This paper presents a direct conversion transceiver intended for use in a microfluidic NMR flowmeter. It consists of an H-bridge power amplifier, which drives a hand-wound milimeter-sized coil with RF signals, and a direct conversion receiver, which amplifies the NMR signals picked up by the coil, and then digitizes them with an asynchronous 8 bit SAR ADC sampling at 70 MHz. Fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS technology, the receiver achieves a noise spectral density of 1 nV/sqrt(Hz) at 21 MHz, while dissipating only 36 mW. A microfluidic flowmeter based on the transceiver and a handheld 0.5 T permanent magnet can measure flow rates up to 96 ml/h in a 0.8 mm inner-diameter channel with pm 1.3 % full-scale error. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first reported portable NMR flowmeter.

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Bias-flip rectifiers are commonly employed for piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH). This article proposes a synchronized switch harvesting on an inductor (SSHI) rectifier with a duty-cycle-based (DCB) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm. The proposed DCB MPPT algorithm is based on the mathematically derived relation between the MPPT efficiency and the duty cycle of the bridge rectifier. The resulting equation shows that the MPPT efficiency only depends on the rectifier duty cycle, and is independent of any other system variables, such as voltage bias-flipping efficiency, the open-circuit voltage from the harvester, vibration frequency, etc. As a result, MPPT can be achieved by regulating the duty cycle, simplifying circuit implementation, and achieving self-regulating and continuous MPPT. This design was fabricated in a 180-nm BCD process. The measured results show 98% peak MPPT efficiency and up to 738% output power enhancement.

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This article presents a 10mV-startup-voltage thermoelectric energy harvesting system, assisted by a piezoelectric generator (PEG) as a cold starter. It exploits the fact that when a thermoelectric energy harvesting system is implemented in a place where kinetic energy is also present, the PEG starter can provide a clock signal to start the system. Thanks to the high output impedance of the PEG, the generated clock voltage can easily go over several hundreds of mV, which can be used to drive the boost converter to harvest thermoelectric energy even at an extremely low thermoelectric generator (TEG) voltage. The proposed system was fabricated in a 180-nm BCD process. The measurement results show that the TEG system can start up from the cold state with a TEG voltage as low as 10 mV while maintaining a 63.9% efficiency. The peak power conversion efficiency reaches 83.7% when the TEG voltage is 55 mV.@en

This article describes a PNP-based temperature sensor that achieves both high energy efficiency and accuracy. Two resistors convert the CTAT and PTAT voltages generated by a PNP-based front-end into two currents whose ratio is then digitized by a continuous-time (CT) <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta \Sigma $</tex-math> </inline-formula>-modulator. Chopping and dynamic-element-matching (DEM) are used to mitigate the effects of component mismatch and 1/<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f$</tex-math> </inline-formula> noise, while the spread in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\mathbf{BE}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> and in the ratio of the two resistors is digitally trimmed at room temperature (RT). Fabricated in a 0.18 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$</tex-math> </inline-formula>m CMOS process, the sensor occupies 0.12 mm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>, and draws 9.5 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $</tex-math> </inline-formula>A from a supply voltage ranging from 1.7 to 2.2 V. Measurements on 40 samples from one batch show that it achieves an inaccuracy of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$</tex-math> </inline-formula>0.1 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>C (3<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sigma$</tex-math> </inline-formula>) from <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-$</tex-math> </inline-formula>55 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>C to 125 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>C, and a commensurate supply sensitivity of only 0.01 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>C/V. Furthermore, it achieves high energy efficiency, with a resolution Figure of Merit (FoM) of 0.85 pJ<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot$</tex-math> </inline-formula>K<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>.

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Low-cost metal (e.g., PCB trace) shunts can be used to make accurate current sensors (< 1 % gain error) [1-3]. However, their reported maximum operating temperature (85 circC) is not high enough for automotive applications, and at higher temperatures, shunt resistance may exhibit increased drift, especially at high current levels. This paper presents a metal-shunt-based current sensor with a wide temperature range and a stable on-chip reference current (I textREF) source for shunt self-calibration. By employing a continuous-time (CT) front-end, it achieves an input noise density of 14textnV/sqrttextHz while consuming only 280mu A, making it > 10times more energy efficient than prior art [1], [2], with comparable gain error (pm0.2%) over a wider current (pm 40A) and temperature (-40 circC to 125 circC) range.

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BJT-based temperature sensors are widely used due to their high accuracy over a wide temperature range with a low-cost 1-point trim. Although resistor-based sensors can achieve better energy efficiency, they typically require a 2-point trim to achieve comparable accuracy, while thermal-diffusivity based sensors achieve superior accuracy at the cost of energy efficiency [1]. This paper presents a BJT-based temperature sensor that achieves both excellent accuracy and energy efficiency. To avoid the kTfC noise limitations of conventional discrete-time (OT) readout schemes [2], [3], it employs a compact continuous-time (CT) front-end. Component mismatch, which often limits the accuracy of CT front-ends [4], [5], is mitigated by a combination of dynamic element matching (OEM) and a low-cost resistor-ratio self-calibration scheme. As a result, the sensor achieves a resolution FoM of 0.85textpJcdotK 2, and a competitive inaccuracy of pm 0.1 circC (3sigma) from -55 circC tO 125 circC after a 1-point trim. This makes it 4times more energy-efficient than state-of-the-art BJT-based sensors with similar accuracy [2], [4], [5].

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BJT-based temperature sensors are widely used because they can achieve excellent accuracy after 1-point calibration. However, they typically dissipate mu textWs of power and require supply voltages above 1V [1]. Although sensors based on DTMOSTs [2], [3], capacitively biased (CB) diodes and BJTs [4,5] have demonstrated sub-1V operation, this comes at the expense of accuracy. This paper presents a sub-1V CB BJT-based temperature sensor that achieves a 1-point-trimmed inaccuracy of 0.15°C (3σ) from -55 circC to 125 circC, which is 4times better than the CB BJT state-of-the-art [4]. It also achieves a resolution FoM of 0.34pJ.K2, which is 6.8 times better than that of state-of-the-art BJT-based sensors with a similar accuracy [1], [6], (Fig. 23.5.6).

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This article presents a sub-1 V bipolar junction transistor (BJT)-based temperature sensor that achieves both high accuracy and high energy efficiency. To avoid the extra headroom required by conventional current sources, the sensor’s diode-connected BJTs are biased by precharging sampling capacitors to the supply voltage and then discharging them through the BJTs. This capacitive biasing technique requires little headroom ( ∼ 150 mV), and simultaneously samples the BJTs’ base–emitter voltages. The latter are then applied to a switched-capacitor (SC) ΔΣ ADC to generate a digital representation of temperature. For robust sub-1 V operation and high energy efficiency, the ADC employs auto-zeroed inverter-based integrators. Fabricated in a standard 0.18- μ m CMOS process, the sensor occupies 0.25 mm 2 and consumes 810 nW from a 0.95-V supply at room temperature. It achieves an inaccuracy of ± 0.15 ∘ C (3 σ ) from − 55 ∘ C to 125 ∘ C after a 1-point trim, which is at par with the state-of-the-art. It also achieves a resolution figure of merit (FoM) of 0.34 pJ ⋅ K 2 , which is more than 6 × lower than that of state-of-the-art BJT-based sensors with similar accuracy.@en

Synchronized bias-flip rectifiers, such as synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (SSHI) rectifiers, are widely used for piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) [1], which can replace the use of batteries in many loT applications, thus reducing both system volume and maintenance cost. However, the output power extracted by such rectifiers strongly depends on the impedance matching between the piezoelectric transducer (PT) and the circuit. To maximize this, two maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms are often used. As shown in Fig. 30.3.1 (left), the Perturb & Observe (P&O) (a.k.a. hill-climbing) algorithm adjusts the rectified output power in a stepwise manner towards the maximum power point (MPP), thus establishing robust and continuous MPPT. However, accurately sensing the rectified output power often requires complex and power-hungry hardware [1], [2]. Another simpler algorithm is based on the fractional open-circuit voltage (FOCV) and involves periodically measuring the PT's open-circuit voltage amplitude (VOC) and regulating the rectified voltage (VREC) to a level (VMPP), which corresponds to the MPP [3-6]. However, the PT must be periodically disconnected from the rectifier to measure VOC, resulting in wasted energy, while the inherent delay in sensing VOC variations reduces the overall tracking efficiency. Furthermore, a calibration step is usually necessary to determine VMPP, since this depends on the actual PT voltage flip efficiency (etaF) of the bias-flip rectifier.

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In this article, we propose a reconfigurable regulating rectifier with a wide operational range for wireless power transfer. The proposed three-mode rectifier achieves a broad range voltage regulation without global loop control to minimize the chip area occupation. Compared with previous work, more working modes and greater voltage gain allow the proposed rectifier to regulate lower input power, which extends the voltage regulation range. A local loop control scheme is proposed for voltage rectification with three modes. It adaptively senses the duty cycle of the mode signal to determine the working mode of the rectifier, and configure the rectifier to the desired mode for voltage regulation. The proposed system was designed and fabricated in a 180-nm BCD technology with an active area of 1.17 mm2. The measurement results show that the proposed system can rectify wide-range input ac power to a regulated output. The achieved voltage conversion ratiois between 0.95X and 2.68X, with a peak power conversion efficiencyat 87.4%.

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Accurate current sensing is critical in many industrial applications, such as battery management and motor control. Precise shunt-based current sensors have been reported with gain errors of less than 1% over the industrial temperature range (-40°C to 85°C) [1]–[4]. However, since they are intended for coulomb counting, their bandwidth is limited to a few tens of Hz, making them unsuitable for battery impedance or motor-current sensing. This paper presents a current sensor with a wide (10kHz) bandwidth and a tunable temperature compensation scheme (TCS), which allows it to be flexibly used with different types of shunts while maintaining high accuracy. A low-cost room-temperature calibration scheme is proposed to optimize gain flatness over temperature by exploiting the shunt's self-heating at large currents. Over the industrial temperature range and a ±25A current range, it achieves state-of-the-art gain error (±0.25^%) with both low-cost PCB and stable metal-alloy shunts.@en

This letter presents a low-power dB-linear variable gain amplifier (VGA) with a small linear-in-dB error over a wide gain tuning range. An exponential current ratio is realized in the linear-in-dB control circuit based on the subthreshold I-V characteristic. The VGA is built with subthreshold common-gate transistors as current steering, accurately replicating the exponential current ratio and forming a tunable gain. Implemented in 55-nm CMOS technology, the proposed VGA occupies a compact active area of 0.011 mm2 excluding the buffer. It achieves a linear-in-dB error of 0.4 dB over a gain tuning range of 62.4 dB, corresponding to the state-of-the-art relative error of 0.6%. The proposed design shows constant 80-MHz bandwidth with a power consumption of 0.96 mW.

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This article presents a versatile shunt-based current sensor for battery management applications. It digitizes the current-induced voltage drop across an external shunt resistor with the help of a 2 nd -order delta-sigma ( ΔΣ ) ADC, whose summing node is implemented as a low-noise capacitively coupled amplifier. To compensate for the shunt’s finite temperature coefficient (TC), the TC of the ADC on-chip voltage reference can be tuned. As a result, the sensor maintains high accuracy when used with low-cost high TC shunts, such as PCB traces, as well as with more expensive low TC shunts, such as metal-alloy resistors. Optimal gain flatness over temperature is achieved by a two-current room-temperature TC tuning scheme, which exploits the shunt’s self-heating at high current levels. Fabricated in a standard 0.18- μ m CMOS process, the current sensor occupies 0.36 mm 2 and draws 265 μ A from a 1.8-V supply. Over the industrial temperature range ( − 40 ∘ C to 85 ∘ C) and a ± 25-A current range, it achieves the state-of-the-art gain error ( ± 0.25%) with both PCB (1.6 m Ω ) and metal-alloy (2 m Ω ) shunts. With these shunts, it achieves 5.3-mA/4.3-mA (rms) resolution in a 10-kHz bandwidth.@en

This brief presents a 0.65% relative inaccuracy CMOS temperature sensor with a duty-cycle-modulated (DCM) output. It uses a BJT-based front-end to generate a proportional to absolute temperature voltage (V_{PTAT}) and a complementary to absolute temperature voltage (V_{CTAT}), which are then modulated to a digital-friendly duty-cycle output. Dynamic element matching with Kelvin connection (KC-DEM) is applied to improve the accuracy of V_{PTAT}. To enhance the robustness of the sensor, a continuous-time dynamic single-threshold hysteresis comparator with high energy efficiency is proposed. Implemented in a standard 0.13-{m} CMOS process, the sensor has an active area of 0.086 mm2 and achieves an inaccuracy of ±0.54 °C (3) from -40 °C to 125 °C.

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This work presents an energy-efficient diode-based CMOS temperature sensor. It is based on the capacitively biased diode (CBD) working principle and can operate with a 1-V supply voltage. Instead of using a separate CBD front-end and ADC, a new architecture is proposed in which the CBD front-end is directly embedded into the 1st stage of a 1-bit 2nd-order switched-capacitor ΣΔ-ADC, thereby improving both energy efficiency and accuracy. The circuit was fabricated in a standard 55-nm CMOS process and occupies an active area of 0.021 mm². The measured inaccuracy is ±0.6 °C (3σ) from -55 °C to 125 °C after a 1-point calibration. Furthermore, it consumes 2.2 μW and achieves a resolution of 15 mK in a conversion time of 6.4 ms, which corresponds to a competitive resolution FoM of 3.2 pJ·K²

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