RF CMOS circuits for ad-hoc networks and wearable computing

Abstract

Wireless ad-hoc networks are gaining interest for medical, sensing, wearable computing and other applications. The industry is at a critical juncture now where the maturity of RF CMOS can enable these networks. All of these applications, if deployed successfully, results in the proliferation of wireless devices like we have never seen before. The end result is that these devices need to be very low cost, which fits in well with the CMOS paradigm. The challenge going forward is how to make CMOS RF circuits that consume ultra-low power in a compact form factor.