A 10pJ/bit 135Mbps IR-UWB transmitter using pulse position modulation and with on-chip LDO regulator in 0.13µm CMOS for biomedical implants

This paper describes a compact low-power high-datarate impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) transmitter IC for biomedical implants. The transmitter is powered through an on-chip low-dropout (LDO) regulator to tune its oscillation frequency which, together with the pulse width control, ensures that the transmitted pulse's power spectral density (PSD) fits within the FCC mask and has a BW ≥ 500MHz. The transmitter uses pulse position modulation (PPM) and the maximum measured datarate is 135Mbps with a figure of merit of 10pJ/bit. The chip is fabricated in 0.13μm CMOS. The core VCO occupies (35 × 125)μm
²
area, while the area of both the regulator and the PPM oscillator is (0.325 × 0.17)mm
²
.