A passive RF receiving and power switch ASIC for remote power control with zero stand-by power

Abstract

A passive RF signal receiving and power switch ASIC is proposed, designed and verified for remote AC power switch. This IC receives 915 MHz RF signals containing power switching commands, and switches on/off the AC power relay of a household appliance accordingly. The proposed ASIC only uses energy recovered from the received RF signal, and it consumes almost zero stand-by current. The wireless identification technique is adopted to improve its anti-disturbance performance. The ASIC is designed in the 0.18 mum CMOS process, and it occupies a core area of 0.9 mm2. It can work with an RF input power as low as of 40 muW, and the data receiving rate is ~25 kbps. The measured standby current is less than 10 nA. The designed ASIC has been verified in a wireless switch demo system which can be used to switch a 220 V AC bulb remotely.