Clock‑Free Low‑Power Sensor Communications (Asynchronous Wireless Sensing, Tech ID: 15‑040)
Technology Overview: This NJIT invention provides a complete asynchronous sensing and wireless communication architecture for ultra‑low‑power sensor nodes. It combines asynchronous digital signaling with UWB impulse radios and a hybrid FSK/OOK modulation approach to eliminate transmitter clock synchronization—reducing complexity and power while remaining robust to insertion/deletion timing errors via tailored FEC schemes. ,
Industry Pain Point: Battery‑constrained IoT devices and medical/industrial sensors waste energy maintaining clocks and synchrony, while conventional receivers struggle with timing jitter, insertions/deletions, and synchronization overhead in noisy environments.
NJIT Solution: Adopt asynchronous level‑crossing interfaces and non‑coherent transceivers with marker‑assisted coding so sensors can communicate reliably without a transmit clock, cutting power and complexity at the node.
Key Features & Advantages
- Clock‑free transmitter using FSK/OOK for low power and low complexity. ,
- Forward‑error correction tailored for insertion/deletion errors (e.g., concatenated outer convolutional + inner marker codes).
- Compatible with UWB impulse radio and asynchronous sampling front‑ends.
Development Stage: TRL 3–4 – Algorithm/prototype validation.
Target Markets
- IoT and industrial sensing (battery/energy‑harvested nodes)
- Medical wearables & implantable telemetry
- Structural health and environmental monitoring
Commercial & IP Details
- Patent Status: Issued (US10153892B2)
- Patent Link: US10153892B2
Inventors: Joerg Kliewer; Wei Tang