Low-Power Modular Multi-Sensor Node with ZeSCIP Analog Frontend

The Zero-Power Signal Conditioning IP (ZeSCIP) aims to operate in an autonomous environmental sensor node with energy harvester-extended life time. In this application, the sensor analog frontend has to process environmental signals of different nature, while it is confronted with power and space limitations and low operating voltages. In a flexible modular setup, the ZeSCIP analog frontend is attached to commercial sensors, which represent a specific air quality sensing scenario. This multi-sensor module is stacked to an ARM Cortex M4-based STM32 NucleoTM board, creating an operational test setup of a modular sensor node, controlled via USB link. In measurement, the module consumes only 35.5 mW during processing of light, CO gas and temperature sensor signals, which makes it suitable to be autonomously powered by energy harvesters.