Distributed wireless power and data transmission for a network of neural nodes in the brain

• Main Author: Putra, Nicholas Kenneth Naga
• Other Authors: Ji-Jon Sit
• Format: Student Research Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Antennas, wave guides, microwaves, radar, radio; Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Integrated circuits; Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Electronic circuits
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/157992
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Wireless Power Transmission has been applied in various devices due to its benefits. This research project specifically focuses on engineering a Brain Machine Interface (BMI) device on maximizing its power transfer. This paper focuses on further increasing the efficiency on such devices. To simulate the circuit, we used Advanced Design System (ADS) software. For an RF (radio frequency) circuit, we start by matching the network of a transmitter and a receiver antenna to 50Ω which is the standard reference impedance. They are separated by some distance approximately the same thickness as our scalp. The receiver is then connected to a rectifier converting AC to DC. Bi-directional transmission of wireless data is also required for a BMI. To modulate this data, the signal transmitted to the receiver is switched between two levels using a low dropout voltage regulator (LDO). The two levels can be adjusted for different depth of modulation for robustly representing 1s and 0s. We are concerned about optimizing the efficiency of these 3 circuits; the receiver and the transmitter, the rectifier, and the LDO used during data transmission. These circuits are then measured to determine its power efficiency at different power levels. A reduction in efficiency is seen at a lower power level, and will be explained from a theoretical standpoint.