TY - GEN
T1 - A super-regenerative radio on plastic based on thin-film transistors and antennas on large flexible sheets for distributed communication links
AU - Huang, Liechao
AU - Rieutort-Louis, Warren
AU - Hu, Yingzhe
AU - Sanz-Robinson, Josue
AU - Wagner, Sigurd
AU - Sturm, James C.
AU - Verma, Naveen
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Large-area electronics presents new form factors, enabling ubiquitous systems that are flexible and capable of scaling to very large areas. By processing thin-film transistors (TFTs) at low temperatures on plastic (using organics, amorphous silicon, metal oxides, etc.), blocks such as ADCs, amplifiers, and processors can be realized [1,2]; however, aside from short-range RFID tags [3], wireless links for long-range communication have not been achieved. A key challenge is that wireless systems typically depend on the ability to generate and operate at high frequencies, yet TFTs are limited to very low performance (ft ∼1MHz). Specifically, the challenge is low device gm, due to low mobility and limited gate-dielectric scalability, as well as high device capacitance, due to limited feature scalability and large overlaps for alignment margining on flexible substrates. This work presents a super-regenerative (SR) transceiver with integrated antenna on plastic that leverages the attribute of large area to create highquality passives; this enables resonant TFT circuits at high frequencies (near f t) and allows for large antennas, maximizing the communication distance. The resulting carrier frequency is 900kHz, and the range is over 12m (at 2kb/s). As shown in Fig. 25.10.1, this will enable sheets with integrated arrays of radio frontends for distributing a large number of communication links over large areas.
AB - Large-area electronics presents new form factors, enabling ubiquitous systems that are flexible and capable of scaling to very large areas. By processing thin-film transistors (TFTs) at low temperatures on plastic (using organics, amorphous silicon, metal oxides, etc.), blocks such as ADCs, amplifiers, and processors can be realized [1,2]; however, aside from short-range RFID tags [3], wireless links for long-range communication have not been achieved. A key challenge is that wireless systems typically depend on the ability to generate and operate at high frequencies, yet TFTs are limited to very low performance (ft ∼1MHz). Specifically, the challenge is low device gm, due to low mobility and limited gate-dielectric scalability, as well as high device capacitance, due to limited feature scalability and large overlaps for alignment margining on flexible substrates. This work presents a super-regenerative (SR) transceiver with integrated antenna on plastic that leverages the attribute of large area to create highquality passives; this enables resonant TFT circuits at high frequencies (near f t) and allows for large antennas, maximizing the communication distance. The resulting carrier frequency is 900kHz, and the range is over 12m (at 2kb/s). As shown in Fig. 25.10.1, this will enable sheets with integrated arrays of radio frontends for distributing a large number of communication links over large areas.
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U2 - 10.1109/ISSCC.2013.6487814
DO - 10.1109/ISSCC.2013.6487814
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84876583958
SN - 9781467345132
T3 - Digest of Technical Papers - IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference
SP - 458
EP - 459
BT - 2013 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2013 - Digest of Technical Papers
T2 - 2013 60th IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2013
Y2 - 17 February 2013 through 21 February 2013
ER -