Novel Sensor to Transduce and Digitalize Temperature Utilizing Near-Zero-Power Levels
628x lower power consumption than market alternatives without a significant reduction in sensing accuracy Small size-efficient sensor that only takes up 0.15 mm2 of area Fully integrated Design Robust operating temperature range, from -20 to 40 Celsius
This invention is a useful as a sensor for applications with sub-nW power consumption requirements. Some examples include usage in: · “Internet of Things”· Environment Industrial and Agricultural Equipment Wearable devices/biomedical devices Smart Homes
Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a sensor that can monitor its environment with near zero power, enabling ultra-long battery life, or energy harvesting from low-power sources towards energy-autonomous operation. Specifically, two pA current references are generated via small tunneling-current metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) that are independent and proportional to temperature, respectively, which are then used to charge digitally-controllable banks of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors that, via a discrete-time feedback loop that equalizes charging time, digitize temperature directly. The proposed temperature sensor was integrated into a silicon microchip and occupied 0.15 mm2 of area. Four tested microchips were measured to consume only 113 pW with a resolution of 0.21oC and an inaccuracy of ±1.65oC, which represents a 628x reduction in power compared to prior-art without a significant reduction in performance.
State Of Development A prototype model was constructed utilizing a microchip fabricated in a 65 mm 1P9M commercial technology. More die-to-die, wafer-to-wafer, and lot-to-lot measurements would be needed in future work to validate accuracy for volume manufacturing. Intellectual Property Info A provisional patent has been submitted and the technology is available for licensing. Tech ID/UC Case 28735/2017-310-0 Related Cases 2017-310-0
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