A simple high data rate UWB OOK pulse generator with transmitted reference for on-chip wireless interconnects

In this paper, a CMOS ultra-wideband (UWB) pulse generator is designed in IBM 90 nm technology for on-chip wireless interconnect applications. A UWB pulse is generated using the triangular pulse generation technique. The output pulse is OOK modulated according to data and each data bit is preceded by a reference pulse. A maximum data rate of 2.5 Gb/s with transmitted reference is achieved when the pulse repetition rate of the input clock is 5 GHz. The pulse width is about 60 ps and the peak-to-peak amplitude is 502 mV with -3 dB bandwidth of 20 GHz from 15 to 35 GHz. The pulse generator dissipates no static current with dynamic energy consumption of only 1.42 pJ per pulse from 1.2 V supply. High transmission rate and ultra low power consumption make this simple circuit attractive for on-chip wireless interconnects.