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Near-Zero Power Mechanical Shock-Resistant Inertial Wakeup System with Scaled Inputs

INERTIAL 2020 - 7th IEEE International Symposium on Inertial Sensors and Systems, Proceedings

Yen, Sean Y.; Griffin, Benjamin A.; Barney, Bryson; Edstrand, Adam E.; Young, Andrew I.; Pluym, Tammy; Donahue, Emily D.; Reger, Robert W.

This paper reports on a near-zero power inertial wakeup sensor system supporting digital weighting of inputs and with protection against false positives due to mechanical shocks. This improves upon existing work by combining the selectivity and sensitivity (Q-amplification) of resonant MEMS sensors with the flexibility of digital signal processing while consuming below 10 nW. The target application is unattended sensors for perimeter sensing and machinery health monitoring where extended battery life afforded by the low power consumption eliminates the need for power cables. For machinery health monitoring, the signals of interest are stationary but may contain spurious mechanical shocks.

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Aluminum nitride piezoelectric microphones as zero-power passive acoustic filters

TRANSDUCERS 2017 - 19th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems

Reger, Robert W.; Clews, Peggy J.; Bryan, Gwendolyn M.; Keane, Casey A.; Henry, Michael D.; Griffin, Benjamin G.

With the advent of the internet-of-things, sensors that are constantly alert yet consuming near-zero power are desired. Remote sensing applications where sensor replacement is costly or hazardous would also benefit. Piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) convert mechanical or acoustic energy into electrical signals while consuming zero power. When coupled with low-power complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits, a near-zero power sensing system is formed. This work describes piezoelectric MEMS microphones based on aluminum nitride (AlN). The microphones operate as passive acoustic filters by placing their resonant response within bandwidths of interest. Devices are demonstrated with operational frequencies from 430 Hz to greater than 10 kHz with quality factors as large as 3,000 and open-circuit voltages exceeding 600 mV/Pa.

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12 Results
12 Results