Ferrite-Rod Antenna Driven Wireless Resoswitch Receiver

A micromechanical resoswitch receiver coupled to a 23.7-kHz wireless channel via a ferrite-rod antenna successfully demonstrates short-range wireless reception with resoswitch sensitivity better than −62 dBm at an on-off keying (OOK) bit rate of 0.9 kbit/s. The demonstrated performance confirms models that predict the maximum bit rate of such a receiver, revealing an ability to adapt to bit rates as high as 8 kbit/s sans antenna that surprisingly are not limited mechanically, but then reduce upon introduction of finite electrical bandwidth antennas. Indeed, the demonstrated wireless resoswitch receiver displays a bit rate-to-sensitivity trade-off governed by the finite rise time of the signal received by the antenna. Meanwhile, the receiver consumes no power while waiting and listening for valid inputs. Unlike an RFID tag, this resoswitch receiver rejects strong interferers via the much higher Q of its mechanical resonance, allowing it to serve applications that must operate in congested wireless environments.