A 780-nW Frequency-Agile Fully Integrated Super-Regenerative Multi-Channel UHF Receiver for Continuous Spectral Monitoring

This paper proposes a frequency agile fully integrated super-regenerative receiver for spectral power estimation. A 180-nm implementation of the proposed receiver is presented with measurements. The receiver draws $26\ \mu \mathbf{A}$ from a 1.8 Volt supply to scan 60 frequency points between 380 and 960 MHz every 1.8 ms, hence 780 nW per channel. The “resolution bandwidth” lies between 2 and 15 MHz, depending on the quench-signal. No external filter components are used. Filter quality factors greater than 400 are achieved, using an on-chip inductor. The best measured receiver sensitivity is −75 dBm.