Low-Power Wake-Up System based on Frequency Analysis for Environmental Internet of Things

International audienceBeing used in for environmental and military Internet of Things (IoT), a low power wake-up system based on frequency analysis is presented in this paper. It aims at detecting continuously the presence of specific very high frequencies in the input acoustic signal of an embedded system. This can be used for detecting specific animal species, and for triggering a recording system or generating alerts. Used for harmful species detection, this helps to save harvests or to protect strict nature reserves. It can also be used for detecting the presence of drones in a specific restricted area.This acoustic low power wake-up system uses a simple 16 bits micro-controller (MCU), with a strong emphasis on the low power management of the system, having a target of continuous detection for at least one year on a single standard 1.2Ah - 12V lead battery. For that, it makes the most of mixed analog and digital low power MCU modules. They are including comparators, timers and a special one present on Microchip MCU, called Charge Time Measurement Unit (CTMU). This is a driven constant current source for making time to frequency conversions at a very low power and algorithmic cost.Optimizing low power modes, this low power wake-up system based on frequency analysis has a power consumption of 0.56mW, leading to approximately 3 years of battery life on a single standard 1.2Ah - 12Vlead cell