Abstract

This paper surveys the research on frequency modulated ultra-wideband (FM-UWB) transceivers. FM-UWB system uses low modulation index digital FSK followed by high modulation index analog FM to generate a constant envelope UWB signal with a flat power spectral density and steep spectral roll-off. FM-UWB can be seen as an analog implementation of a spread spectrum system with spreading gain equal to the modulation index. FM-UWB system is suitable for low data rate and short-range applications. The advantages of FM-UWB system such as low power consumption, very low radiated power (?41. 3 dBm/MHz), good coexistence with other existing wireless technologies, and robustness to interference and multipath making it suitable for Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) in medical applications.

References

• Federal Communications Commission, "FCC notice of proposed rule making, revision of part 15 of the commission's rules regarding ultra-wideband transmission system", FCC, Washington DC, ET-docket 98-153.
• M. Z. Win and R. A. Scholtz, "Impulse radio: How it works?", IEEE Commun. Lett. vol. 2, pp. 36-38, Feb. 1998.
• J. F. M. Gerrits, M. H. L. Kouwenhouven, P. R. van der Meer, J. R. Farserotu, and J. R. Long, "Principles and limitations of ultra-wideband FM communications systems", EURASIP J. of App. Signal Proc. , vol. 2005:3, pp. 382-396.
• J. F. M. Gerrits, J. R. Farserotu and J. R. Long, "Low-Complexity Ultra Wideband Communications", IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems-II, vol. 55, pp. 329 - 333, Apr. 2008.
• M. Hernandez and R. Kohno, "UWB Systems for Body Area Networks in IEEE 802. 15. 6", IEEE International Conference on Ultra-Wideband (ICUWB), 2011.
• B. Gupta, D. Valente, E. Cinaca, and R. Prasad, "FM-UWB for radar and communications in medical applications", First International Symposium on Applied Sciences on Biomedical and Communication Technologies, 2008. ISABEL '08. , 16 December, 2008.
• E. Cinaca and B. Gupta, "FM-UWB for Communications and Radar in Medical Applications", Wireless Personal Communication Journal, July 2009.
• W. Rhee, N. Xu, B. Zhou, and Z. Wang, "Low Power, Non Invasive UWB Systems for WBAN and Biomedical Applications", International Conference on Information and Communication Technology Convergence (ICTC), 2010, pp. 35-40.
• B. Gupta, E. Cianca, M. Ruggieri, and R. Prasad, "End to End Vital Sign Monitoring System with FM-UWB Technology", International Conference on Devices and Communications, 2011.
• H. Taub, D. Schilling, Principles of Communication Systems, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, USA, 1971.
• P. Nilsson, J. Gerrits, and J. Yuan, "A low complexity DDS IC for FMUWB applications", 16th IST Mobile and Wireless Communications Summit, Budapest, Hungary, Jul. 2007.
• B. Zhou, W. Rhee, and Z. Wang, "Reconfigurable FM-UWB transmitter", Electronics Letters, Vol. 47, No. 10, 12th May 2011.
• B. Zhou, R. He, J. Qiao, J. Liu, W. Rhee, and Z. Wang, "A Low Data Rate FM-UWB Transmitter with ?-? Based Sub-Carrier Modulation and Quasi- Continuous Frequency-Locked Loop", IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, Nov. 2010.
• B. Zhou, H. Lv, M. Wang, J. Liu, W. Rhee, Y. Li, D. Kim, and Z. Wang, "A 1Mb/s 3. 2-4. 4GHz Reconfigurable FM-UWB Transmitter in 0. 18?m CMOS", IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC), 2011.
• B. Zhou, J. Qiao, R. He, J. Liu, W. Zhang, H. Lv, W. Rhee, Y. Li, and Z. Wang, "A Gated FM-UWB System With Data-Driven Front-End Power Control", IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems I, Regular Papers, Vol. 59, No. 6, June 2012.
• N. Saputra, J. R. Long, and J. J. Pekarik, "A 900µW, 3–5 GHz integrated FM-UWB transmitter in 90 nm CMOS", IEEE ESSCIRC, Sep. 2010, pp. 398–401.
• N. Saputra and J. R. Long, "A fully-integrated, short-range, low data rate FM-UWB transmitter in 90 nm CMOS", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 46, pp. 1627–1635, Jul. 2011.
• T. Tong, Z. Wenhua, J. Mikkelsen, and T. Larsen, "A 0. 18µm CMOS low power ring VCO with 1 GHz tuning range for 3–5 GHz FM-UWB applications", 10th IEEE Int. Conf. Commun. Syst. , 2006, pp. 1–5.
• N. Rashidi, A. Nabavi, and M. Mehrabian, "7GHz Voltage Control Ring Oscillator for UWB Applications", International Conference on Microelectronics (ICM), 2008.
• J. Duan, Z. He, C. Kang, J. Wang, and J. Zhang, "A Multiloop Ring VCO Design in 0. 18µm CMOS Technology", 10th IEEE International Conference on Solid-State and Integrated Circuit Technology(ICSICT), 2010, pp. 99 – 101.
• A. Abidi, "Phase noise and Jitter in CMOS ring Oscillators", IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, August 2008.
• M. Danesh and J. R. Long, "Ultra-low Power Transmitters for UWB-FM Sensor Networks", 19th annual work shop on circuits, systems and signal processing (ProRisc) Nov. 2008, pp. 166-170.
• B. Soltanian, H. Ainspan, W. Rhee, D. Friedman, and P. R. Kinget, "An ultra-compact differentially tuned 6-GHz CMOS LC-VCO with dynamic common-mode feedback", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuit, 2007, 42, (8), pp. 1635–1641.
• S. S. Broussev, T. A. Lehtonen, and N. T. Tchamov, "A Wideband Low Phase-Noise LC-VCO With Programmable KVCO", IEEE Microwave and Wireless components Letters, vol. 17, No. 4, April 2007.
• M. Demirkan, S. P. Bruss, and R. R. Spencer, "Design of Wide Tuning- Range CMOS VCOs Using Switched Coupled-Inductors", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 43, No. 5, May 2008.
• M. Tsuru, et al. , "A Triple-Tuned Ultra-Wideband VCO", IEEE Transactions on MTT, vol. 56, No. 2, February 2008.
• A. EI Oualkadi, "5-GHz Low Phase Noise CMOS LC-VCO with PGS Inductor Suitable for Ultra-Low Power Applications", Mediterrannean Microwave Symposium (MMS), 2009.
• J. Hou and Y. Wang, "A 5 GHz differential Colpitts CMOS VCO using the bottom PMOS cross-coupled current source", IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compon. Lett. , 2009, 19, (6), pp. 4101–403.
• C. Wu and G. Jian, "A CMOS LC VCO with novel negative impedance design for wide-band operation", IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symp. , (RFIC), Anaheim, CA, USA, 2010, pp. 537–540.
• X. Qi and Z. Li, "A Low Power Consumption, Low Phase Noise, and Wide Tuning Range LC VCO with ACC", IEEE 13th International Conference on Communication Technology, (ICCT), 2011.
• C. H. Chun, H. S. Choi, Q. D. Bui, S. Y. Kang, J. Y. Jang, U. B. Lee, I. Y. Oh, and C. S. Park, "Compact wideband LC VCO with active inductor harmonic filtering technique", Electronics Letters, Vol. 47 , Issue 3, 2011.
• M. Detratti, E. Perez, J. F. M. Gerrits, and M. Lobeira, "A 4. 6 mW 6. 25–8. 25 GHz RF transmitter IC for FM-UWB applications", ICUWB, 2009, pp. 180–184.
• J. F. M. Gerrits, M. Danesh, Y. Zhao, Y. Dong, G. van Veenendaal, J. R. Long, and J. R. Farserotu, "System and Circuit Considerations for Low-Complexity Constant-Envelope FM-UWB", IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2010, pp. 3300–3303.
• J. F. M. Gerrits et al. , "A 7. 2 GHz -7. 7 GHz FM-UWB transceiver prototype", IEEE ICUWB, Sep. 2009, pp. 580–585.
• C. P. Chang and H. R. Chuang, "0. 18 µm 3–6 GHz CMOS broadband LNA for UWB radio", electronics letters, 9th June 2005, Vol. 41 No. 12.
• T. Taris, JB. Begueret, and Y. Deval, "A Low Voltage Current Reuse LNA in a 130nm CMOS Technology for UWB Applications", 37th European Microwave Conference, 2007.
• D. Hun Shin, J. Park, and C. Patrick Yue, "A Low-Power, 3–5-GHz CMOS UWB LNA Using Transformer Matching Techniquev", IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2007.
• M. Battista, J. Gaubert, M. Egels, S. Bourdel, and H. Barthélémy, "High-Voltage-Gain CMOS LNA For 6–8. 5-GHz UWB Receivers", IEEE trans. on circuits and systems—II: express briefs, Vol. 55, No. 8, august 2008.
• A. Mirvakili, and M. Yavari, "A linear wideband CMOS LNA for 3-5 GHZ UWB Systems", International SoC Design Conference, ISOCC'08, 2008.
• Y. Zhao, G. van Veenendaal, H. Bonakdar, J. F. M. Gerrits, and J. R. Long, "3. 6mW, 30dB Gain Preamplifiers for an FM-UWB Receiver", IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting, BCTM 2008, pp. 216–219.
• W. Wu, M. Nagaraju, C. T. Charles, and X. Fan, "A 3. 1-5GHz High and Flat Gain UWB LNA", 3rd IEEE International Symposium on Microwave, Antenna, Propagation and EMC Technologies for Wireless Communications, 2009, pp. 1138–1141.
• A. S. Nilsaz, M. K. Parashkoh, H. g. zadeh, Zhuo, Zou, M. B. Nejad, and L. Rong Zheng, "Low Power 0. 18?m CMOS Ultra Wideband Inductor-less LNA Design for UWB Receiver", IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Circuits and Systems (APCCAS), 2010, pp. 855–858.
• E. Abiri, M. R. Salehi, and H. Rezaei, "Design of UWB LNA with Interference Rejection using Coupled Inductors", IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ISIEA), Sep. 2011.
• J. F. M. Gerrits, J. R. Farserotu, and J. R. Long, "A wideband FM demodulator for a low-complexity FM-UWB receiver", 9th Eur. Wireless Technol. Conf. , Sep. 2006, pp. 99–102.
• Y. Dong, Y. Zhao, J. F. M. Gerrits, G. van Veenendaal, and J. R. Long, "A 9mW High Band FM-UWB Receiver Frontend", Proceeding of ESSCIRC, pp. 302-305, Sep. 2008.
• Y. Zhao, Y. Dong, J. Gerrits, G. V. Veenendaal, J. Long, and J. Farserotu, "A short range, low data rate, 7. 2 GHz-7. 7 GHz FM-UWB receiver front-end", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 44, pp. 1872–1882, Jul. 2009.
• T. Tong, C. A. Lin, O. K. Jensen, J. H. Mikkelsen, and T. Larsen, "A 0. 25µm CMOS Low Power RF Multiplier for Ultra-wide Band System Applications", IEEE Conference on Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits, 2005, pp. 221 – 224.
• T. Tong, J. H. Mikkelsen, T. Larsen, "A 0. 18 ?m CMOS Implementation of a Low Power, Fully Differential RF Front-End for FM-UWB Based P-PAN Receivers", 10th IEEE Singapore International Conference on Communication systems, ICCS, 2006.
• T. Tong, J. H. Mikkelsen, T. Larsen, "0. 18 ?m CMOS RF Front-End Chipset for FM-UWB Based P-PAN Receivers", Norchip, 2007.
• N. Saputra, J. R. Long, and J. J. Pekarik, "A 2. 2 mW Regenerative FM-UWB Receiver in 65 nm CMOS", IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium, 2010.
• N. Saputra and J. R. Long, "A short-range low data-rate regenerative FM-UWB receiver", IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. , vol. 59, pp. 1131–1140, Apr. 2011.