Design and fabrication of smart dust system

Abstract

The Smart Dust is a millimetre-scale smart device capable of autonomous sensing, computing and communicating in a massively distributed sensor network. In this thesis, a Smart Dust system is designed and fabricated. The first part of this thesis presents an introduction to the Smart Dust, illustrating its characteristics and applications. The bulk of the thesis focuses on the design and fabrication of a Smart Dust system. The Smart Dust system consists of a micro power supply, two sensors and a MEMS actuator. The DC-DC converter in the micro power supply is fabricated using the AMS 0.8um BiCMOS technology at the TIMA Laboratory, France. Simulations performed prior to the fabrication of the chip are also discussed. The sensors and actuator in the system are integrated with the DC-DC converter with extra test components on the chip. Test results show that the Smart Dust designed is capable of carrying out sensing and actuating functions as required.