Abstract
In this work, an on-off keying (OOK) modulator operating in the 2.36-GHz MedRadio band for a 16-channel neural implant is proposed. The modulator utilizing direct-modulation scheme at the data rate of 10 Mbps is composed of a 5-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a current-reuse voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with the supply voltage of 0.9 V. The chip was fabricated in CMOS 0.18-μm technology, occupying 920 × 702 μm 2 chip area. With the power amplifier (PA) designed and simulated, the OOK transmitter is able to support a 30-cm wireless link assuming placed under the rat skin.