UWB for Around-the-Body Data Streaming - Ultra-Wideband and 60 GHz Communications for Biomedical Applications - page 45

UWB for Around-the-Body Data Streaming

Xiaoyan Wang

Abstract This chapter presents the first ultra-wide-band (UWB) solution for around-
the-body audio streaming. The complete system includes a power-efficient fully
integrated transmitter, a receiver front end, an ultra-low-power 500 MHz analog to
digital converter (ADC) and a flexible receiver digital baseband mapped on field
programmable gate arrays (FPGA). The whole system demonstrates a wireless link
upto 12 meters, at a data rate of 0.85 Mbps. Thanks to the inherent nature of the
impulse radio, the system is robust to narrowband fades and the average power
consumption is brought down to mW range.

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Keywords Impulse Duty-cycle Ultra-low-power Ultra-wide-band Data

streaming · Hearing-aid

Introduction

As network and personal mobile gadgets continue to develop, the around-the-body
data streaming systems have extended into a large range of applications. More than
the conventional devices, such as audio streaming and accessing the internet, edgy
demands such as video streaming, data exchanging for EEG/ECG devices for health-
care, one-piece hearing aids, etc. have attracted more and more attention. From the
end user point of view, an ideal system is the one which brings all the functions
together with smallest form factor and lowest power consumption. From the tech-
nical side, however, there are more challenges. Robustness is the first thing to be
considered. Resilience to narrowband fades, especially in the indoor environment,
needs to be taken care of. The crowded spectrum close to the conventional commu-
nication system such as GSM and WLAN should be avoided. Scalability in terms of
data rate, power consumption, and link budget are the key components to achieve
multi-functions in one device.
Among all the around-the-body wireless applications, the requirements in case
of audio streaming around the head, e.g., for wireless audio headsets or hearing

X. Wang ( )
Holst Centre, imec-nl, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
e-mail: [e-mail]