Near Zero Energy RF and Sensor Operations (N-ZERO)
Abstract
The DoD has an unfilled need for a persistent, event driven sensing capability, where physical, electromagnetic and other sensors can be pre-placed and remain dormant until awoken by an external trigger or stimulus. State-of-the-art (SOA) sensors use active electronics to monitor the environment for the external trigger. The power consumed by these electronic circuits limits the sensor lifetime to durations of weeks to months. The Near Zero Power RF and Sensor Operations (N-ZERO) program will extend the lifetime of remotely deployed sensors from months to years. N-ZERO will develop the underlying technologies and demonstrate the capability to continuously and passively monitor the environment and wake-up an electronic circuit upon detection of a specific signature or trigger. Thereafter, sensor lifetime will be limited only by processing and communications of confirmed events or ultimately by the battery self-discharge. The Near Zero Energy RF and Sensor Operations (N-ZERO) program will replace the power consuming electronic circuits used for processing and detection of information in current systems with passive or extremely low energy devices. The N-ZERO program will develop RF communications and physical sensor systems that collect, process, and detect the presence of useful information, while rejecting spurious signals and noise, using only the energy in the collected information to perform these functions. This will eliminate or significantly reduce the standby power consumption from the battery. By doing so, the N-ZERO program will provide the warfighter with wireless communications and sensors systems with massively reduced size and drastically increased mission life. The basic research component of this program is budgeted under PE 0601101E, Project ES-01.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2016
- Source ID
- 54e9a2bc768d4e435ff19093b4ee2bc6
Related Documents
- Root: ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY