A low-power high-performance accelerometer ASIC for high-end medical motion sensing.

Area of Science:

• * Electrical Engineering
• * Materials Science
• * Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• * High-end medical motion sensing demands sensitive and accurate accelerometers.
• * Existing solutions often face limitations in power consumption and noise performance.
• * Capacitive Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometers offer a promising platform for miniaturization and sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To design and implement a low-power readout integrated circuit (IC) for capacitive MEMS acceleration sensors.
• * To achieve high performance in terms of noise floor and dynamic range for medical applications.
• * To optimize power consumption for extended use in wearable or implantable medical devices.

Main Methods:

• * Implementation of a 170µW readout IC using a 1.5V 0.13µm CMOS process.
• * Utilized reset and common-mode feedback circuit techniques.
• * Employed a non-unity-gain feedback configuration to enhance performance and reduce power.

Main Results:

• * Achieved a noise floor of 45µg/√Hz, indicating high sensitivity.
• * Demonstrated a dynamic range exceeding 87dB with a 400Hz bandwidth.
• * Successfully reduced power consumption to 170µW.

Conclusions:

• * The developed readout IC is suitable for high-end medical motion sensing applications.
• * The design successfully balances high performance (low noise, wide dynamic range) with low power consumption.
• * The employed circuit techniques offer an effective strategy for power reduction in sensor ICs.