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This work is on the design of a fully integrated 0.13-µm CMOS multi-standard power constrained simultaneous noise and input matching low-noise amplifier (PCSNIM LNA). The multi-standard capability is obtained via the implementation of CMOS switches. The input and output matching are fully implemented on a chip, which is uncommon when compared to the existing multi-standard LNA topologies. The multi-standard LNA is operated at 0.9, 1.8, and 2.1 GHz frequencies. The design covered wireless standards of GSM900, DCS1800, and W-CDMA applications. The multi-standard LNA can obtain noise figure as low as 1.72 dB. The third-order intercept point, IIP3, is as high as −4 dBm, while IP1dB is −10 dBm. The power consumption of the design is only 7.4 mW. This resistorless multi-standard LNA design is not just able to operate at three different frequencies but also has a comparable performance with the rest. Its merits are contributed by high linearity and low power.

The ambient vibration-based micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) piezoelectric harvester has become an important subject in most research publications. Providing a green and virtually infinite alternative power source to traditional energy sources, this harvester will significantly expand the applications of wireless sensor networks and other technologies. Using piezoelectric materials to harvest the ambient vibrations that surround a system is one method that has seen a dramatic rise in the power-harvesting applications. The simplicity associated with piezoelectric micro-generators makes them very attractive for MEMS applications in which ambient vibrations are harvested and converted into electric energy. These micro generators can become an alternative to the battery-based solutions in the future, especially for remote systems. In this paper, we proposed a model and presented the simulation of a MEMS-based arrayed energy harvester under ambient vibration excitation using the Coventorware approach. This arrayed cantilever-based MEMS energy harvester that operates under ambient excitation of frequency band of 67 to 70 Hz, within a base acceleration of 0.2 to 1.3 g produces an output power of 6.8 μw and 0.4 volts at 20.1 k-ohms load.

This paper emphasis on state-of-the-art of the earlier until the current trend and demand, principles, design considerations, key performance and fabrication technology of RF MEMS switch devices developed over the past few years. RF MEMS switch performance and features such as actuation voltage, insertion loss, isolation and ease with cost of fabrication and applications are compared and discussed.

This paper presents the developments of microfluidic based multidirectional flow sensor inspired from artificial cupula. The proposed flow sensor consists of one-side-electrode and dome-shaped membrane that integrated with microchannel. When the flows impart the dome-shaped membrane, it will displace the liquid inside the microchannel and give changes in capacitance. Computational fluid dynamic analysis for dome structure using ANSYS Fluent software was discussed and compared with the hair structure. The Polydimethylsiloxane material was chosen for main material based on its potential properties to be implemented as a membrane. The micro-stamping technique to form a thin dome-shaped membrane was discussed where the uniform thickness was achieved by using this technique. The experiment was setup for water flow measurement, directionality test and moving object detection. For sensor characterization, the operating frequency and time response of the sensor obtained where respectively to 1.2 kHz and 0.35 s. The sensor was able to measure the flow rate as lower as 10 cm/s in water with the resolution of 5 cm/s. The experiment result also proved that the sensor was capable to detect the flow in multiple directions.

Kalman filtering is a well-established methodology used in various multi-sensor data fusion applications. In our experiment, we first obtain measurements from the accelerometer and gyroscope and fuse them using Kalman filter in an inertial measurement unit (IMU). We estimate Kalman filter output and estimation error. The affect of process noise and measurement noise on estimation error is tested. It is explored that the measurement noise has significant role to increase estimation error in the data fusion process.

The concern for the global environment ensues researchers from various disciplines to work in collaboration to tackle with the issues of sustainability and environmental conservation for well-being of the people. In this study, we have selected and focused on few basic environment-effecting factors such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and oxygen concentration level and referred them as meteorological data. In this paper, we present the development of our own customized hardware setup, environmental monitoring device (EMD) to obtain the data. Utilizing the relationship among these basic parameters, represented in the form of formulas and equations, we tried to encode them using Matlab programming. Data visualization is achieved by plotting the graphs of basic parameters obtained from EMD as well for the derivatives using Matlab programs.

The world is facing the challenge of global warming and climate change issues. The objective of the study is to examine the meteorological data that constitute the environment and their balance has prevailing effect on the global warming. The meteorological data in our study refers to temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and oxygen. We deploy our own customized hardware setup to obtain the data. Provided with this basic data, many significant parameters such enthalpy, dew point, humidity ratio, actual vapor pressure, saturated vapor pressure, partial vapor pressure and specific volume could be derived. We have presented simple functions in Matlab programming to derive these parameters. Our concluding Matlab program is as good as calculator, and the output is visualized by plotting function.

The performance of a thermoelectric power generator for powering wireless sensor node has been studied and evaluated. This study covers the results obtained from two configurations of thermoelectric cell with heat source temperatures range from 40 to 230 °C. It was found that the highest output voltage is 9.08 V belong to configuration B with two parallel thermoelectric cells. This configuration was capable to power up sensor node compared to configuration A with the lowest heat source temperature at about 200 °C. To enhance the capability of the configurations, DC boost converter circuit has been developed and tested. By connecting to the DC boost converter, configuration A can power up the wireless sensor node with heat source temperature at about 220 °C while the minimum heat source temperature for configuration B was reduced from 200 to 170 °C. This study identified the optimum operation condition to power up wireless sensor node by thermoelectric power generator for remote application and make conclusion as to how to increase the performance of thermoelectric power generator by introducing DC boost converter.

Multi-sensor data fusion provides significant advantages over single source data to achieve an improved accuracy and better precision. Decentralized data fusion approach is one in which features are extracted and processed individually and finally fused to obtain global estimates. The paper presents decentralized data fusion algorithm using factor analysis model. Factor analysis is a statistical method used to study the effect and interdependence of various factors within a system. The proposed algorithm fuses accelerometer and gyroscope data in an inertial measurement unit (IMU). Simulations are carried out on Matlab platform to illustrate the algorithm.

A mathematical model for the calculation of the output characteristics of amorphous silicon hydrogenated (a-Si:H) ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFET) is developed, which depends on the integration of the conductivity channel versus gate voltage curve at fixed drain voltage. Single curve integration was changed to integration with many simple lines to obtain the ID − VD characteristics using computer programming. The results of this model were tested with those of experiments. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

An artificial hair cell sensor is the current technology based on a biological inspiration and is widely used in underwater applications including the glider, robotic and autonomous surface vehicle. These papers discuss a few strategies in relation to the principles of sensing, fabrication, performance, and preliminary measurement data. The MEMS flow sensor is generally needed to replace existing commercial sensors that are inadequate for some applications. Material also provides some advantages to the hair cell sensor. Some materials such as Polydimethylsilaxone and Polyurethane have been investigated. The sensing element is reviewed including the doped piezoresistors, strain gauge and force sensitive resistors. Performance and result of each design will be presented briefly. Finally, the importance and the need for modeling, simulation and experiments will be reviewed based on the latest achievements on that particular research area.

The simplicity associated with the piezoelectric micro-generators makes it very attractive for MEMS applications, especially for remote systems. In this paper we reviewed the work carried out by researchers during the last three years. The improvements in experimental results obtained in the vibration-based MEMS piezoelectric energy harvesters show very good scope for MEMS piezoelectric harvesters in the field of power MEMS in the near future.

Silicon or glass was a common material for SU8 coating. However, these materials are hard and brittle, make it difficult for drilling and dicing. This paper reported the effect of grayscale and resolution based on the various length of time for Propylene Glycol Methyl Ether Acetate (PGMEA) developing towards SU8-10 coated on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The grayscale results show that the 0% (solid black) produced the highest percentage on the square structure formed to the SU8-10 film coated on PMMA and the highest resolution had been produced for the 30 minutes of PGMEA developing.

The fluidic based multidirectional flow sensor inspired from artificial cupula was presented in this paper. It is consists of dome-shaped membrane, microchannel and one-side electrode with implementation of electrical double layer capacitor as a sensing element. The PDMS with ratio 20:1 was selected as a material because it is suitable to be implemented as a membrane. The micro-stamping technique for fabrication of dome-shaped membrane was proposed where the uniform thickness of membrane can be achieved. The operating frequency of the sensor using methanol was 1.5 kHz. The flow measurement was done by using water channel which flow rate 10 to 40 cm/s was applied with the resolution of 5 cm/s. The directionality tests for flow direction and angle also were carried out and it is proved that the sensor was able to detect the flow in omnidirectional directions.

This paper presents the development of prototype system for monitoring and computing greenhouse gases (GHG) with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) deployment for collecting data for different nodes. This system is based on wireless ZigBee technology that transfers the data wirelessly to UAV, which function is as a router, from which data is sent again to a data logger. An ATMEGA328P microcontroller is used to compute parameters such as CO 2 , O 2 , temperature and humidity. All the environmental parameters are measured on real time and are being stored in Secured Digital (SD) card for every 30 seconds interval. The data is collected at Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia in Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia using UAV at several nodes. The results show that the system is able to trace and record CO 2 , O 2 , temperature and humidity level, which are important parameters for studies related to global warming.

Gesture recognition system is a system to interpret movement of hand or head via algorithms. Algorithms to interpret gesture are in the form of software, hardware or combination of both. The main goal of gesture recognition system is to enable humans to communicate with machine. This paper present the development of wireless Bluetooth hand gesture recognition system using six 3-axis accelerometers embedded in a glove and a database system in a computer. This system can recognize any sampled data saved in the database while promoting maximum portability and mobility to the user via wireless Bluetooth technology. Analyses such as static data, dynamic data, and average recognition rates relationships are discussed in this paper.

This paper presents two novel designs for narrowband tunable low-noise amplifier implementation operating at two frequency standards of 850 MHz and 1900 MHz (cellular frequencies such as GSM, CDMA and DCS standards). Both designs benefits from a simple cascode topology with tunable input and output matching networks. Two novel methods to tune the input resonating frequency are introduced: (1) switched transistor width technique, and (2) switched extra Miller and gate-source capacitances technique. Each technique shows its own pros and cons. A comparison between the post-layout simulations results of two designs is made while they are fully matched in desired frequencies. This paper also gives a comparison table between these designs and other similar works in terms of RF performance. The 0.13-μm RF CMOS tunable LNAs have a minimum and maximum power dissipations of 2 and 4 mW, respectively, depending on the tuned resonating frequency.

Microfluidic technology has given major contribution to the advancement of the sensor especially in the development of microchannel. Previously, we proposed the design structure consist of microchannel which is integrated with dome-shaped container and electrode. The underwater flow sensor generally used in aqua robotic and underwater vehicle for the monitoring and surveillance. The fluid flow gives drag force to the dome-shaped which resulting some displacement and causes the liquid inside the microchannel moving. In this paper, the performance of microchannel had been simulated and discussed in order to optimize the microchannel based on the variation of height and the selection of liquid. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD) FLUENT software was used for the simulation of microchannel. From the CFD, the velocity profile has been analyzed for under and fully develop region to study the fluid flow behavior. The velocity for variation microchannel height 300μm until 1100μm was plotted where the channel with large dimension has an advantage in order to make the fluid flow smooth. In order to achieve the small scale of sensor, we limited the channel size to 400μm. Another factor that influences the fluid flow inside the microchannel is properties of liquid. A few liquids such as methanol, ethanol, water and propylene carbonate were selected. The important property we consider in selection of the right liquid is the surface tension where is it related to the kinematic viscosity. From the simulation, we prove that the liquid that having lowest kinematic viscosity and low surface tension such as methanol is have better performance than another liquid for sensing purpose.

This paper presents a fully integrated two-stage narrow-band low noise amplifier which optimized to work in 2.45 GHz center frequency. The topology of inductive source degenerated cascode based on power-constrained simultaneous noise and input matching (PCSNIM) technique has been adopted to make the LNA suitable for low power applications based on 0.13µm Silterra CMOS technology. Post layout simulation results show power gain of 22 dB, NF of 2.06 dB, S11 of −19 dB and S22 of −12 dB while consuming the DC current of 4 mA at supply voltage of 1.2V.

Kinetic energy in vibration form is considered as one of potential renewable energy that may power up wireless micro-system. This energy can be converted into electrical energy via vibration energy harvester which makes use of Faraday's law of induction. The harvester generally consists of cantilever as spring, magnets and coils. Two magnets are arranged on the bottom and top at one end of cantilever while another end is fixed. The coils are placed beside two sides of the magnets. This paper presents a design and modelling of harvester with high permeability material. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of placing high permeability material besides the coil in order to enhance the performance of the harvester. Analyses are conducted by comparing the magnetic flux density for different configurations. The magnetic flux density along the coils is reported 0.149 T, 0.228 T and 0.21 T for Configuration I, II, and III, respectively. The performance of Configuration III is optimized by vary the height and thickness of high permeability material to obtain 0.24 T along the coil. Electromotive force generation among configurations also presented.

This paper presents the initial modeling on the biomimetic flow sensor based fish dome-shaped cupula for underwater sensing. Fish depend on this cupula to monitor the flow fields especially for maneuvering and survival underwater. We proposed the design structure and the principle of sensing using microchannel which is consist of liquid and electrolyte. PDMS material was chosen because it is easy to deform and soft. By using a computational fluid dynamic and finite element method, the optimal performance was obtained by optimizing the geometrical dimension of the radius and thickness of the dome. The sensor performance is measured on the basis of displacement and strain. The sensitivity of the sensor has been investigated by using different radius and thickness of the dome. Dome with a radius of 0.2mm until 1.2mm was chosen for this study. The resulting in a maximum displacement is 0.27μm and the strain is 3.98E-4 for a flow rate of 1m/s. Simulation results show that the sensitivity of the dome is a maximum when the radius of the dome at the maximum and the thickness of the dome at the minimum.

The application of wireless sensor network for process monitoring of laser cutting process is a promising solution to address the problems in achieving good cutting performance. Wireless sensor network provide real time data monitoring flexibility, maintenance convenient, and easy to relocation for laser cutting process application. This paper presents the development of wireless sensor network for monitoring temperature at cutting surfaces during laser cutting process. The system consists of thermocouple sensors, microcontroller programmable system on chip platform, wireless radio frequency and software data logger. The workability and performance of the system was tested by using gas cutting.

The wireless sensor network market is growing quickly yet is limited by existing short lifetime batteries. Providing a green, virtually infinite alternative power source to traditional energy sources will significantly expand applications for WSNs and other technologies, the use of piezoelectric materials to capitalize on the ambient vibrations surrounding a system is one method that has seen a dramatic rise in use for power harvesting. The simplicity associated with the piezoelectric micro-generators makes it very attractive for MEMS applications, in which mechanical vibrations are harvested and converted to electric energy, these micro generators were designed as an alternative to a battery-based solution especially for remote systems. In this paper we reviewed the work carried out by researchers during the last few years. The improvements in experimental results obtained in the vibration based MEMS piezoelectric energy harvesters show very good scope for MEMS piezoelectric harvesters in the fields of power MEMS and Green Technology in the near future.

The wireless sensor network market is growing quickly yet is limited by existing short lifetime batteries. Providing a green, virtually infinite alternative power source to traditional energy sources will significantly expand applications for WSNs and other technologies, the use of piezoelectric materials to capitalize on the ambient vibrations surrounding a system is one method that has seen a dramatic rise in use for power harvesting. The simplicity associated with the piezoelectric micro-generators makes it very attractive for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) applications, in which mechanical vibrations are harvested and converted to electric energy, these micro-generators were designed as an alternative to a battery-based solution especially for remote systems. In this paper we proposed a design and simulation of MEMS-based energy harvested by using ANSYS11 and COVENTORWARE2008 approaches. The improvements in experimental results obtained in the vibration based MEMS piezoelectric energy harvesters show very good scope for MEMS piezoelectric harvesters in the fields of power MEMS and Green Technology in the near future.

Vibration energy harvesting is one of potential renewable energy that may replace conventional chemical battery as energy source for powering wireless micro-system. One of the vibration energy harvester designs makes use of Faraday's law of induction which is electromagnetic method. This type micro-generator generally consists of cantilever, magnets and coils. The generator uses two magnets arranged on the top and bottom at the end of cantilever while another end is fixed. The coils are placed beside two sides of the magnets. This paper presents an analysis of the cantilever by varying the physical dimension of the cantilever such as length, thickness and width. The analysis includes the resonant frequency of the cantilever and also the deflection under damping ratio. There is small difference between ANSYS simulation and theoretical calculation, which is about 1.4%. The adjustment of the length of cantilever provides the largest range of tuning frequency among the above mention parameters.

This paper proposed the design of a switchable dual-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) using Silterra 0.18-μm CMOS technology fabrication process. The LNA utilized the single-ended type with cascode inductively source degeneration topology. This topology is best for simultaneous noise and input matching besides capable of reducing the Miller effect as well as improving on the reverse isolation performance. The switchable dual-band LNA can be tuned to center frequency of either 1.575 GHz for global positioning system (GPS) or 2.4 GHz for WLAN 802.11b standard applications. The LNA can cater frequency range of 1.33 to 2.10 GHz and 1.69 to 2.64 GHz for GPS and WLAN application, respectively. The switching of the operating frequency can be achieved by capacitor selection using MOS as switches at its input and output matching network. NMOS switches were implemented as they have lower on resistance and can provide larger gain when compared with PMOS. The selection of the switches is based on the voltage supplied to each switch. The supply voltage for the LNA is 1.8 V and the voltage required to enable the MOS switches is 3 V. Pre-layout simulation for input third-order intercept points (IIP3) are +1.62 dBm and +1.17 dBm for center frequency of 1.575 GHz and 2.4 GHz, respectively. Post layout simulation shows input reflection coefficients (S 11 ) of −15 dB and −16 dB, reverse isolation coefficients (S 12 ) of −56 dB and −50 dB, power gains (S 21 ) of 10 dB and 11 dB, output reflection coefficients (S 22 ) of −13 dB and −15 dB and noise figure (NF) of 3.2 dB and 3 dB for center frequency of 1.575 GHz and 2.4 GHz, respectively. Thus, the design is able to meet the requirements of the desired standards. The LNA consumes current of 18.5 mA at both 1.575 GHz and 2.4 GHz frequencies and therefore resulting a power consumption of 33.23 mW.

Energy scavenging from ambient sources is an attractive alternative to batteries because of an almost unlimited lifetime and is environmentally safe. Environmental vibration is a particularly attractive energy source because of its abundance, and several scavenging techniques such as piezoelectric, electrostatic and electromagnetic (EM) transduction. Since it is quite easy to keep a strong magnetic field with a permanent magnet, electromagnetic vibration-power generators are preferred in many applications. This paper presents a comparative study of electromagnetic generator via Finite Element Analysis (FEA). It involves the investigation of the magnetic behaviours for several configurations of electromagnetic generator. The configuration varies in terms of types of magnet and the arrangement of the magnet. Finite element models are developed and further analyzed via ANSYS software. Analyses are conducted prior to investigate the magnetic behaviours of the electromagnetic generator such as the flux lines, the magnetic flux density and also the electromotive force (emf) produced.

The wireless sensor network (WSN) market is growing quickly yet is limited by existing short lifetime batteries. Providing a green, virtually infinite alternative power source to traditional energy sources will significantly expand applications for WSNs and other technologies, the use of piezoelectric materials to capitalize on the ambient vibrations surrounding a system is one method that has seen a dramatic rise in use for power harvesting. The simplicity associated with the piezoelectric micro-generators makes it very attractive for MEMS applications, in which mechanical vibrations are harvested and converted to electric energy, these micro-generators were designed as an alternative to a battery-based solution especially for remote systems. In this paper we reviewed the work carried out by researchers during the last two years. The improvements in experimental results obtained in the vibration based MEMS piezoelectric energy harvesters show very good scope for MEMS piezoelectric harvesters in the fields of power MEMS and Green Technology in the near future.

This paper discusses about power management in wireless sensor network application. Energy harvesting concept must be applied in order to avoid high maintenance to change the battery frequently. In energy harvesting concept, solar energy can be used to charge the battery that supplied power to the whole system. Boost converter is also important in order to get a constant voltage from battery. MAX773 is used as a boost converter in this application. Results show that the device can be integrated to temperature sensor with 70% efficiency.

This paper presents a comprehensive survey on vibration powered electromagnetic micro generator, which harvest mechanical energy from environment and convert this energy into useful electrical power for micro system and sensor node. The on-going research works on electromagnetic micro generator are reviewed as a background of this paper. Basic theories of micro generator to produce power from ambient motion by damping the suspended proof mass system over the coils are presented. Several important parameters such as the shape, types of magnet, spring and coil property used in designing electromagnetic micro generator as well as power processing circuit are also included. Different designs of micro generator for different environment and application are discussed. Significant challenges in converting the power by each design are also highlighted in this paper.

DOE (design of experiment) with simulation approach is presented that allow early visibility, guidance, and analysis of clamp placement in early design stage (power template design) on a chip level complexity. ESD robustness of product is largely attributed to the degree of correct implementation of ESD design rules in a highly complex design. Correct clamp placements is one of the most difficult and less guidance. Therefore, a 'reliable' & 'comprehensive' ESD clamp placement analysis is urgently needed. This simulation would deliver a preliminary guidance of clamp placement. It provides the information of where the most probable clamp placement is in the particular power template design. Since it takes into consideration the ESD ohm rules requirements during the construction of ohm sector, it would have a very high confident level that the design would not encounter much issue in the ESD resistance checkout later. Apart from the ESD design rules checkout, we also couple with TLP (transient line pulse) testing which has proven this approach could deliver a promising ESD protection robustness. We can characterize, co-relate, and compare our simulation with the Si data from various design perspectives. All in all, the real strength of this simulation is the ability to provide earlier design guidance & optimization options starting from the product concept phase (power template design stage), which allows to align ESD with all design issues on a cost and time efficient way. Without the simulation, designer would need to manually calculate the resistance , rely on past experience and some assumption with nil data support which is tedious & error prone for complex design nowadays. This allows ESD design rules compliance in the early design stage, thus enhancing the approach of "correct-by-construction" on ESD design.

In this paper, we proposed a new physical-based equation to model the CMOS transistor STI y-stress (in the direction of channel width). It can be used in any SPICE MOS model and it has been verified on 0.13 um CMOS transistors. The physical characteristics of the compressive STI y-stress effect on saturation drain current, Idsat are captured by using a new proposed transistor layout method. The equation that is able to describe the physical characteristics of the STI y-stress effect is incorporated into the electron and hole mobility, uO of the SPICE model to capture the y-stress effect on Idsat. With the combination of the new y-stress parameters and the default delta width parameters in the SPICE model, we are able to fit the simulation curve to the hook shaped Idsat curve from the actual silicon data.

In this paper an integrated system is developed to detect shock vibration by using MEMS accelerometer. The interface circuit which converts the signal from an accelerometer capacitive element to a pulse signal for digital signal processing is built. Changes in the capacitance between fixed and movable plates are induced by acceleration from shock vibration. Interface circuit incorporating this capacitor then extracts the acceleration signal and converts it to digital or analog form using microcontroller microprocessor. GUI is developed to make the integration data system more interesting and user friendly. The sensing of MEMS and monitoring software are integrated together to provide real time acquire data and graphical visualization for monitoring, recording and analysis purposes.

In this paper, we proposed two new MOS compact model parameters (synuO and sypuO) to be added to the mobility parameter uO to model the mechanical shallow trench isolation (STI) y-stress. By using a layout experiment, we show that the STI y-stress causes the hook shaped Idsat versus width curve. We demonstrate that by introducing these new model parameters, we are able to fit the actual data more accurately. The STI y-stress effect is modeled by using the synuO parameter (for NMOS) and sypuO parameter (for PMOS) to control the fit to the hook shaped Idsat curve