Multi-functional channel selective RF receiver system for low-power sensor network applications

Abstract

A novel multifunctional channel selective RF receiver system architecture is proposed for low-power sensor networks. The proposed system can recognize received radio channels at an RF front-end process by a frequency-to-voltage conversion technique. Moreover, the dual system-functionalities can be performed from a common detection circuit for the spectrum sensing and digital data recovery, simultaneously. The multifunctional system has been designed and implemented for the performance evaluations. From the experimental results, the on-off keying modulated RF signal with 50 kHz data rate has been sensed at a carrier frequency of 2.4 GHz with an excellent resolution. Thanks to the simply architecture, it is expected to contribute to efficient sensor receiver design technologies such as small form-factor, high-speed sensing, low-power, and multifunctionality. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:847–851, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26699