Realizing a CMOS RF Transceiver for Wireless Sensor Networks

The choice of the CMOS radio frequency (RF) transceiver architecture affects the design of the whole system and is thus a fundamental one. In order to make a good choice, several factors have to be considered, the most important ones being: performance, power consumption, die size, cost, integration level, and time-to-market. The minimum required performance is dictated by the IEEE802.15.4 standard approval. The relative weight of all other factors is determined by the wireless sensor network application at hand. As the RF transceiver developed here targets very small devices such as information-gathering nodes for sensor network applications, a small size and low power consumption are key requirements. In particular, as power consumption sets dimensions and type of the battery, it also has a major impact on size, weight, and cost of the system. In this chapter, we explore the implementation and testing of a fully CMOS integrated RF transceiver for wireless sensor networks in sub-GHz ISM-band applications. A comprehensive description of the radio system architecture, RF transceiver circuits, and measurement results is described in this sub-chapter. At the end of this chapter, a fully CMOS RF transceiver chip is presented to give an impression of the possible die size and floor plan for a highly integrated transceiver chip.