domain ADC design with SiP-based miniaturization to achieve unprecedented simplification of SAW sensor readout systems. The proposed time-domain ADC incorporates an innovative delay chain calibration methodology that integrates physical unclonable function (PUF) principles during time-to-digital converter (TDC) characterization, enabling the simultaneous generation of unique system IDs. The experimental results demonstrate that the integrated security mechanism provides variable-length bit entropy for device authentication, and has a reliability of 97.56 and uniqueness of 49.43, with 53.28 uniformity, effectively addressing vulnerability concerns in distributed sensor networks. The proposed SiP is especially suitable for space-constrained IoT applications requiring robust physical-layer security. This work advances the state-of-the-art wireless sensor interfaces by demonstrating how time-domain signal processing and advanced packaging technologies can be co-optimized to address performance and security challenges in next-generation sensor systems.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/14/4308surface acoustic waveSystem in Packagewireless sensorphysically unclonable functionhardware security |
| spellingShingle | Zhen Mao Bing Li Linning Peng Jinghe Wei Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor Readers Sensors surface acoustic wave System in Package wireless sensor physically unclonable function hardware security |
| title | Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor Readers |
| title_full | Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor Readers |
| title_fullStr | Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor Readers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor Readers |
| title_short | Time-Domain ADC and Security Co-Design for SiP-Based Wireless SAW Sensor Readers |
| title_sort | time domain adc and security co design for sip based wireless saw sensor readers |
| topic | surface acoustic wave System in Package wireless sensor physically unclonable function hardware security |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/14/4308 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhenmao timedomainadcandsecuritycodesignforsipbasedwirelesssawsensorreaders AT bingli timedomainadcandsecuritycodesignforsipbasedwirelesssawsensorreaders AT linningpeng timedomainadcandsecuritycodesignforsipbasedwirelesssawsensorreaders AT jinghewei timedomainadcandsecuritycodesignforsipbasedwirelesssawsensorreaders |