A 24.2-μW dual-mode human body communication controller for body sensor network

Abstract

The human body communication (HBC) system needs a low power controller to build a body sensor network (BSN). This paper presents a system architecture with low-power consumption to manage 254 nodes in the BSN. Its 'instantaneous program execution with external program counter' scheme prohibits unnecessary RISC operation and 'TCAM-based period scheduler' structure manages 254 periods information of each network node with low energy consumption. The test chip consumes 24.2-mu W for 254 nodes management and 4.2-MIPS performance.