Super-Regenerative Receiver

Ultra low-power RF Transceiver for high input power & low-data rate applications

Thanks to this material to Felix Fernandez ECEN 665 TAMU AMSC

Overview
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Invented by Armstrong in 1922 and widely used in vacuum tube circuits until the 1950s It was replaced by the super-heterodyne receiver due to its poor selectivity and sensitivity Pros:
z z z

Small number of components allow for high integration Low power High energy efficiency poor sensitivity poor selectivity low data-rate limited demodulation capability

Cons
z z z z

Super-regenerative Receiver Block Diagram

Super-regenrative Oscillator LNA Selective Network 0

Demodulator Envelope Detector LPF

Ka(t)

Quench Oscillator QU

Super-regenerative Receiver Block Diagram & Basic Model

d 2V dV V + = A cos(t ) C 2 +G dt dt L
G = 2C 1 G 2 2 d = = 0 LC 2C
2

V=

A0 ( + jd )t A0 ( jd )t A sin (0t ) + e e G 2 j d G 2 j d G
Gt

A0 2C A e sin (d t ) + sin (0t ) = Gd G

WWII German Air Interception

(first generation SRR, circa 1940)

Operation Fundamentals
140 Bode D iagram From : Input P oint To: O utput P oint 120 100 80

Magnitude (dB)

60

Ga(t) = 0 [Ga(t) is a negative conductance]

40

20

-20

-40 4 10

10 Frequency (rad/sec)

10

x 10

P ole-Zero M ap

stable operation

2 Imaginary Axis

-2

-4

G(t ) =

i(t) v(t)

-6

Ga(t) >> G0

-8 -8000

-6000

-4000

-2000 R eal Axis

close to unstable (high Q)

2000

unstable operation
4000

Ga(t) = G0

Operation Modes
z

Linear: The self sustained oscillations are quenched before they reach their maximum amplitude. The height of the SRO output has a linear relationship with the RF input power.

Logarithmic: The self sustained oscillations are allowed to reach their maximum amplitude. The area enclosed by the envelope of the SRO output has a logarithmic relationship with the RF input power

vsro(t)

Quenching Mode
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External Quenching:
z

Self Quenching
z

The oscillations of the SRO are quenched by an external oscillator that controls the negative admittance at a fixed frequency

The oscillation of the SRO are controlled by a feedback network which quenches the oscillation after they have reached a certain threshold

Low RF Input

High RF Input

Low RF Input

High RF Input

Building Blocks Operation

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LNA
z z z

SRO
z

Feeds the RF input to the SRO Provides antenna matching Isolates SRO oscillations from the antenna Generate the oscillations needed for the superregenerative operation Quench the SRO oscillations according to the quenching mode Detect the SRO oscillation envelope and digitize the signal Provide tuning ability to the selective network (original tuning scheme was manual tuning)

Quench Oscillator
z

Demodulator
z

Tuning (PLL)
z

Super Regenerative System Design Equations

i(t) G0 -Ga(t) L C

O
2Q (t )

(t)

AVG
ta tb t

Super regenerative gain

Ks = e

0 (t )dt

tb

i(t)

s(t)

p(t)

Output pulse shape

p(t ) = e s(t ) = e

0 (t )dt

tb t

ta

tb

0 (t )dt

Sensitivity function

F {i (t ) s (t )}

Frequency response is given by the Fourier transform of the RF envelope and the sensitivity function.

Selective Network Design Equations

2 00 s G (s ) = K 0 2 2 s + 2 00 s + 0
H (s ) = G (s ) 1 + G (s )K a

2 00 s H (s ) = K 0 2 * )s + 02 s + 2 00 (1 K 0 K a
K0: Ka(t): 0: AVG:

: depends on the quench control signal

maximum amplification variable gain controlled by quench signal quiescent damping factor damping factor average value

(t ) = 0 (1 K 0 K a (t ))

K = K a (t ) t =ta
* a

Q(t ) =

1 2 (t )

Quench signal frequency limitations

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Avoid resonance from previous cycles (a.k.a. hangover) The hangover coefficient is the relationship between the amplitudes of the first cycle and the second (unwanted) one.

h=e

2 AVG

0 QU

Examples
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Setup
z z z z z z

FRF= 10kHz FINT=10.5kHz FQUENCH=100Hz Q=5 LPF: 3RD order Butterworth with f3dB 800Hz Several quench signals

System was simulated using MatLabs Simulink.

Sine Quench

Sawtooth Quench

Different Damping Functions (t)

Frequency Response for Different Damping Functions 5 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 -45 -50 -0.05 SAWTOOTH SINE SAWTOOTH 2

mSAW > mSAW2

As the transition slope is reduced the SRR shows an narrower frequency response or an increase selectivity SRR selectivity is controlled mainly by the slope at the transition point Better selectivity implies better performance under the presence of interferers

Normalized Magnitude

-0.04

-0.03

-0.02

-0.01 0 0.01 Nomralizad Frequency

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

Which is the optimal (better selectivity) damping function for a give application?
Quench gain or oscillations death rate Sampling (frequency selectivity) SR gain or oscillations growth rate

Find the Optimum for a Given Application !

Optimal damping for this case

Modern Applications
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SRR today:
z

Ultra low power communication require minimum energy consumption during the RF communication short-distance data-exchange wireless link with medium data-rate, such as sensor network, home automation, robotics, computer peripherals, or biomedicine.

Application fields:
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Case Studies [6]

A low-power 1-GHz super-regenerative transceiver with time-shared PLL control The SRR behaves like a PLL for a short amount of time to: Tune the frequency Find the optimal transition point

Case Studies [6]

Operating Voltage: Current of RX mode: Sensitivity: Selectivity (-5dB attenuation): Data-Rate: Frequency Range: 2.4v 1.5mA -105dBm 150kHz 150kbits/s 300-1500MHz

Case Studies [5]

A 400uW-RX, 1.6mW-TX Super-Regenerative Transceiver for Wireless Sensor Networks The SRO is based on a extremely high-Q BAW resonator thus reducing the required resolution on the Q controlling scheme.

Case Studies [5]

Operating Voltage: Current of RX mode: Sensitivity: Bandwidth: Data-Rate: Frequency: 1v 400uA -100.5dBm 500kHz 5kbits/s 1.7GHz

Case Studies [4]

A 3.6mW 2.4-GHz Multi-Channel Super-Regenerative Receiver in 130nm CMOS Similar to case study [1] but the quench/damp signal generated is shaped by the digital controller to improved the selectivity. critical point

Case Studies [4]

Operating Voltage: Current of RX mode: Sensitivity: Selectivity (channel space): Data-Rate: Frequency Range: 1.2v 3mA -80dBm 10MHz 500kbits/s 2.4GHz ISM

Challenges:
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Selectivity:
z

Maximize control of quench shape and frequency 5-20dB lower than heterodyne ones Low-power tuning How to decrease the quench to modulation frequency ratio On-chip LC tank with enhanced Q (SAW, BAW) PN synchronization and frequency de-hopping

Sensitivity:
z

LC tank tuning:
z

Data rate:
z

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Integration level:
z

Spread spectrum:
z

References:

[1] E. H. Armstrong, Some recent developments of regenerative circuits, Proc. IRE, vol. 10, pp. 244-260, Aug. 1922 [2] J. R. Whitehead, Super-Regenerative Receivers. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1950. [3] F.X. Moncunill-Geniz, P. Pala-Schonwalder, O. Mas-Casals, A generic approach to the theory of superregenerative reception, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems-I, vol. 52, No.1, pp:54 70, Jan. 2005. [4] J.Y. Chen, M. P. Flynn, and J. P. Hayes, A 3.6mW 2.4-GHz multi-channel super-regenerative receiver in 130nm CMOS, In Proc. IEEE Custom Integrated Circ. Conference, pp. 361-364, Sep. 2005. [5] B. Otis, Y. H. Chee, and Y. Rabaey, A 400uW-RX, 1.6mW-TX super-regenerative transceiver for wireless sensor networks, Digest of Technical Papers of the IEEE Int. Solid-State Circ. Conference, vol. 1, pp. 396-397 and p. 606, San Francisco, Feb. 2005. [6] N. Joehl, C. Dehollain, P. Favre, P. Deval, M. Declerq, A low-power 1-GHz super-regenerative transceiver with time-shared PLL control, IEEE J. of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 36, pp:1025 1031, Jul. 2001. [7] P. Favre, N. Joehl, A. Vouilloz, P. Deval, C. Dehollain, M.J. Declercq, A 2-V 600-A 1-GHz BiCMOS superregenerative receiver for ISM applications, IEEE J. of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 33, pp:2186 2196, Dec. 1998. [8] F.X. Moncunill-Geniz, P. Pala-Schonwalder, C. Dehollain, N. Joehl, M. Declercq, A 2.4-GHz DSSS superregenerative receiver with a simple delay-locked loop, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, vol 15, pp:499 501, Aug. 2005. [9] A. Vouilloz, M. Declercq, C. Dehollain, A low-power CMOS super-regenerative receiver at 1 GHz, IEEE J.Solid-state circuits, vol. 36, pp:440 451, Mar. 2001. [10] A. Vouilloz, M. Declercq, C. Dehollain, Selectivity and sensitivity performances of superregenerative receivers, Proc. ISCAS98, vol.4, pp:325-328, Jun. 1998. [11] F.X. Moncunill-Geniz, C. Dehollain, N. Joehl, M. Declercq, P. Pala-Schonwalder, A 2.4-GHz Low-Power Superregenerative RF Front-End for High Data Rate Applications, Microwave Conference, 2006. 36th European, pp:1537 1540, Sept. 2006