System-on-a-Chip Radio Transceivers for 60-GHzWireless Body-Centric Communications - Ultra-Wideband and 60 GHz Communications for Biomedical Applications - page 172

System-on-a-Chip Radio Transceivers
for 60-GHz Wireless Body-Centric
Communications

Domenico Zito and Domenico Pepe

Abstract The 60-GHz band, previously forgotten because of the attenuation due
to the resonance of the oxygen molecule, was recently reconsidered for building
very short range wireless communication systems, including wireless body-centric
networks. The 60-GHz radio channel has the potential to overcome some of the
main limitations encountered in the implementation of body-centric communication
systems in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) bands at lower frequency
in the radio frequency spectrum. In particular, compared to the systems operating
at lower frequencies, the 60-GHz radio channel offers the potential for supporting
multi-gigabit per second communication rates, security, and low interference with
adjacent wireless body-centric networks, and high level of miniaturization of the
antennas.

Keywords 60 GHz · Body-centric · On-body · Off-body · Wireless communication ·

System-on-chip · Transceiver · CMOS · Phased array

The 60-GHz band, previously forgotten because of the attenuation due to the res-
onance of the oxygen molecule, was recently reconsidered for building very short
range wireless communication systems, including wireless body-centric networks.
The 60-GHz radio channel has the potential to overcome some of the main limi-
tations encountered in the implementation of body-centric communication systems
in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) bands at lower frequency in the ra-
dio frequency spectrum. In particular, compared to the systems operating at lower
frequencies, the 60-GHz radio channel offers the potential for supporting multi-
gigabit per second communication rates, security, and low interference with adjacent
wireless body-centric networks, and high level of miniaturization of the antennas.
In this frame, the opportunity to realize such systems is directly dependent on the
possibility to implement system-on-a-chip (SoC) radio transceivers. This chapter re-
ports some of the main design challenges and perspective for the implementation of

D. Zito ( )
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
email: [e-mail]
D. Zito · D. Pepe
Tyndall National Institute, Lee Maltings, Dyke Parade, Cork, Ireland