Ultra‐low‐power wireless transmitter for neural prostheses with modified pulse position modulation

Abstract

An ultra-low-power wireless transmitter for embedded bionic systems is proposed, which achieves 40 pJ/b energy efficiency and delivers 500 kb/s data using the medical implant communication service frequency band (402-405 MHz). It consumes a measured peak power of 200 µW from a 1.2 V supply while occupying an active area of 0.0016 mm 2 in a 130 nm technology. A modified pulse position modulation technique called saturated amplified signal is proposed and implemented, which can reduce the overall and per bit transferred power consumption of the transmitter while reducing the complexity of the transmitter architectures, and hence potentially shrinking the size of the implemented circuitry. The design is capable of being fully integrated on single-chip solutions for surgically implanted bionic systems, wearable devices and neural embedded systems.

Freeing the animal model: a modular, wirelessly-powered, implantable electronic platform

“…Increasingly, wireless power solutions are being used to circumvent the limitations of conventional power options. 3,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Wireless power transfer dates to Tesla with his 1914 discovery of magnetic induction, where an alternating current applied to a wire coil (transmitter coil) generates an alternating magnetic flux that can then induce an alternating current in a nearby coil (receiver coil) and power a load, 18 but low-efficiency and cost previously limited its application to handheld devices such as electric toothbrushes or razors. Recent consumer demand for wireless charging of mobile devices has led to the development of low-cost, miniaturized, wireless charging modules.…”