Low-power/low-voltage RF microsystems for wireless sensors networks

This paper presents radio-frequency (RF) microsystems (MSTs) composed by low-power devices for use in wireless sensors networks (WSNs). The RF CMOS transceiver is the main electronic system and its power consumption is a critical issue. Two RF CMOS transceivers with low-power and low-voltage supply were fabricated to operate in the 2.4 and 5.7 GHz ISM bands. The measurements made in the RF CMOS transceiver at 2.4 GHz, which showed a sensitivity of −60 dBm with a power consumption of 6.3 mW from 1.8 V supply. The measurements also showed that the transmitter delivers an output power of 0 dBm with a power consumption of 11.2 mW. The RF CMOS transceiver at 5.7 GHz has a total power consumption of 23 mW. The target application of these RF CMOS transceivers is for MSTs integration and for use as low-power nodes in WSNs to work during large periods of time without human operation, management and maintenance. These RF CMOS transceivers are also suitable for integration in thermoelectric energy scavenging MSTs.