Ultra-low Quiescent Current NMOS Low Dropout Regulator With Fast Transient response for Always-On Internet-of-Things Applications

abstract: The increased adoption of Internet-of-Things (IoT) for various applications like smart home, industrial automation, connected vehicles, medical instrumentation, etc. has resulted in a large scale distributed network of sensors, accompanied by their power supply regulator modules, control and data transfer circuitry. Depending on the application, the sensor location can be virtually anywhere and therefore they are typically powered by a localized battery. To ensure long battery-life without replacement, the power consumption of the sensor nodes, the supply regulator and, control and data transmission unit, needs to be very low. Reduction in power consumption in the sensor, control and data transmission is typically done by duty-cycled operation such that they are on periodically only for short bursts of time or turn on only based on a trigger event and are otherwise powered down. These approaches reduce their power consumption significantly and therefore the overall system power is dominated by the consumption in the always-on supply regulator. Besides having low power consumption, supply regulators for such IoT systems also need to have fast transient response to load current changes during a duty-cycled operation. Supply regulation using low quiescent current low dropout (LDO) regulators helps in extending the battery life of such power aware always-on applications with very long standby time. To serve as a supply regulator for such applications, a 1.24 µA quiescent current NMOS low dropout (LDO) is presented in this dissertation. This LDO uses a hybrid bias current generator (HBCG) to boost its bias current and improve the transient response. A scalable bias-current error amplifier with an on-demand buffer drives the NMOS pass device. The error amplifier is powered with an integrated dynamic frequency charge pump to ensure low dropout voltage. A low-power relaxation oscillator (LPRO) generates the charge pump clocks. Switched-capacitor pole tracking (SCPT) compensation scheme is proposed to ensure stability up to maximum load current of 150 mA for a low-ESR output capacitor range of 1 - 47µF. Designed in a 0.25 µm CMOS process, the LDO has an output voltage range of 1V – 3V, a dropout voltage of 240 mV, and a core area of 0.11 mm2.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 201

Programmable DSP-enabled multi-adaptive optical transceivers based on OFDM technology for software defined networks

The dynamic behavior of the traffic demand, due to the advent of technologies such as cloud services or Internet of Things (IoT), is increasing. In fact, heterogeneous connections with different characteristics (bandwidth or bit rate) are expected that coexist in the optical networks. In this respect, an evolution towards Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) has emerged as a cost-effective, flexible and dynamic solution, to face the new claims. The main idea is the efficient utilization of the optical spectrum by combining flexible transceivers, flexi-grid and flexible optical switching. Including the principles of Software Defined Network (SDN) paradigm further flexibility and adaptability can be achieved. The Sliceable Bandwidth Variable Transceiver (S-BVT), as a key element in EONs, provides flexibility and adaptability to the optical networks. It is able to dynamically tune the optical bandwidth or bit rate changing parameters such as the modulation format, bandwidth, among others, to find a trade-off between transmission reach and spectral efficiency, serving multiples destinations. The combination of programmable Digital Signal Processing (DSP) modules with advanced transmission techniques based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology using Direct Detection (DD) or COherent (CO) detection are proposed to be implemented at the S-BVT making it suitable for elastic optical metro/regional networks. Furthermore, the envisioned migration from fixed-grid to flexi-grid, can benefit from the use of S-BVTs since they are able to generate or receive multiple channels and slicing the aggregated flow into multiples flows with different capacities and destinations. We propose the use of S-BVTs based on multi-band OFDM systems. In particular, we focus on the theoretical model of an advanced transmission technique based on OFDM technology with DD. Then we evaluate the system for a realistic optical metro network. In the context of flexi-grid optical metro/regional networks, as well as the sliceability of the channels, the reduction of channel width for low bit rate connections can be envisioned. It involves that the signal traverses several nodes with the corresponding filtering elements, causing a substantially decrease and distortion of the signal bandwidth. This phenomenon known as filter narrowing effect has been also studied in this thesis, by simulations and experimentally for an adaptive cost-effective OFDM system using DD and for a standard OOK system. Apart from adaptive, flexible and programmable transceivers, metro optical networks have to be equipped with flexible optical switching systems at the node level. In this respect, we propose the adoption of adaptive S-BVTs based on advanced transmission techniques using DD with Discrete MultiTone (DMT) modulation and adaptive capabilities in combination with Semiconductor Optical Amplier (SOA)-based switching nodes. SOAs can be conveniently used for optical switching in metro networks because of their low cost or low power consumption, among others relevant characteristics. The system has been experimentally analyzed with and without considering filtering elements. Thanks to the combination of adaptive DMT modulation and SOA-based switching nodes, impairments due to the fiber links and the filtering elements can be compensated. Finally, to enhance the tranmission distance and data rate, we propose the combination of multidimensional constellations implemented at the DSP modules of the S-BVT with CO detection and OFDM technology. Thus, the deployed infrastructure is more efficiently exploited since the quadrature and the polarization dimensions are used to transmit the signal. In particular, we focus on CO-OFDM systems using Dual Polarization Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DPQPSK) constellation transmitting the signal over the time and the polarization dimensions in the optical domain.El comportamiento dinámico de la demanda de tráfico, debido a la llegada de tecnologías como los servicios en la nube o el Internet of Things (IoT), está aumentando. De hecho, se espera que coexistan en las redes ópticas conexiones heterogéneas con características diferentes, tales como ancho de banda o tasa de bits. Para hacer frente a estas demandas es crucial una evolución de las redes ópticas. En este sentido, las Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) emergen como una solución rentable, flexible y dinámica. La idea principal se basa en la utilización eficiente del espectro óptico mediante la combinación de transceptores flexibles, redes flexibles y conmutación óptica flexible. Una mayor flexibilidad y adaptabilidad se puede conseguir incluyendo los principios del paradigma conocido como Software Defined Network (SDN). La adopción de la arquitectura SDN implica la separación del plano de control y de datos, permitiendo la programabilidad dinámica de la red. Un elemento clave en las EONs es el Sliceable Bandwidth Variable Transceiver (SBVT), ya que provee de flexibilidad y adaptabilidad a las redes ópticas. El S-BVT es capaz de cambiar el ancho de banda o la tasa de bits medicando parámetros como el formato de modulación, el ancho de banda o la codificación de Forward Error Correction (FEC), entre otros, para encontrar un equilibrio entre el alcance de la transmisión y la eficiencia espectral, sirviendo múltiples destinos. La combinación de módulos programables de Digital Signal Processing (DSP) con técnicas de transmisión avanzadas, basadas en la tecnología Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) con detección directa o detección coherente, se han propuesto para ser implementadas en el S-BVT, haciéndolo adecuado para su uso en redes ópticas elásticas metropolitanas y regionales. Además, la migración prevista de las redes fijas a las redes flexibles, con el fin de explotar la granularidad de 12:5 GHz, puede beneficiarse del uso de S-BVTs ya que son capaces de generar y recibir múltiples canales y dividir el flujo agregado en múltiples flujos con diferentes capacidades y destinos. A este respecto, proponemos el uso de S-BVTs basados en señales OFDM multi banda combinadas en el dominio eléctrico con el fin de limitar los recursos optoelectrónicas y relajar los requerimientos de los convertidores digitales analógicos y analógicos digitales. En particular, nos centramos en el modelo teórico de una técnica de transmisión avanzada basada en la tecnología OFDM con detección directa. A continuación, evaluamos el sistema para una red metropolitana óptica realista. En el contexto de redes metropolitanas y regionales flexibles, además de la capacidad de división de los canales, se puede prever una posible reducción del ancho de canal para las conexiones de baja tasa de bits. Esto implica que la señal atraviese varios nodos con los correspondientes elementos filtrantes causando un substancial decremento y distorsión del ancho de banda de la señal. Este fenómeno conocido como el efecto de estrechamiento de filtrado ha sido también estudiado en esta tesis, mediante simulaciones y de manera experimental para un sistema OFDM rentable y adaptativo usando detección directa y un sistema estándar On-Off Keying (OOK). El sistema OFDM de detección directa ha resultado ser un buen candidato para aumentar la flexibilidad y la robustez frente a las deficiencias de transmisión sin necesidad de compensar la dispersión. Aparte de los transceptores adaptables, flexibles y programables, las redes ópticas metropolitanas deben estar equipadas con sistemas de conmutación óptica flexible a nivel de nodo. En este sentido, proponemos la adopción de S-BVTs adaptativos basados en técnicas de transmisión avanzadas usando detección directa con modulación Discrete MultiTone (DMT) y capacidades adaptativas, adoptando nodos de conmutación basados en Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA). Los SOAs pueden ser utilizados para la conmutación óptica en redes metropolitanas debido a su bajo coste o bajo consumo de energía, entre otras características relevantes. El sistema ha sido analizado experimentalmente considerando y sin considerar la presencia de elementos filtrantes. Gracias a la combinación de la modulación DMT adaptativa y los nodos de conmutación basados en SOA, las degradaciones debidas a los enlaces de fibra y a los elementos filtrantes se pueden compensar. Finalmente, para mejorar la distancia de transmisión y la tasa de datos, proponemos la combinación de constelaciones multidimensionales implementadas en los módulos DSP del S-BVT utilizando detectaron coherente y la tecnología OFDM. De hecho, los sistemas OFDM coherentes tienen un espacio de señal 4D (dos cuadraturas y dos polarizaciones), que puede ser utilizado con constelaciones multidimensionales, pudiendo éstas ser más eficientes que las convencionales Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK) o Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK). De este modo, la infraestructura desplegada se explota de manera más eficiente, ya que tanto la dimensión de cuadratura como de polarización se utilizan para transmitir la señal. Además, los sistemas OFDM coherentes pueden recuperar la amplitud y la fase de la señal en el receptor, mitigando los efectos de la fibra aumentando, de esta forma, la distancia de transmisión. El sistema OFDM coherente que utiliza el formato de constelación Dual Polarization Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DPQPSK) y que transmite la señal a lo largo del tiempo ha demostrado ser una solución prometedora.El comportament dinàmic de la demanda de transit, a causa de l'arribada de tecnologies, com poden ser els serveis al núvol o l'Internet of Things (IoT), està creixent. De fet, s'espera que coexisteixin a les xarxes òptiques connexions heterogènies amb característiques diferents, tal com l'ample de banda o la taxa de bits. Per a fer front a aquestes demandes és crucial una revolució de les xarxes òptiques. En aquest sentit, les Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) emergeixen com una solució rendible, flexible i dinàmica. La idea principal es basa en la utilització eficient de l'espectre òptic mitjançant la combinació de transceptors flexibles, xarxes flexibles i commutació òptica flexible. Una major flexibilitat i adaptabilitat es pot aconseguir incloent els principis del paradigma conegut com a Software Defined Networks (SDN). L’adopció de l'arquitectura SDN implica la separació del plànol de control i de dades permetent la programabilitat de la xarxa d'una forma dinàmica. Un element clau en les EONs és l'Sliceable Bandwith Variable Transceiver (S-BVT), ja que aporta flexibilitat i adaptabilitat a les xarxes òptiques. L' S-BVT és capaç de canviar l'ample de banda o la taxa de bits modificant paràmetres com el format de modulació, l'ample de banda o la codificació del Forward Error Correction (FEC), entre altres, per a trobar un equilibri entre l’assistència assolida i l’eficiència espectral, servint múltiples destinacions. La combinació de mòduls de Digital Signal Processing (DSP) amb tècniques de transmissió avançades basades en la tecnologia Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) i detecció directa o detecció coherent s'han proposat per a ser implementades en l'S-BVT, fent-lo adient per a les xarxes òptiques elàstiques metropolitanes i regionals. A més, la migració prevista des de les xarxes fixes a les xarxes flexibles, amb el fi d'explotar la granuralitat de 12:5GHz, pot beneficiar-se de l’ús d'S-BVTs ja que són capaços de generar i rebre múltiples canals i dividir el flux agregat en múltiples fluxos amb diferents capacitats i destinacions. Per aquest motiu, proposem l’ús d'S-BVTs basats en senyals OFDM multi banda combinats en el domini elèctric amb el fi de limitar els recursos optoelectrònics i relaxar els requeriments dels convertidors digitals analògics i analògics digitals. Particularment, ens centrem en el model teòric d'una tècnica de transmissió avançada basada en la tecnologia OFDM amb detecció directa. A continuació, avaluem el sistema per a una xarxa metropolitana òptica realista. En el context de xarxes metropolitanes i regionals flexibles, a més de la propietat de divisió dels canals, es pot preveure una possible reducció de l'ample de canal per a les connexions de baixa taxa de bits. Això implica que el senyal travessi diversos nodes amb els corresponents elements filtrants causant un substancial decrement i distorsió de l'ample de banda del senyal. Aquest fenomen conegut com l'efecte d'estretament de filtrat ha sigut també estudiat en aquesta tesi, mitjançant simulacions i de manera experimental en el cas d'un sistema OFDM rendible i adaptatiu utilitzant detecció directa i un sistema estàndard On-Off Keying (OOK). El sistema OFDM de detecció directa ha resultat ser un bon candidat per augmentar la flexibilitat i la robustesa front a les deficiències de transmissió sense necessitat de compensar la dispersió. A part dels transceptors adaptables, flexibles i programables, les xarxes òptiques metropolitanes han d'estar equipades amb sistemes de commutació òptica flexible a nivell de node. En aquest sentit, proposem l’adopció d'un S-BVT adaptatiu basat en tècniques de transmissió avançades i utilitzant detecció directa amb modulació Discrete MultiTone (DMT) i capacitats adaptatives, adoptant nodes de comunicació basats en Semi-conductor Optical Amplifier (SOA). Els SOAs poden ser utilitzats per la commutació _òptica en xarxes metropolitanes degut al seu baix cost o baix consum d'energia, entre altres característiques rellevants. El sistema ha sigut analitzat experimentalment considerant i sense considerar la presència d'elements filtrants. Gràcies a la combinació de la modulació DMT adaptativa i dels nodes de commutació basats en SOA, les degradacions degudes als enllaços de fibra i als elements filtrants es poden compensar. Finalment, per a millorar la distància de transmissió i la taxa de dades, proposem la combinació de constel·lacions multidimensionals implementades als mòduls DSP de l'SBVT utilitzant detecció coherent i la tecnologia OFDM. De fet, els sistemes coherents OFDM tenen un espai de senyal 4D (dues quadratures i dues polaritzacions), que pot ser utilitzat amb constel·lacions multidimensionals, arribant a ser més eficients que les modulacions convencionals Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK) o Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK). D'aquesta manera, la infraestructura desplegada s'explota de forma més eficient, ja que tant la dimensió de quadratura com de polarització s'utilitzen per transmetre el senyal. A més, els sistemes coherents basats en OFDM poden recuperar l'amplitud i la fase del senyal en el receptor, mitigant els efectes de la fibra i d'aquesta forma augmentant la distància de transmissió. El sistema OFDM coherent que utilitza el format de constel·lació Dual Polarization Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DPQPSK) i que transmet el senyal al llarg del temps ha demostrat ser una solució prometedora.Postprint (published version

High-speed Time-interleaved Digital-to-Analog Converter (TI-DAC) for Self-Interference Cancellation Applications

Nowadays, the need for higher data-rate is constantly growing to enhance the quality of the daily communication services. The full-duplex (FD) communication is exemplary method doubling the data-rate compared to half-duplex one. However, part of the strong output signal of the transmitter interferes to the receiver-side because they share the same antenna with limited attenuation and, as a result, the receiver’s performance is corrupted. Hence, it is critical to remove the leakage signal from the receiver’s path by designing another block called self-interference cancellation (SIC). The main goal of this dissertation is to develop the SIC block embedded in the current-mode FD receivers. To this end, the regenerated cancellation current signal is fed to the inputs of the base-band filter and after the mixer of a (direct-conversion) current-mode FD receiver. Since the pattern of the transmitter (the digital signal generated by DSP) is known, a high-speed digital-to-Analog converter (DAC) with medium-resolution can perfectly suppress main part of the leakage on the receiver path. A capacitive DAC (CDAC) is chosen among the available solutions because it is compatible with advanced CMOS technology for high-speed application and the medium-resolution designs. Although the main application of the design is to perform the cancellation, it can also be employed as a stand-alone DAC in the Analog (I/Q) transmitter. The SIC circuitry includes a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA), two DACs, high-speed digital circuits, and built-in-self-test section (BIST). According to the available specification for full-duplex communication system, the resolution and working frequency of the CDAC are calculated (designed) equal to 10-bit (3 binary+ 2 binary + 5 thermometric) and 1GHz, respectively. In order to relax the design of the TIA (settling time of the DAC), the CDAC implements using 2-way time-interleaved (TI) manner (the effective SIC frequency equals 2GHz) without using any calibration technique. The CDAC is also developed with the split-capacitor technique to lower the negative effects of the conventional binary-weighted DAC. By adding one extra capacitor on the left-side of the split-capacitor, LSB-side, the value of the split-capacitor can be chosen as an integer value of the unit capacitor. As a result, it largely enhances the linearity of the CADC and cancellation performance. If the block works as a stand-alone DAC with non-TI mode, the digital input code representing a Sinus waveform with an amplitude 1dB less than full-scale and output frequency around 10.74MHz, chosen by coherent sampling rule, then the ENOB, SINAD, SFDR, and output signal are 9.4-bit, 58.2 dB, 68.4dBc, and -9dBV. The simulated value of the |DNL| (static linearity) is also less than 0.7. The similar simulation was done in the SIC mode while the capacitive-array woks in the TI mode and cancellation current is set to the full-scale. Hence, the amount of cancelling the SI signal at the output of the TIA, SNDR, SFDR, SNDRequ. equals 51.3dB, 15.1 dB, 24dBc, 66.4 dB. The designed SIC cannot work as a closed-loop design. The layout was optimally drawn in order to minimize non-linearity, the power-consumption of the decoders, and reduce the complexity of the DAC. By distributing the thermometric cells across the array and using symmetrical switching scheme, the DAC is less subjected to the linear and gradient effect of the oxide. Based on the post-layout simulation results, the deviation of the design after drawing the layout is studied. To compare the results of the schematic and post-layout designs, the exact conditions of simulation above (schematic simulations) are used. When the block works as a stand-alone CDAC, the ENOB, SINAD, SFDR are 8.5-bit, 52.6 dB, 61.3 dBc. The simulated value of the |DNL| (static linearity) is also limited to 1.3. Likewise, the SI signal at the output of the TIA, SNDR, SFDR, SNDRequ. are equal to 44dB, 11.7 dB, 19 dBc, 55.7 dB

Advanced sensors technology survey

This project assesses the state-of-the-art in advanced or 'smart' sensors technology for NASA Life Sciences research applications with an emphasis on those sensors with potential applications on the space station freedom (SSF). The objectives are: (1) to conduct literature reviews on relevant advanced sensor technology; (2) to interview various scientists and engineers in industry, academia, and government who are knowledgeable on this topic; (3) to provide viewpoints and opinions regarding the potential applications of this technology on the SSF; and (4) to provide summary charts of relevant technologies and centers where these technologies are being developed

Power Management ICs for Internet of Things, Energy Harvesting and Biomedical Devices

This dissertation focuses on the power management unit (PMU) and integrated circuits (ICs) for the internet of things (IoT), energy harvesting and biomedical devices. Three monolithic power harvesting methods are studied for different challenges of smart nodes of IoT networks. Firstly, we propose that an impedance tuning approach is implemented with a capacitor value modulation to eliminate the quiescent power consumption. Secondly, we develop a hill-climbing MPPT mechanism that reuses and processes the information of the hysteresis controller in the time-domain and is free of power hungry analog circuits. Furthermore, the typical power-performance tradeoff of the hysteresis controller is solved by a self-triggered one-shot mechanism. Thus, the output regulation achieves high-performance and yet low-power operations as low as 12 µW. Thirdly, we introduce a reconfigurable charge pump to provide the hybrid conversion ratios (CRs) as 1⅓× up to 8× for minimizing the charge redistribution loss. The reconfigurable feature also dynamically tunes to maximum power point tracking (MPPT) with the frequency modulation, resulting in a two-dimensional MPPT. Therefore, the voltage conversion efficiency (VCE) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) are enhanced and flattened across a wide harvesting range as 0.45 to 3 V. In a conclusion, we successfully develop an energy harvesting method for the IoT smart nodes with lower cost, smaller size, higher conversion efficiency, and better applicability. For the biomedical devices, this dissertation presents a novel cost-effective automatic resonance tracking method with maximum power transfer (MPT) for piezoelectric transducers (PT). The proposed tracking method is based on a band-pass filter (BPF) oscillator, exploiting the PT’s intrinsic resonance point through a sensing bridge. It guarantees automatic resonance tracking and maximum electrical power converted into mechanical motion regardless of process variations and environmental interferences. Thus, the proposed BPF oscillator-based scheme was designed for an ultrasonic vessel sealing and dissecting (UVSD) system. The sealing and dissecting functions were verified experimentally in chicken tissue and glycerin. Furthermore, a combined sensing scheme circuit allows multiple surgical tissue debulking, vessel sealer and dissector (VSD) technologies to operate from the same sensing scheme board. Its advantage is that a single driver controller could be used for both systems simplifying the complexity and design cost. In a conclusion, we successfully develop an ultrasonic scalpel to replace the other electrosurgical counterparts and the conventional scalpels with lower cost and better functionality

Multi-Sensor Methods for Mobile Radar Motion Capture and Compensation.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

All-analogue real-time broadband filter bank multicarrier optical communications system

This paper studies the key aspects of an optical link which transmits a broadband microwave filter bank multicarrier (FBMC) signal. The study is presented in the context of creating an all-analogue real-time multigigabit orthogonal frequency division multiplexing electro-optical transceiver for short range and high-capacity data center networks. Passive microwave filters are used to perform the pulse shaping of the bit streams, allowing an orthogonal transmission without the necessity of digital signal processing (DSP). Accordingly, a cyclic prefix that would cause a reduction in the net data rate is not required. An experiment consisting of three orthogonally spaced 2.7 Gbaud quadrature phase shift keyed subchannels demonstrates that the spectral efficiency of traditional DSP-less subcarrier multiplexed links can be potentially doubled. A sensitivity of -29.5 dBm is achieved in a 1-km link

A Closed-Loop Bidirectional Brain-Machine Interface System For Freely Behaving Animals

A brain-machine interface (BMI) creates an artificial pathway between the brain and the external world. The research and applications of BMI have received enormous attention among the scientific community as well as the public in the past decade. However, most research of BMI relies on experiments with tethered or sedated animals, using rack-mount equipment, which significantly restricts the experimental methods and paradigms. Moreover, most research to date has focused on neural signal recording or decoding in an open-loop method. Although the use of a closed-loop, wireless BMI is critical to the success of an extensive range of neuroscience research, it is an approach yet to be widely used, with the electronics design being one of the major bottlenecks. The key goal of this research is to address the design challenges of a closed-loop, bidirectional BMI by providing innovative solutions from the neuron-electronics interface up to the system level. Circuit design innovations have been proposed in the neural recording front-end, the neural feature extraction module, and the neural stimulator. Practical design issues of the bidirectional neural interface, the closed-loop controller and the overall system integration have been carefully studied and discussed.To the best of our knowledge, this work presents the first reported portable system to provide all required hardware for a closed-loop sensorimotor neural interface, the first wireless sensory encoding experiment conducted in freely swimming animals, and the first bidirectional study of the hippocampal field potentials in freely behaving animals from sedation to sleep. This thesis gives a comprehensive survey of bidirectional BMI designs, reviews the key design trade-offs in neural recorders and stimulators, and summarizes neural features and mechanisms for a successful closed-loop operation. The circuit and system design details are presented with bench testing and animal experimental results. The methods, circuit techniques, system topology, and experimental paradigms proposed in this work can be used in a wide range of relevant neurophysiology research and neuroprosthetic development, especially in experiments using freely behaving animals

Low-Power Wireless Medical Systems and Circuits for Invasive and Non-Invasive Applications

Approximately 75% of the health care yearly budget of public health systems around the world is spent on the treatment of patients with chronic diseases. This, along with advances on the medical and technological fields has given rise to the use of preventive medicine, resulting on a high demand of wireless medical systems (WMS) for patient monitoring and drug safety research. In this dissertation, the main design challenges and solutions for designing a WMS are addressed from system-level, using off-the-shell components, to circuit implementation. Two low-power oriented WMS aiming to monitor blood pressure of small laboratory animals (implantable) and cardiac-activity (12-lead electrocardiogram) of patients with chronic diseases (wearable) are presented. A power consumption vs. lifetime analysis to estimate the monitoring unit lifetime for each application is included. For the invasive/non-invasive WMS, in-vitro test benches are used to verify their functionality showing successful communication up to 2.1 m/35 m with the monitoring unit consuming 0.572 mA/33 mA from a 3 V/4.5 V power supply, allowing a two-year/ 88-hour lifetime in periodic/continuous operation. This results in an improvement of more than 50% compared with the lifetime commercial products. Additionally, this dissertation proposes transistor-level implementations of an ultra-low-noise/low-power biopotential amplifier and the baseband section of a wireless receiver, consisting of a channel selection filter (CSF) and a variable gain amplifier (VGA). The proposed biopotential amplifier is intended for electrocardiogram (ECG)/ electroencephalogram (EEG)/ electromyogram (EMG) monitoring applications and its architecture was designed focused on improving its noise/power efficiency. It was implemented using the ON-SEMI 0.5 µm standard process with an effective area of 360 µm2. Experimental results show a pass-band gain of 40.2 dB (240 mHz - 170 Hz), input referred noise of 0.47 Vrms, minimum CMRR of 84.3 dBm, NEF of 1.88 and a power dissipation of 3.5 µW. The CSF was implemented using an active-RC 4th order inverse-chebyshev topology. The VGA provides 30 gain steps and includes a DC-cancellation loop to avoid saturation on the sub-sequent analog-to-digital converter block. Measurement results show a power consumption of 18.75 mW, IIP3 of 27.1 dBm, channel rejection better than 50 dB, gain variation of 0-60dB, cut-off frequency tuning of 1.1-2.29 MHz and noise figure of 33.25 dB. The circuit was implemented in the standard IBM 0.18 µm CMOS process with a total area of 1.45 x 1.4 mm^(2). The presented WMS can integrate the proposed biopotential amplifier and baseband section with small modifications depending on the target signal while using the low-power-oriented algorithm to obtain further power optimization