Vizor: Virtually zero margin adaptive rf for ultra low power wireless communication

Abstract 1 Modern wireless transceiver systems are often overdesigned to meet the requirements of low bit error rate values at high data rates under worst-case channel operating conditions (interference, noise, multi-path effects). This results in circuits being designed with "sufficient" margins leading to lower efficiency and high power consumption. In this paper, we develop an adaptive power management strategy for RF systems that optimally trades-off power vs. performance for the RF front-end to maintain operation at or below a specified maximum bit error rate (BER) across temporally changing operating conditions. As the communication channel degrades, more power is consumed by the RF front end and vice versa. Since the maximum bit-error rate specification is not violated, minimum voice or video quality through the wireless channel is always guaranteed

Low-cost test, diagnosis, and tuning for adaptive radio frequency systems

The continuing trend of miniaturization in semiconductor devices has enabled the integration of complex functionalities on-chip, leading to a proliferation of wireless devices for both mobile and in-office applications. The use of scaled CMOS technologies for high-frequency wireless devices is posing daunting technological challenges, both in the design and post-manufacture testing of such devices. The issue of device power consumption and heat dissipation is also dominating future wireless transceiver designs. This is driven by the trend of increasing operating speeds coupled with dense integration of multi-mode functionalities onto compact form-factors on-chip. In this thesis, a framework for reliable low-power operation of wireless devices is presented. The presented approaches significantly reduce device test costs during production, and operate the device at very low power consumption levels during field operation of the device. Low-cost test, diagnosis, and tuning techniques to reduce to reduce test cost of devices and operational reliability in field. To reduce device power consumption during field operation, adaptation is performed continuously while ensuring that system-level performance metrics are never violated. This approach has direct implications for boosting the battery life of portable wireless devices while ensuring their operational reliability.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Chatterjee, Abhijit; Committee Member: Anderson, David; Committee Member: Durgin, Gregory; Committee Member: Swaminathan, Madhavan; Committee Member: Zhou, Hao-Mi