Signal Generator for Wireless Impedance Monitoring of Microbiological Systems

This paper presents a small microcontroller-based sine-wave generator for probe signals of a wide range of amplitudes and frequencies, which requires very little energy so that it can be used for wireless applications in biosensing. The presented realization generates a 10-kHz sine wave with a 100-mV peak-to-peak voltage. Its total harmonic distortion is less than 0.15%, and the spurious free dynamic range excluding harmonics is about 85 dB. The generator's total power consumption at a 3.3-V supply voltage and without output buffers is less than 3.5 mW. This value includes the power requirement of the microcontroller's internal 8-MHz clock generator and is below the power needs of current direct-digital-synthesis-based signal generators. The presented concept bases on commercially available electronic components and is implemented for probe signal generation in wireless batteryless tags for long-term impedance measurements on standard microbiological cell cultures. The included microcontroller enables the use of a phase-controlled trigger signal and other simultaneous control functions, e.g., for peripheral components and data communication.