PicoRadios for wireless sensor networks: The next challenge in ultra-low power design

The energy reduction techniques to achieve ultra-low power-dissipation in CMOS-designated functions are discussed. The picoradios for wireless sensor networks are described. Passive high-Q narrow-band filters are used to suppress the noise-folding affects associated with sub-sampling receivers. A power management scheme is used to work automatically in response to events at their interfaces. Projected energy consumption in the integrated wireless transceivers node using the proposed techniques is demonstrated. A node consuming <100μW on average is attainable by balancing various power dissipation sources.