VLSI implementation of an energy-aware wake-up detector for an acoustic surveillance sensor network

Abstract

We present a low-power VLSI wake-up detector for a sensor network that uses acoustic signals to localize ground-based vehicles. The detection criterion is the degree of low-frequency periodicity in the acoustic signal, and the periodicity is computed from the “bumpiness” of the autocorrelation of a one-bit version of the signal. We then describe a CMOS ASIC that implements the periodicity estimation algorithm. The ASIC is fully functional and its core consumes 835 nanowatts. It was integrated into an acoustic enclosure and deployed in field tests with synthesized sounds and ground-based vehicles.