Ultra-Low-Power IoT Frequency Synthesis Solutions Based on FD-SOI Technology

In the context of Internet-of-Things (IoT), all SoC for connected devices use an RF transceiver for data communication mostly in the sub-6GHz bands. The design of an ultra-low-power Frequency Generation Unit (FGU) based on either a Phase Locked Loop (PLL), a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), an Injection Locked Oscillator (ILO) or all combinations of the previous ones, has experienced a significant revival of interest in recent years due to the advent of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and the growing demand for communicating nodes that can operate for many years on battery power or even be energy self-sufficient. Ultra-low-power solutions at 2.45GHz that break the sub-mW barrier will be discussed in this presentation, while enabling the lowest silicon area and optimized in terms of jitter and spurs performance. An optimization with respect to best-in-class ring controlled oscillators taking full benefit of specific FD-SOI features will be discussed as well.