A wireless sensor system is proposed for a targeted deployment in civil infrastructures (namely bridges) to help mitigate the growing problem of deterioration of civil infrastructures. The sensor motes are self-powered via a novel magnetic shape memory alloy (MSMA) energy harvesting material and a low-frequency, low-power rectifier multiplier (RM). Experimental characterizations of the MSMA device and the RM are presented. A study on practical implementation of a strain gauge sensor and its application in the proposed sensor system are undertaken and a low-power successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC) is presented. The SAR ADC was fabricated and laboratory characterizations show the proposed low-voltage topology is a viable candidate for deployment in the proposed sensor system. Additionally, a wireless transmitter is proposed to transmit the SAR ADC output using on-off keying (OOK) modulation with an impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) transmitter (TX). The RM and SAR ADC were fabricated in ON 0.5 micrometer CMOS process. An alternative transmitter architecture is also presented for use in the 3-10GHz UWB band. Unlike the IR-UWB TX described for the proposed wireless sensor system, the presented transmitter is designed to transfer large amounts of information with little concern for power consumption. This second method of data transmission divides the 3-10GHz spectrum into 528MHz sub-bands and "hops" between these sub-bands during data transmission. The data is sent over these multiple channels for short distances (?3-10m) at data rates over a few hundred million bits per second (Mbps). An UWB TX is presented for implementation in mode-I (3.1-4.6GHz) UWB which utilizes multi-band orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) to encode the information. The TX was designed and fabricated using UMC 0.13 micrometer CMOS technology. Measurement results and theoretical system level budgeting are presented for the proposed UWB TX.

Time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters are an attractive architecture for achieving a high speed, high resolution ADC in a power efficient manner. However, due to process and manufacturing variations, timing skews occur between the sampling clocks of the sub ADCs within the TI-ADC. These timing skews compromise the spurious free dynamic range of the converter. In addition, jitter on the sampling clocks, degrades the signal-to-noise ratio of the TI-ADC. Therefore, in order to maintain an acceptable spurious free dynamic range and signal to noise ratio, it is necessary to correct the timing skews while adding minimal jitter. Two analog-based architectures for correcting timing skews were investigated, with one being selected for implementation. The selected architecture and additional test circuitry were designed and fabricated in a 0.18??m CMOS process and tested using a 125 MSPS 16 bit ADC. The circuit achieves a correction precision on the order of 10???s of femtoseconds for timing skews as large as approximately 180 picoseconds, while adding less than 200 femtoseconds of rms jitter.

The rapid progress of scaling and integration of modern complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology motivates the replacement of traditional analog signal processing by digital alternatives. Thus, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), as the interfaces between the analog world and the digital one, are driven to enhance their performance in terms of speed, resolution and power efficiency. However, in the presence of imperfections of device mismatch, thermal noise and reduced voltage headroom, efficient ADC design demands new strategies for design, calibration and optimization. Among various ADC architectures, successive-approximation-register (SAR) ADCs have received renewed interest from the design community due to their low hardware complexity and scaling-friendly property. However, the conventional SAR architecture has many limitations for high-speed, high-resolution applications. Many modified SAR architectures and hybrid SAR architectures have been reported to break the inherent constraints in the conventional SAR architecture. Loop-unrolled (LU) SAR ADCs have been recognized as a promising architecture for high-speed applications. However, mismatched comparator offsets introduce input-level dependent errors to the conversion result, which deteriorates the linearity and limits the resolution and the resolution of most reported SAR ADCs of this kind are limited to 6 bits. Also, for high-resolution SAR ADCs, the comparator noise specification is very stringent, which imposes a limitation on ADC speed and power-efficiency. Lastly, capacitor mismatch is an important limiting factor for SAR ADC linearity, and generally requires dedicated calibration to achieve efficient designs in terms of power and area. In this work, we investigate the impacts of offset mismatch, comparator noise and capacitor mismatch on high-speed SAR ADCs. An analytical model is proposed to estimate the resolution and predict the yield of LU-SAR ADCs with presence of comparator offset mismatch. A background calibration technique is proposed for resolving the comparator mismatch issue. A 150-MS/s 8-bit LU-SAR ADC is fabricated in a 130-nm CMOS technology to validate the concept. The measured result shows that the calibration improves the SNDR from 33.7-dB to 42.9-dB. The ADC consumes 640 μW from a 1.2 V supply with a Figure-of-Merit (FoM) of 37.5-fJ/conv-step. Moreover, the bit-wise impact of comparator noise is studied for LU-SAR ADCs. Lastly, an extended statistical element selection (SES) calibration technique is proposed to calibrate the capacitor mismatch in SAR ADCs. Based on these techniques, a high-resolution, asynchronous SAR architecture employing multiple comparators with different speed and noise specifications to optimize speed and power efficiency. A 12-bit prototype ADC is fabricated in a 1P9M 65nm CMOS technology, and fits into an active area of 500 μm × 200 μm. At 125 MS/s, the ADC achieves a signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 64.4 dB and a spurious-free-dynamic-range (SFDR) of 75.1 dB at the Nyquist input frequency while consuming 1.7 mW from a 1.2 V supply. The resultant figure-of-merit (FoM) is 10.3 fJ/conv-step.

Time-to-digital converters (TDC) are widely used in light-detection-and-ranging (LIDAR) systems to measure the time-of-flight. Conventional TDCs are sensitivity to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations. Recent work utilizing the stochastic delay-line TDC architecture has demonstrated excellent robustness against PVT variations. But important issues affecting the linearity of a stochastic delay-line TDC has yet to be recognized and addressed.This thesis rigorously analyzes the problem of linearity of a stochastic delay-line TDC and formulates an intuitive theory to predict the linearity performance. Apolarvisualization of the phase distribution of a delay line is proposed to aid the analysis. Based on the results of this study, this thesis proposes a stochastic delay-line TDC employing a delay-locked loop (DLL) to guarantee linearity over PVT variations and to reduce the number of redundant bits. The proposed TDC is implemented in a 0.18 µm CMOS process to validate the linearity theory and the proposed solution. The 8-bit TDC samples at 60 MHz and demonstrates a linear-number-of-bit of 6.36 with only 2-bit redundancy. Consuming 25 mW from a 1.8 V supply, the TDC yields a figure-of-merit of 5.04 pJ/conversion-step. With the DLL turned off, the integral nonlinearity (INL) degrades by about a factor of two, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed solution. The TDC is measured at different temperatures and supply voltages to demonstrate robustness against PVT variations. The measurement results show excellent agreement with the behavioral simulations.

This master thesies deals about pressure sensors producing by Honeywell and their applications in distributed measuring system. It deals also about base specifications from personal sensors of blood pressure, barometric hypsometer to 500 m, sensors of relative air velocity to 350km/h.

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Single-photon avalanche diodes’ (SPADs) capabilities of detecting even a single photon with excellent timing resolution and compatibility with strong magnetic fields make them the most promising sensor for positron emission tomography imaging systems. With the advancements of silicon fabrication techniques, SPADs designed in standard planar complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes show competitive performance and a lower manufacturing cost. Additionally, CMOS SPADs have the potential for monolithic integration with other CMOS signal conditioning and processing circuits to achieve simple, low-cost, and high-performance imaging solutions. This work targets the design and optimization of SPAD sensors to improve their performance using low-cost standard CMOS technologies. Firstly, a detailed review on the SPADs in recent literature is presented. Then, the random telegraph signal (RTS) noise is investigated based on n+/p-well SPADs fabricated in a standard 130 nm CMOS process. Through the measurements and analysis, the RTS noise of a SPAD is found to correlate with its dark count rate and afterpulsing. Next, we design n+/p-well SPADs with field poly gates to improve the noise performance. Furthermore, a SPAD pixel, consisting of a p+/n-well SPAD and a compact and high-speed active quench and reset circuit is designed and fabricated in a standard TSMC 65 nm CMOS process. The post-layout simulations show that this pixel achieves a short 0.1 ns quenching time and a 3.35 ns minimum dead time. The measurement results show that the SPAD pixel has a dark count rate of 21 kHz, a peak photon detection probability of 23.8% at a 420 nm wavelength and a timing jitter of 139 ps using a 405 nm pulsed laser when the excess voltage is set to 0.5 V. Due to the short quenching time, almost no afterpulsing is observed even at a low operating temperature of -35 °C. Finally, a new differential quench and reset (QR) circuit consisting of two QR circuits on both the cathode and anode to quench and reset the SPAD through both terminals is proposed to reduce the reset time, to increase the count rate, to reduce the afterpulsing and to reject the common-mode noise. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a powerful tool for diagnosis and assessment of cancers and tumors in the clinical field. Due to their capabilities of detecting even a single photon, excellent timing resolution, and their compatibility with magnetic fields to build PET/MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) multimodal imaging systems; single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) become the most promising sensor technology for PET imaging applications. SPADs fabricated in standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies allow for a lower manufacturing cost and present the potential to integrate with other CMOS circuits to form a complete imaging system. In this thesis, random telegraph signal noise in SPADs is investigated first. Then, the poly gate is used in the design of an n+/p-well SPAD to improve the noise performance. In addition, a compact and high-speed SPAD pixel is designed and fabricated using an advanced standard CMOS process. Thanks to the fast quench and reset circuit, the SPAD pixel achieves a very short quenching time and a high-count rate. Finally, a differential quench and reset (QR) circuit consisting of two QR circuits on both the cathode and anode to quench and reset the SPAD through both terminals is proposed and studied.

Time Interleaved Analog-to-Digital Converters (TI-ADCs) utilize an architecture which enables conversion rates well beyond the capabilities of a single converter while preserving most or all of the other performance characteristics of the converters on which said architecture is based. Most of the approaches discussed here are independent of architecture; some solutions take advantage of specific architectures. Chapter 1 provides the problem formulation and reviews the errors found in ADCs as well as a brief literature review of available TI-ADC error correction solutions. Chapter 2 presents the methods and materials used in implementation as well as extend the state of the art for post conversion correction. Chapter 3 presents the simulation results of this work and Chapter 4 concludes the work. The contribution of this research is three fold: A new behavioral model was developed in SimulinkTM and MATLABTM to model and test linear and nonlinear mismatch errors emulating the performance data of actual converters. The details of this model are presented as well as the results of cumulant statistical calculations of the mismatch errors which is followed by the detailed explanation and performance evaluation of the extension developed in this research effort. Leading post conversion correction methods are presented and an extension with derivations is presented. It is shown that the data converter subsystem architecture developed is capable of realizing better performance of those currently reported in the literature while having a more efficient implementation.

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International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 18-21, 2004 / Town & Country Resort, San Diego, California / The Precision Fires Rocket and Missile Systems (PFRMS) Program Office continually undertakes Stockpile Reliability Testing (SRP) to ensure the validity of the accumulated weapons and increase the she lf life of these weapon systems. MLRS is a legacy weapon system that has been undergoing SRP testing for over 20 years. The PFRMS Program Office has a need for a miniature Tactical Telemetry System that will monitor the fuze performance of the MLRS Rocket during SRP testing. This paper will address a technical approach of how a small Tactical Telemetry System could be built to meet this requirement. The Tactical Telemetry system proposed in this paper will monitor fuze functions, operate across the wide environmental spectrum of the SRP tests, and physically fit in the nose area without altering the overall tactical rocket appearance or operation.