A 13.56MHz short range telemetry link for the monitoring of incubated cell cultures.

This paper describes the design of a 13.56MHz FSK short-range (7-8cm) telemetry link suitable for the monitoring of incubated cultures. Prior to the description of the full FSK radio system, a pair of 13.56MHz antennae are characterised experimentally and their operation is verified in practice by means of measured results from a short range OOK system. The experimental S-parameter-value determination of the 13.56MHz wireless link is incorporated into the Cadence Design Framework allowing a high fidelity simulation of the reported FSK radio. The transmitter of the proposed system is a seven stage ring oscillator based VCO whereas the core of the receiver is a modified PLL. Confirming simulation results from a commercially available 0.8 microm CMOS technology are reported. Both the transmitter and receiver occupy a total area of 111 x 375 microm2 and are currently under fabrication.