Abstract
Wireless sensor networks, which monitor the environments, require many small and low-power-consumption sensor nodes. In this work, to fabricate such sensor nodes, we implemented in a prototype IC an all-digital RF-transmitting scheme. The IC, which operates with a voltage of 3 V and a current of 1.6 μA, sends data intermittently and achieves long-distance communication of the order of 10 m with a 1-Mbps data rate. Since the ratio of intermittent operation is approximately 530, the average bit rate is equal to 1.8 kbps. A prototype wireless sensor node, which contains the IC and a conventional vibration sensor, demonstrates the feasibility of long-battery-life sensor nodes.
