Energy efficient IR-UWB transceiver for autonomous wireless sensor network

Power consumption is a major concern in current and future transceiver designs. The work presented in this paper is related to CHIST-ERA SMARTER project (Smart Multifunctional Architecture and Technology for Energy aware wireless sensoRs) which address autonomous wireless sensors nodes. The challenge is to develop a multifunctional energy harvesting and sensing device that includes a smart adaptive energy storage and a low power communication block based on impulse radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB). The final device will be integrated on a single flexible substrate that can be placed into various surfaces. Our work is focused on developing a low power wireless communication transceiver for autonomous WSN for SHM systems. The IR-UWB technique was chosen due to its predilection for low power transmission especially on the emitter side.