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A flexible architecture for a microinstru- mentation system in silicon was developped, and intended for use in a wide range of applications. The MCM device should be considered a genuine (micro)instrument, which supplies high-level data over an external instrumentation bus. Internally, the system should support all vital functions, such as power management, self-calibration and in-system data transfer over a flexible internal data bus. The internal bus is the major subject of this paper. Drivers are designed for a generic sensor module; the application will decide the type of sensors to be used., STW - Project DEL55.3733. TU Delft. Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica - PRAXIS XXI-BD/5181/95.

A local bus is described which is designed for use in a multi-chipcomposed microinstrumentation system. The bus is able to transmit a digital code, bitstream, analog voltage, frequency, duty-cycle and also provides calibration facilities, service request and interrupt request for the smart sensors. Corresponding sensor bus interface was implemented in a 1.6 m CMOS process and successfully tested in a local sensor network., Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica - Praxis XXI-BD/5181/95. STW - Project DEL 55.3733. TUDelft.

Comunicação apresentada na 23rd European Solid-State Circuits Conference (ESSCIRC '97), Southampton, UK, 16-18 September 1997., This paper describes a digital local bus interface, which is designed for use in a multi-chip-composed microsystem. The chip area using a CMOS 1.6mm n-well technology is 1mm2. Power consumption at 5V@100kHz is less than 500mW and for 5V@4MHz less than 2mW due to a smart power management of all functional blocks. The bus interface is able to transmit a digital code, bitstream, analog voltage, frequency, duty-cycle and also provides calibration facilities, service request and interrupt request for the smart sensors or microactuators., Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica - Praxis XXI-BD/5181/95. STW - Project DEL 55.3733. TUDelft.

This paper describes the development of a microinstrumentation system in silicon containing all the components of the data acquisition system, such as sensors, signal-conditioning circuits, analog-digital converter, interface circuits, sensor bus interface, and an embedded microcontroller (MCU). The microinstrumentation system is to be fabricated using the Multi-Chip-Module (MCM) technology based on a chip-level infrastructure. A standard silicon platform is the floorplan for individual smart sensor die attachment and an on-chip local sensor bus interface, testing facilities, optional compatible sensors (such as thermal sensors). The microinstrumentation system is controlled by a MCU with several modes of low-power operation (inclusive stand-by mode). As the intended application requires a huge amount of data-processing, a RISC-type MCU architecture is to be used. The MCU communicates with the front-end sensors via a two-line (clock and data lines) intramodule sensor bus (Integrated Smart Sensor bus). The sensor scan rate is adaptive and can be event triggered. This upgraded version of the ISS bus allows: service and interrupt request from the sensors, test and calibration facilities. However, the additional functionality requires a third line. The MCU also controls the power consumption and the thermal budget of all system. This paper also presents three applications for the microinstrumentation system: condition monitoring of machines, an inertial navigation system and a miniature spectrometer., STW - Project DEL55.3733. TUDelft. Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica - Praxis XXI-BD/5181/95.