Nanowatt-Level Wakeup Receiver Front Ends Using MEMS Resonators for Impedance Transformation

Abstract

This paper presents the first demonstration of nanowatt-level CMOS wakeup receiver (WuRx) front ends (FEs) that utilize microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based matching networks (MNs). The first FE uses a fully MEMS-based MN (MMN) that operates at 88.8 MHz. It consists of a large array of lithium niobate resonators that are fabricated on the same die. Measurements of the integrated WuRx FE with the MMN indicate that its loaded voltage gain achieves a bandwidth of 0.78 MHz with a quality factor of 114. The second FE uses a hybrid MN (HMN) that operates at 457 MHz. It consists of an aluminum nitride laterally vibrating resonator as well as eight discrete inductors and capacitors surrounding the MEMS device. Measurements of the integrated WuRx FE with the HMN indicate that it achieves a sensitivity of -54 dBm with 7 nW of average dc power consumption without a digital correlator.