Novel pMUT-Based Acoustic Duplexer for Underwater and Intrabody Communication

Abstract

This work demonstrates for the first time an acoustic duplexer based on Aluminum Nitride pMUTs as radiating elements. The duplexer has the function of efficiently separating independent data-streams coming from the transmit and receive modules while minimizing the noise injected in the channel through the achievement of large out-of-band rejections. As a result, this permits to reach levels of Bit-Error-Rates (BER)that are comparable to those achieved through the use of commercial Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT)transducers. Furthermore, the simultaneous use of two communication bands allows much higher data-rates than traditional resonant approaches, thus enabling much larger data throughput.