A 125 pJ/hit 5 mW 28 GHz Superregenerative Receiver with Automatic Gain Control and Energy Efficient Startup for Burst Mode IoE Applications

The nascent Internet of Everything will likely be dominated by bursty communication, shifting the focus away from power consumption, to an obsession with low energy per bit or per packet. We present a 28 GHz superregenerative receiver with symbol-by-symbol automatic gain control that is inspired by a famously successful IFF (identify friend-or-foe) receiver used extensively during WWII. The synthesizer-free receiver enables fast startup to reduce energy by close to an order of magnitude for short packets and achieves a steady-state energy consumption of 125 pJ/bit, The peak power dissipation of 5 mW and active area of 0.36 mm2 make it a particularly attractive receiver for the Internet of Everything.