An ultra-low power 900 MHz RF transceiver for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

A 900 MHz, ultra-low power RF transceiver is presented for wireless sensor networks. It radiates -6 dBm in transmit mode and has a receive sensitivity of -94 dBm while consuming less than 1.3 mW in either mode from a 3 volt battery. Two of these transceivers have been demonstrated communicating over 16 meters through walls at a bit rate of 20 kbps while using only 4 off-chip components.