A dual mode UHF EPC Gen 2 RFID tag in 0.18µm CMOS

  • Authors:

  • Vali Najafi;Siamak Mohammadi;Vahid Roostaie;Ali Fotowat-Ahmady

  • Affiliations:

  • Unistar Micro Technology Inc., 60 Chantilly Cr., Richmond Hill, ON, Canada;School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran;Unistar Micro Technology Inc., 60 Chantilly Cr., Richmond Hill, ON, Canada;School of Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

  • Venue:
  • Microelectronics Journal
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

A dual mode UHF RFID transponder in 0.18@mm CMOS conforming to the EPC Gen 2 standard is presented. Low voltage design of the analog and digital blocks enables the chip to operate with a 1V regulated voltage and thus to reduce the power consumption. The novel dual mode architecture enables the chip to work in passive and battery-assisted modes controlled by the reader. A custom Gen 2 based command switches the operation mode of the circuit. By using a special clock calibration method the chip operates from 1.2 to 5MHz clock frequency. Several low power techniques are employed to reduce the power consumption of the chip which is essential in passive RFID tags. Measurement results show that the chip consumes 12@mW at 1V supply voltage when it communicates with the reader. The chip is fabricated in 0.18@mm standard CMOS technology and occupies 0.95mm^2 die area.