At this week’s IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (IEEE ISSCC2024), imec, a research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, unveiled an innovative, low-power ultra-wideband (UWB) receiver chip. This chip is ten times more resilient against interference from Wi-Fi and (beyond) 5G signals compared to current UWB devices. Imec’s advancement represents a significant leap in the development and deployment of next-generation UWB applications, which are increasingly becoming critical for safety. Examples include child presence detection systems in the automotive industry, where reliability is crucial, and in manufacturing environments, where UWB’s precise localisation capabilities can ensure the safety of workers near robotic arms, AGVs, and other automated machinery.
In the forthcoming months and years, the spectrum allocated for ultra-wideband communications, typically within the 6 to 10GHz frequency range, will encounter more competition from other wireless technologies aiming to utilise the same frequencies to broaden their scope. The recent endorsement of Wi-Fi 6e, which is set to operate in the 5.925 to 7.125GHz band, and the expansion of (beyond) 5G technologies into the upper 6GHz band, highlight the imminent challenges, as the existing frequency ranges for these technologies are becoming saturated.
For the UWB sector, this situation necessitates proactive actions, especially as UWB technology extends beyond traditional secure keyless entry applications to encompass safety-critical functions in automotive and industrial automation. This underscores the increasing need for solutions that enable UWB and other wireless technologies to coexist seamlessly within the same frequency bands.
Imec’s new IR-UWB receiver: -13dBm blocker resilience, and 7.6mW power ponsumption
Imec’s latest impulse radio (IR) UWB receiver chip, fabricated using a 22nm FDSOI process with a compact active area of 0.32mm², emerges as a trailblazing solution to mitigate interference between UWB and other wireless signals. By integrating a transformer-coupled bandpass filter into the complementary common gate stage of the UWB low-noise amplifier front-end, imec’s receiver achieves an exceptional -13dBm blocker resilience. This makes it ten times more resilient against Wi-Fi and (beyond) 5G interference compared to existing solutions. Furthermore, various circuit design enhancements enable the receiver to deliver this remarkable interference resilience with minimal power consumption (7.6mW). This efficiency allows the receiver’s analogue front-end to operate ten times longer on the same battery power as current IEEE 802.15.4a/z compatible UWB devices, and twice as long as the durations mentioned in recent research.
The application of bandpass filters is a recognised strategy for filtering out unwanted signals, such as Wi-Fi, before they reach the receiver. However, imec’s patented approach to reducing intermodulation distortion significantly boosts the receiver’s robustness while maintaining low power and low supply design.
“To encourage industrial adoption, our UWB receiver complies with the current IEEE 802.15.4z standard and is prepared to support the forthcoming IEEE.802.15.4ab standard. We believe this research and our collaboration in high-impact industrial ecosystems are crucial for enabling future wireless technologies to coexist seamlessly across diverse use cases,” stated Christian Bachmann, Programme Director of Wireless Sensing at imec.
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