Power-Aware System-on-Chip for Point-Of-Care Diagnostic Applications

A System-on-Chip (SoC) for Drug-of-Abuse (DoA) testing for Point-Of-Care (POC) is presented. The SoC enables electrochemical measurements on biochemical sensors and provides interface capabilities to rechargeable energy storage elements. An integrated 13.56 MHz contactless interface enables two-way wireless communication and power transfer. Autonomous POC applications with rechargeable energy storage require a power-aware power management to enable measurements from a single charge. This is achieved by a power management that supports different power supply modes in a flexible manner, optimized for the application in POC diagnostics. The SoC consumes 7.9 µA in deep sleep and 3.5 mA in active mode. Power optimizations are investigated and evaluated on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)-based demonstrator. The obtained results can be applied to POC platforms to increase the power-awareness.