Wireless Transceivers for Biomedical Microsystems

There has been a significant amount of work on sensor nodes. Specifically, the works on implantable sensors for various cardiac, intraocular, and neural applications have been promising. Although a wireless link can significantly simplify programming and usage of such microsystems, most of previously proposed systems lack a proper data link that is designed within energy, area, and size constraints of such systems. In this talk I will outline the foundations of a novel fully integrated ultra-low-power inductive link. The transceiver that sits at the heart of this link will be able to interface with other major low-power blocks designed for mm3 sensor nodes to make a highly reconfigurable, compact microsystem. It is designed specifically for biomedical applications where carrier frequency and power density are limited by established standards. The transceiver uses various circuit techniques and protocol modifications to shift complexity and power consumption to the external unit, which is typically not constrained. Using these techniques, meter-range reception range becomes possible with mm form factors.