Ultra-Wideband CMOS Transceiver Front-End for Bio-Medical Radar Sensing

Since the Federal Communication Commission released the unlicensed 3.1-10.6 GHz frequency band for commercial use in early 2002, the ultra wideband (UWB) has developed from an emerging technology into a mainstream research area. The UWB technology, which utilizes wide spectrum, opens a new era of possibility for practical applications in radar sensing, one of which is the human vital sign monitoring. The aim of this thesis is to study and research the possibility of a new generation humanrespiration monitoring sensor using UWB radar technology and to develop a new prototype of UWB radar sensor for system-on-chip solutions in CMOS technology. In this thesis, a lowpower Gaussian impulse UWB mono-static radar transceiver architecture is presented. The UWB Gaussian pulse transmitter and receiver are implemented and fabricated using 90nm CMOS technology. Since the energy of low order Gaussian pulse is mostly condensed at lower frequency, in order to transmit the pulse in a very efficient way, higher order Gaussian derivative pulses are desired as the baseband signal. This motivates the advancement of the design into UWB high-order pulse transmitter. Both the Gaussian impulse UWB transmitter and Gaussian higher-order impulse UWB transmitter take the low-power and high-speed advantage of digital circuit to generate different waveforms. The measurement results are analyzed and discussed. This thesis also presents a low-power UWB mono-static radar transceiver architecture exploiting the full benefit of UWB bandwidth in radar sensing applications. The transceiver includes a full UWB band transmitter, an UWB receiver front-end, and an on-chip diplexer. The non-coherent UWB transmitter generates pulse modulated baseband signals at different carrier frequencies within the designated 3-10 GHz band using a digitally controlled pulse generator. The test shows the proposed radar transceiver can detect the human respiration pattern within 50 cm distance. The applications of this UWB radar sensing solution in commercialized standard CMOS technology include constant breathing pattern monitoring for gated radiation therapy, realtime monitoring of patients, and any other breathing monitoring. The research paves the way to wireless technology integration with health care and bio-sensor network

Integrated Circuits and Systems for Smart Sensory Applications

Connected intelligent sensing reshapes our society by empowering people with increasing new ways of mutual interactions. As integration technologies keep their scaling roadmap, the horizon of sensory applications is rapidly widening, thanks to myriad light-weight low-power or, in same cases even self-powered, smart devices with high-connectivity capabilities. CMOS integrated circuits technology is the best candidate to supply the required smartness and to pioneer these emerging sensory systems. As a result, new challenges are arising around the design of these integrated circuits and systems for sensory applications in terms of low-power edge computing, power management strategies, low-range wireless communications, integration with sensing devices. In this Special Issue recent advances in application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and systems for smart sensory applications in the following five emerging topics: (I) dedicated short-range communications transceivers; (II) digital smart sensors, (III) implantable neural interfaces, (IV) Power Management Strategies in wireless sensor nodes and (V) neuromorphic hardware

Scalable Bundle Design for Massively Parallel Neuronal Recordings <i>In Vivo</i>

Neural coding consists of precise interactions between related neurons. New techniques are needed to measure the time sensitive interactions within entire neural networks to understand how the brain functions. Extracellular recording is the oldest method of measuring neural activity and can sample at a temporal resolution to resolve fast spiking neurons. If scaled to a sufficiently large number of simultaneous recorded neurons, this technique would be an excellent candidate for such large scale recording. I propose the combined use of glass ensheathed microwire bundle electrodes and an infrared camera readout integrated circuit to collect massively parallel neuronal recordings in vivo. This design will allow for the recording of high quality signals because of the non-intrusive dimensions, low stray capacitance, and enhanced surface impedance of the electrodes, as well as the high signal to noise amplification of the camera electronics. Here the construction of a system to record neural activity is described and its electrical properties are characterized. The results demonstrate the ability to successfully connect fabricated bundle electrodes to the indium bumps of the readout integrated circuit chip and to record voltage waveforms with a signal to noise ratio to resolve simulated spikes. In vivo experiments in the olfactory bulb of anaesthetized mice have resulted in recordings of action potentials from single units. The spike rate of these units increases with odor presentation and is pharmacologically inhibited which demonstrates the biological origin of the recorded activity. To further advance this technology, the stability and rate of connection to the readout electronics need to improve and insertion of electrode bundles with hundreds of more recording sites needs to be optimized. This promising design has several distinct advantages over existing fluorescence imaging and extracellular recording neurotechnologies for large scale neuronal recording

A Low-Power Silicon-Photomultiplier Readout ASIC for the CALICE Analog Hadronic Calorimeter

The future e + e − collider experiments, such as the international linear collider, provide precise measurements of the heavy bosons and serve as excellent tests of the underlying fundamental physics. To reconstruct these bosons with an unprecedented resolution from their multi-jet final states, a detector system employing the particle flow approach has been proposed, requesting calorimeters with imaging capabilities. The analog hadron calorimeter based on the SiPM-on-tile technology is one of the highly granular candidates of the imaging calorimeters. To achieve the compactness, the silicon-photomultiplier (SiPM) readout electronics require a low-power monolithic solution. This thesis presents the design of such an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for the charge and timing readout of the SiPMs. The ASIC provides precise charge measurement over a large dynamic range with auto-triggering and local zero-suppression functionalities. The charge and timing information are digitized using channel-wise analog-to-digital and time-to-digital converters, providing a fully integrated solution for the SiPM readout. Dedicated to the analog hadron calorimeter, the power-pulsing technique is applied to the full chip to meet the stringent power consumption requirement. This work also initializes the commissioning of the calorimeter layer with the use of the designed ASIC. An automatic calibration procedure has been developed to optimized the configuration settings for the chip. The new calorimeter base unit with the designed ASIC has been produced and its functionality has been tested

Roadmap on STIRAP applications

STIRAP (stimulated Raman adiabatic passage) is a powerful laser-based method, usually involving two photons, for efficient and selective transfer of populations between quantum states. A particularly interesting feature is the fact that the coupling between the initial and the final quantum states is via an intermediate state, even though the lifetime of the latter can be much shorter than the interaction time with the laser radiation. Nevertheless, spontaneous emission from the intermediate state is prevented by quantum interference. Maintaining the coherence between the initial and final state throughout the transfer process is crucial. STIRAP was initially developed with applications in chemical dynamics in mind. That is why the original paper of 1990 was published in The Journal of Chemical Physics. However, from about the year 2000, the unique capabilities of STIRAP and its robustness with respect to small variations in some experimental parameters stimulated many researchers to apply the scheme to a variety of other fields of physics. The successes of these efforts are documented in this collection of articles. In Part A the experimental success of STIRAP in manipulating or controlling molecules, photons, ions or even quantum systems in a solid-state environment is documented. After a brief introduction to the basic physics of STIRAP, the central role of the method in the formation of ultracold molecules is discussed, followed by a presentation of how precision experiments (measurement of the upper limit of the electric dipole moment of the electron or detecting the consequences of parity violation in chiral molecules) or chemical dynamics studies at ultralow temperatures benefit from STIRAP. Next comes the STIRAP-based control of photons in cavities followed by a group of three contributions which highlight the potential of the STIRAP concept in classical physics by presenting data on the transfer of waves (photonic, magnonic and phononic) between respective waveguides. The works on ions or ion strings discuss options for applications, e.g. in quantum information. Finally, the success of STIRAP in the controlled manipulation of quantum states in solid-state systems, which are usually hostile towards coherent processes, is presented, dealing with data storage in rare-earth ion doped crystals and in nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers or even in superconducting quantum circuits. The works on ions and those involving solid-state systems emphasize the relevance of the results for quantum information protocols. Part B deals with theoretical work, including further concepts relevant to quantum information or invoking STIRAP for the manipulation of matter waves. The subsequent articles discuss the experiments underway to demonstrate the potential of STIRAP for populating otherwise inaccessible high-lying Rydberg states of molecules, or controlling and cooling the translational motion of particles in a molecular beam or the polarization of angular-momentum states. The series of articles concludes with a more speculative application of STIRAP in nuclear physics, which, if suitable radiation fields become available, could lead to spectacular results

Design of a mechatronic system for postural control analysis

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Acoustic cavitation characterisation in viscous deep eutectic solvents for optimisation of sonoprocessing of technology critical materials

The UK alone produced a total of 1.6 Mt of electronic waste in 2019, containing approximately 380,000 kg of technology critical metals worth $148 M per annum. Within this, printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the largest source of metals from electronic waste, containing up to 30-40 wt.% of technology critical metals. Traditional recycling techniques lack selectivity and have significant environmental and health impact. Ionometallurgy is a promising new technique for recovering metals from electronic waste using deep eutectic solvents (DESs). These solvents offer distinct advantage over traditional techniques, including much lower temperature requirements, avoidance of toxic reagents and reduced water consumption. DESs are cheap, readily available and can be adapted for selectivity. Despite these advantages, DESs are limited by slow dissolution kinetics primarily due to slow mass transport associated with their high viscosities. Power ultrasonics presents a useful solution to these issues. Sonication in DES is hypothesised to increase mass transport, remove passivating surface layers and promote cavitation-mediated effects. However, study into the cavitation activity in solutions other than water are limited. For efficient processing, cavitation generated at the tip of a sonotrode as a function of input power is required. This work is the first comprehensive investigation of cavitation in DESs, for process optimisation to enhance precious metal recycling. Detailed characterisation of the cavitation generated by two sonotrodes in a number of DESs of varying viscosity and water is performed. High-speed imaging (HSI) and acoustic detection from a novel in-house constructed cavitation detector, characterised and validated against a commercially available cavitation sensor (NPL CaviSensorTM), identifies potentially optimal sonication parameters in each liquid. Detailed characterisation of each DES combining synchronised acoustic detection and HSI reveals generation of specific cavitation dynamics and associated cavitation structure, often characterised by a densely packed bulbous cavitation cloud, generating multi-fronted shockwaves. The sonotrode is deployed in DES for the delamination of technology critical metals from waste PCBs. Sonication was observed to delaminate the metals from the PCB at a rate over thirty times faster than in silent conditions. Furthermore, an optimally identified lower power sonication was shown to delaminate a greater quantity of metals from the PCB compared to a higher power sonication, over the same duration. The sonotrode is also deployed to investigate delamination of alternative technology critical resources; lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaics, as well as for rate enhancement of electrodissolution of copper. Further collaborative studies investigate single-bubble dynamics for validation of modelling in the audible frequency range, with interesting potential applications. The results of the studies in this thesis demonstrate the utility and validity of proper cavitation characterisation in solutions intended for sonoprocessing. This characterisation can be performed simply, using bespoke, cheap passive cavitation detectors to gather acoustic measurements at sufficiently fine incremental input powers. Identification of optimal powers of any ultrasonic system for maximum cavitation efficiency is of relevance to many potential processes. In particular, the need for green technologies for electronic waste recycling, could present an ideal problem that can be tackled by ultrasonically enhanced ionometallurgy

SmartBadge: An Electronic Conference Badge using RF and IR Communications

This thesis describes the design and development of the SmartBadge; an electronic replacement for the standard paper name badge worn at conferences and similar events. Both hardware and software have been designed for the SmartBadge; the hardware has been developed around a CC1010 microcontroller and RF transceiver. Attached to this are an infrared transceiver, an LCD display, some LEDs, buttons and a piezoelectric buzzer. There is also an antenna for the RF transceiver whose design is the result of SuperNEC [1] simulations. Protocol software development has focussed on the communication between a SmartBadge and other badges and base stations, yet there is still space available in the CC1010s flash memory to develop applications beyond the business card exchange example developed to demonstrate the communication software. The SmartBadge communicates with other badges by using the infrared transceiver. In the business card application a SmartBadge is worn by a person and is collecting the ID and a time counter from SmartBadges worn by other facing people as this person mingles through a conference or similar event. This data is then collected in real time using the RF transceiver to communicate with base stations which would be scattered around the venue. The RF network has been designed as a single hop network and a new Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol has been designed to allow the SmartBadges to share the links to the base stations while conserving as much energy as possible. This protocol is called Uplink MAC (or U-MAC) and is described in section 6.2

Advanced Radio Frequency Identification Design and Applications

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a modern wireless data transmission and reception technique for applications including automatic identification, asset tracking and security surveillance. This book focuses on the advances in RFID tag antenna and ASIC design, novel chipless RFID tag design, security protocol enhancements along with some novel applications of RFID