Low Power Circuit for EM Warning System Sensor

摘要

Low power sensors are important to the Army for purposes of monitoring infrastructure over the life-cycle of operation. Isotope batteries can power and operate compact, low power sensors for decades. A low power circuit has been developed to generate a repetitive radio frequency (RF) impulse, which will be used to indicate that a sensor has detected a target. This sensor circuit has been modeled and built to evaluate several isotope batteries in preparation. A parametric study of components in the circuit has been performed to minimize power consumption as a function of repetition rate and pulse width of the light-emitting diode indicator or RF impulse output. The results of simulation and measurement compare well. The minimum power characteristics are also identified in this report.