Akron 1220637163

LOW POWER TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM
A Thesis
Presented to
The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science
Sravanthi Goparaju
December, 2008
LOW POWER TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM
Sravanthi Goparaju
Thesis
Approved: Accepted:
__________________________ __________________________
Advisor Department Chair
Dr. Nathan Ida Dr. Jose A. De Abreu-Garcia
__________________________ __________________________
Committee Member Dean of the College
Dr. James Grover Dr. George K. Haritos
__________________________ __________________________
Committee Member Dean of the Graduate School
Dr. George Giakos Dr. George R. Newkome
__________________________
Date
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ABSTRACT
Power management is considered to be an important aspect in designing battery
operated Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) as it helps to prolong the lifespan of
the battery. There are several methods that can be used to design a low power tire-
pressure and service monitoring system. One of the most common methods for power
reduction is the duty cycle method. This thesis suggests an idea of implementing the
TPMS in combination with a separate Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) circuit,
especially a very low power (active or passive) RFID whose sole purpose is to detect the
interrogating signal. This RFID circuit which can operate at a typical frequency of 125
kHz is used to turn ON a higher power transmitter which is initially in SLEEP state and
soon after entering the active state performs the communication, updating, etc. Once the
desired task is completed, the high power transmitter returns to SLEEP state or is turned
off until the next interrogation.
The implementation of SLEEP mode to minimize power consumption is discussed in
detail and the currents consumed by the microcontroller in SLEEP and ACTIVE modes
are measured and recorded. The microcontroller in SLEEP mode consumed a current of
17µA which reduced the overall average current consumed by the microcontroller and
the pressure sensor. Furthermore, this method promises an improvement in the battery
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life and the calculations showing this improvement are discussed with the example of an
AA battery with 2800mAh battery life.
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DEDICATION
Dedicated to my family, teachers and Kalyan Kaladhar.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the committee members Dr. Nathan Ida, Dr. George Giakos and
Dr. James Grover for their guidance and support throughout my Master’s program. I
would like to specially thank Dr. Ida for giving me the freedom of thought and expression
while performing my research. I would also like to thank the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the University of Akron for giving me a chance to pursue
the Master’s degree by providing financial support. In this context, I would like to
express my sincere thanks to Prof. Kult for making my teaching experience in Circuits I
and II Labs enjoyable and memorable.
Thanks to Erik Rinaldo, and Greg Lewis for providing me with the entire necessary
infrastructure needed to complete my research work. I express my heartfelt gratitude to
our department secretary Gay Boden who never hesitated to extend her helping hand with
a sweet smile right from the day I started my Master’s program.
I owe my sincere and heartfelt regards to my Mom, Dad, Brother and Kalyan who
always supported and guided me. Without them, I would not have come so far. I also take
this opportunity to thank my other family members and cousins who helped me in
making my stay in USA a comfortable one indeed. I thank Divya and Srutha for
everything. You both are really wonderful. Finally I would like to thank all my seniors
and friends for their invaluable support and cooperation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ xii
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xiii
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1
1.1. Goal of Research.....................................................................................................1
1.2. Major Focus ............................................................................................................2
1.3. Thesis outline..........................................................................................................5
II. FUNDAMENTAL THEORY........................................................................................7
2.1. Definition of Tire pressure monitoring system.......................................................7
2.2. Evolution of TPMS.................................................................................................8
2.3. TPMS concepts.......................................................................................................8
2.3.1. Types of TPMS ............................................................................................9
2.3.2. Direct Versus Indirect TPMS.....................................................................10
2.3.3. Operation of TPMS....................................................................................10
2.3.4. Applications and architectures of Tire pressure monitoring system..........11
2.4. Design challenges of TPMS .................................................................................13
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2.5. Power management in TPMS ...............................................................................14
2.6. Definition of RFID ...............................................................................................17
2.7. Components and Operation of RFID....................................................................17
2.7.1. Definition of RFID tag...............................................................................18
2.7.2. Definition of RFID reader..........................................................................18
2.7.3. Classification of RFID tags........................................................................18
2.7.4. Operation of RFID .....................................................................................20
2.8. Communication in wireless applications ..............................................................21
2.8.1. Transmission and reception of data in wireless applications.....................21
2.8.2. Encoding schemes......................................................................................21
2.8.3. Modulation.................................................................................................24
2.8.4. Modulation techniques...............................................................................24
2.9. Conclusions...........................................................................................................26
III. BACKGROUND AND RELATED WORK ...............................................................28
3.1. Power sources for TPMS ......................................................................................28
3.2. Current consumption in a TPMS module .............................................................30
3.2.1. RF transmission .........................................................................................31
3.2.2. CPU execution ...........................................................................................31
3.2.3. Motion detection ........................................................................................32
3.2.4. Power down current ...................................................................................33
3.3. Power management...............................................................................................33
3.3.1. Data management and strobe oscillator .....................................................35
3.3.2. Wake-up and sleep schedules ....................................................................38
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3.4. RFID device wake-up methods ............................................................................38
3.4.1. RFID communication system ....................................................................39
3.4.2. Method to reduce power consumption of an active tag .............................41
3.4.3. A better method to reduce power consumption of an active tag................42
3.5. Tire pressure monitoring systems on current market ..........................................44
3.5.1. TPMS based on vehicle speed ...................................................................45
3.5.2. An integrated chip to monitor tire pressure ...............................................45
3.6. Energy harvesting .................................................................................................46
3.7. Hardware and software concepts of TPMS ..........................................................48
3.7.1. Inside the tire..............................................................................................48
3.7.2. Outside the tire...........................................................................................49
3.8. TPMS functionality ..............................................................................................51
3.8.1. TPMS Transmitter .....................................................................................51
3.8.2. RF generator...............................................................................................52
3.8.3. TPMS Receiver..........................................................................................52
3.9. Tire losses and RFID ............................................................................................54
3.9.1. Composition of tires……………………………………………………...54
3.9.2. Cross-section of a tire ................................................................................55
3.9.3. Factors influencing the read range of RFID tags .......................................55
3.10. Conclusions.........................................................................................................57
IV. SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION FOR TPMS .......................................................58
4.1. Fixed-Point Implementation .................................................................................58
4.2. Fixed-Point arithmetic rules .................................................................................59
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4.3. Calibration of pressure sensor ..............................................................................64
4.3.1. Analog-to-digital converter........................................................................64
4.3.2. Pressure sensor...........................................................................................65
4.3.3. Fixed-point implementation of the pressure sensor transfer

Function .....................................................................................................69
4.4. PIC programming .................................................................................................70
4.4.1. PIC18F452 .................................................................................................71
4.4.2. Hardware and software development tools................................................72
4.5. Sleep mode............................................................................................................75
4.5.1. Definition of sleep mode............................................................................75
4.5.2. Importance of SLEEP mode ......................................................................76
4.5.3. Implementation of Sleep mode in PIC18F452...........................................76
4.5.4. Sleep mode and the pressure sensor...........................................................79
4.5.5. Analog to digital conversion......................................................................81
4.5.6. Serial transmission of pressure data...........................................................81
4.6. Software implementation-Algorithm and Flowchart............................................83
4.6.1. Algorithm...................................................................................................83
4.6.2. Flowchart ...................................................................................................84
4.6.3. Source code................................................................................................86
4.7. Circuit connections ...............................................................................................90
4.8. List of hardware components................................................................................90
4.9. Conclusions...........................................................................................................92
V. RESULTS ....................................................................................................................93
5.1. Calibration curves .................................................................................................93

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5.2. Current consumption.............................................................................................96
5.3. Conclusions.........................................................................................................100
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK ................................................................101
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................103
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
2.1 Difference between direct and indirect TPMS.............................................................10
3.1 Requirements for TPMS power supplies .....................................................................29
3.2 Typical datagram of current TPMS module ................................................................32
4.1 Voltages obtained from pressure sensor for various pressures at 5V supply ..............67
4.2 Representation of constants in the pressure sensor transfer function ..........................69
4.3 List of hardware components.......................................................................................90
5.1 Voltages obtained from the pressure sensor for various pressures
and supply voltages......................................................................................................94
5.2 Sensor voltages obtained for supply voltage for varying pressures.............................96
5.3 Current consumed by the pressure sensor and the microcontroller .............................97
5.4 Average current consumed by the pressure sensor and the microcontroller for fixed
ON time and varying OFF times..................................................................................99
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1.1 Implementation of TPMS in combination with RFID ...................................................3
1.2 Block diagram of the proposed idea ..............................................................................4
2.1 Model of tire pressure monitoring system ...................................................................11
2.2 Main architectures of TPMS on the market or in development...................................13
2.3 Optimization of power management............................................................................16
2.4 A typical Radio frequency identification (RFID) system ............................................17
2.5 The communication system .........................................................................................22
2.6 Manchester encoding for a string of 0s and 1s according to G.E.Thomas and IEEE
802.3 conventions ........................................................................................................23
2.7 Amplitude Shift Keying...............................................................................................26
2.8 Frequency Shift Keying ...............................................................................................27
3.1 Percentage of current consumed by different processes of a battery-based TPMS

Module .........................................................................................................................30
3.2 Active and inactive parts of a TPM sensor during power down mode........................34
3.3 Implementation of strobe oscillator power management feature.................................37
3.4 Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) communication system ....................39
3.5 Arrangement of second communication device...........................................................41
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3.6 Block diagram of RF transponder................................................................................44
3.7 TPMS Functionality.....................................................................................................53
3.8 RFID tag placement in tire material.............................................................................56
4.1 The integer and fraction parts of a fixed-point number ...............................................60
4.2 Data flow diagrams for general fixed-point multiplication and for the example
0.75 × 3.125...................................................................................................................61
4.3 Data flow diagrams for general fixed-point addition and for the example
0.75+3.125 ...................................................................................................................63
4.4 Interfacing pressure sensor MPXH6400AC6T1 to PIC18F452 ..................................66
4.5 Pressure sensor calibration...........................................................................................68
4.6 Fixed-point implementation of pressure sensor transfer function ...............................70
4.7 Pin configuration of PIC18F452..................................................................................71
4.8 Microchip PICDEM2 Plus hardware ...........................................................................74
4.9 PICDEM 2 PLUS connected to MPLAB ICD 2 using USB .......................................75
4.10 Illustration of SLEEP mode in PIC18F452 ...............................................................82
4.11 Flowchart for software implementation in PIC18F452 .............................................85
4.12 Circuit diagram for interfacing the pressure sensor and the microcontroller ............91
5.1 Linear and parametric behavior of the pressure sensor ...............................................97
5.2 Average current consumed by the pressure sensor and the microcontroller while
doing work versus the OFF time or SLEEP time ......................................................100
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
It is not an overstatement to say that the whole world is becoming wireless. In recent
years, wireless systems have emerged to make a huge impact in the world of
communications with flexible sets of alternatives combined with rich and varied features.
RF communications is now prevalent in the modern world and has paved the way for
improvements over past technologies. There exist a wide range of technologies and hence
it becomes very important to select the right technology that works reliably with a given
application. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is one such potential and universally
recognized technology. This technology is being used effectively to develop various
applications and tire pressure monitoring system is one among the many possible
applications.
1.1 Goal of research
A low power tire-pressure and service monitoring system can be used in many
different ways. In the distribution, service and monitoring of tires it is vital to be able to
identify a tire, to measure its parameters (pressure, temperature, etc.) and to maintain a
1
record of service. On the other hand, regular RFID devices embedded in tires have an
unacceptably short range due to losses in the tire wall.
The thesis work presented here discusses the implementation of a tire pressure
monitoring system in combination with RFID. The RFID or the equivalent circuit is used
to wake up the pressure sensor, temperature sensor, etc. located inside the TPMS. The
RFID operates at a different frequency (typically 125 kHz) and its sole purpose is to
wakeup the TPMS in order to relay data. However the RFID is viewed as a separate
circuit and implementation of its circuit is not discussed here. The TPMS can be
programmed to relay necessary data like pressure, temperature, etc. at specific intervals
of time or can be polled externally to obtain the data. This is illustrated with the help of a
block diagram in Figure 1.1.
1.2 Major focus
The purpose of this thesis is to suggest the use of a very low power (active or passive)
RFID whose sole purpose is to detect an interrogating signal. The RFID then activates a
higher power active RFID which then does the communication, updating, etc. and goes to
sleep or is shut off until the next interrogation. The block diagram of the proposed idea is
illustrated in Figure 1.2. This helps to develop a low power TPMS whose main purpose is
not only to warn the vehicle driver of unsafe air pressures in tires but also to supply data
such as temperature.
In this system a passive RFID which has no internal power supply, is used simply to
detect an incoming signal and then the much more powerful active RFID is triggered to
complete the desired communication process inside the TPMS. Active RFID works well
2
in situations where radio transmission is not the best, such as water or where metal is
present and hence is considered to be the best choice for use in tires where losses occur
due to the presence of some amount of metal inside them. Active tags can be woken up in
order to transmit or they can also be programmed to send signals at regular intervals or
when a change of condition is observed.
Figure 1.1: Implementation of TPMS in combination with RFID.
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Due to the fact that active tags can be easily integrated with sensors, they can be utilized
in TPMS to monitor the change of conditions like temperature, pressure, etc. RFID helps
to provide efficient visibility and control of the TPMS either by dynamic transmission of
data or by performing a function to capture and send the data, from the sensors that has
been recorded over time. Since the active RFID will be in SLEEP mode for most of the
time, this method promises to be an excellent method to battery power conservation.
Figure 1.2: Block diagram of the proposed idea.
4
The purpose of the thesis work presented here is to interface the pressure sensor to the
microcontroller and implement the SLEEP mode associated with it to minimize the
current consumed. Therefore the chapters presented in this thesis discuss the
implementation of SLEEP mode and provide the experimental data obtained for the
current consumed by the components while in SLEEP and ACTIVE modes.
1.3 Thesis outline
The six chapters presented here discuss the research work done. Chapter I gives a
brief introduction on the main purpose and goals of this thesis. Chapter II provides the
fundamental theory behind the TPMS, its working, different architectures, applications
along with the underlying concepts of radio frequency identification. It also presents an
overview of communication in wireless applications, design challenges and some of the
power management techniques involved in tire pressure monitoring. Chapter III discusses
the background and related work associated with tire pressure monitoring and RFID wake
up methods. It also presents details about other important topics such as losses in tires
and RFID, current and power consumption in TPMS and also the energy harvesting
techniques being used currently. In Chapter IV, all the hardware connections and the
software implementation details of TPMS are presented. This chapter deals with the
calibration of the pressure sensor, implementation of the sensor transfer function in a
fixed-point processor along with the sensor and microcontroller interfacing. The most
important aspects of the SLEEP feature are discussed in this chapter. Finally the
algorithm and flowchart along with the C program essential for implementation of
SLEEP mode in the microcontroller being used are presented. Chapter V provides the
5
reader with the results obtained in real time from the implementation of SLEEP feature in
the proposed model. All the necessary current consumption calculations, pressure sensor
calibration curves and the calculations related to improvement of battery life illustrating
the effectiveness of SLEEP mode are presented in this chapter. At the end Chapter VI
draws conclusions and makes recommendations for future work in this area.
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CHAPTER II
FUNDAMENTAL THEORY
This chapter deals with the rudiments essential to develop a good understanding of
the work presented. It mainly discusses the TPMS with RFID as its counterpart, its
working, the types and applications of TPMS on the market along with the underlying
concepts of RFID. A brief overview of communication in wireless applications, various
design challenges and power management techniques involved in TPMS are also
presented in this chapter.
2.1 Definition of Tire pressure monitoring system
The automotive electronics industry in the recent past has made many improvements
in vehicle safety. One such fast growing application is the tire pressure monitoring
system (TPMS). In simple terminology, TPMS is an electronic safety system that is used
to monitor the air pressure inside the tires of a vehicle and provide the driver with a
warning signal should an anomaly occur in one or more tires. Thus it is best referred to as
a driver-assist system.
TPMS is a short range wireless application where the transmitter and receiver are
separated by a distance of 3m to 100m and typically use the frequencies between
7
300MHz to 960MHz. To be specific, the TPMS operates at the frequency of 315MHz or
433MHz.
2.2 Evolution of TPMS
Most people ignore their tires, yet tires are undoubtedly one of the most critical safety
components on a vehicle. Whenever the vehicle tire comes in contact with the road, it
affects traction, handling, steering, stability and braking. Because of this, a sudden tire
failure can have serious consequences, especially if it occurs when the vehicle is
operating at highway speeds. Nearly 250,000 accidents occur in the United States per
year due to low tire pressure. A tire can lose up to half of its air pressure without
appearing to be under inflated. Thus, in response to a major recall of defective tires that
created unsafe driving conditions, the Transportation Recall Enhancement,
Accountability and Documentations Act, also called the TREAD Act, passed by
Congress in 2000 mandated that new vehicles (passenger cars, light trucks and buses) less
than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, sold in the United States, be equipped with
TPMS beginning with the 2006 model year [1].
2.3 TPMS concepts
In this section, the types of TPMS and their functionality are presented. Also, their
advantages and disadvantages along with the applications of TPMS are discussed.
8
2.3.1 Types of TPMS
Based on the method of measuring air pressure and sending that information to the
driver of the vehicle, tire pressure monitoring systems are broadly classified into two
types, namely, direct and indirect.
1) Direct TPMS: Direct TPMS calculates the pressure drop based on actual pressure
measurements through physical pressure sensors installed on the wheel rims inside each
tire. The data can then be transmitted to the vehicle’s electronic control unit (ECU) to
instantly inform the driver. The capabilities of Direct TPMS can always be extended by
employing additional components, such as microcontrollers (MCUs) and radio frequency
(RF) devices.
2) Indirect TPMS: Indirect TPMS, as the name suggests measures the air pressure
indirectly and most of the existing systems are based on wheel speed measurements. It
detects under-inflation by using the speed sensors located in the anti-lock braking system
(ABS) to compare wheel rotating speeds making use of the fact that an under-inflated tire
has a slightly smaller diameter, thus it rotates at a different rate from properly inflated
tires. But the disadvantage of indirect TPMS is that the vehicle has to be in motion. Also
the vehicle driver cannot keep track of the individual tire pressures. Further if all four
tires lose the same amount of air, then the relative change will be zero limiting the
effective functionality of the TPMS to only three tires.
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2.3.2 Direct Versus Indirect TPMS
This section compares the functionalities of direct and indirect TPMS as listed in
Table 2.1 [2].
Table 2.1: Difference between direct and indirect TPMS [2].
Direct TPMS Indirect TPMS
Alerts when any or all tires drop in Alerts only when any single tire loses
pressure. pressure.
Indicates to driver which tire is low. Won’t indicate to driver which tire is low.
Instant alert when pressure drops below No ‘alert’ if all tires are losing pressure
preset level. over time at the same rate.
Heavy load does not affect ‘alert’. Won’t ‘alert’ in time to prevent tire damage
especially if heavily loaded.
Alerts when pressure drops 25%. Alerts only when pressure drops > 30%.
Can also provide incremental pressure

measurements.
2.3.3 Operation of TPMS
Consider the model of a tire pressure monitoring system shown in Figure 2.1. A
TPMS generally requires a distributed system comprising of a remote sensing module
and a receiver module. The sensor module is placed inside each tire to monitor real time
air pressure and the receiver module transmits this information wirelessly to the driver’s
display unit. The remote sensing module employs a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor
that counterbalances pressure changes due to temperature changes, a signal conditioning
circuit and an RF transmitter [3]. The power to this module is supplied by a battery with
embedded intelligence that prolongs its operating life and a ten year battery life is
currently specified. The basic functions of this remote sensing module are to measure
10
pressure and temperature, process these measurements, to transmit via RF and to manage
power in the system.
Figure 2.1: Model of tire pressure monitoring system.
The receiver’s module use can be limited only to the TPMS or can be shared with
either the remote keyless entry (RKE) system because they use the same frequency range
or with any other function in the car. This feature of sharing definitely brings down the
cost of TPMS and also facilitates its easier integration into the automobile.
2.3.4 Applications and architectures of Tire pressure monitoring system
The basic TPMS simply indicates to the vehicle driver the necessity to check the
tire pressure to avoid unsafe driving conditions. In order to display individual tire's
pressure and temperature in real time, more advanced systems become essential. This
11
contributes to safer driving, while at the same time reducing fuel consumption and tire
wear, improving traction control and providing better braking efficiency [4]. While
driving a vehicle with run flat tires, TPMS becomes the only and practically mandatory
method to detect incorrect tire pressure.
Generally speaking, direct tire pressure monitoring systems offer the following
features [5]:
• Measure and display tire air pressure with an accuracy able to detect under
inflation conditions of less than 25% of the recommended cold inflation pressure.
• Measure and display tire air temperature.
• Locate tire involved in pressure defect (optional).
• React to fast and slow leaks (<5secs) for early warning.
• Warn for punctures.
• Alert for proper tire maintenance.
• Can monitor spare tire pressure.
• Can monitor tire pressure when stationary and deliver key-on information to the
driver.
The main architectures of TPMS that are on the market or in development are shown
in Figure 2.2.
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Figure 2.2: Main architectures of TPMS on the market or in development.
2.4 Design challenges of TPMS
The TPMS manufacturing market is fast growing and a large number of them already
exist. This section discusses the design challenges which have to be met before TPMS
manufacturers release their products into the competitive market. Here the major design
13
challenges are power consumption, size and weight, battery life, reliability and of course
the cost.
In a direct TPMS it is often desired to have a very long battery life of about 7 to 10
years. As this module has to be embedded inside the tire, a heavy, bulky battery is not an
option. Careful consideration of the frequency of measurements and transmissions proves
helpful in attaining an efficient TPMS. Further, low-power components must be selected.
To meet these requirements, it is very important to choose components with very low-
currents in standby or idle mode, as well as efficient measurement and transmission
hardware. The required measurements and transmissions must be made to occur as
infrequently as possible by the algorithm or software that controls the TPMS.
Further, the environment inside a tire is very hard on electronic products. The tire
module has to prevail in harsh environments, withstanding temperatures from -40°C to
over 125°C [6]. A highly reliable TMPS is necessary as it is constantly exposed to
moisture and a variety of other potentially corrosive materials. As cost is a major issue,
integrating the functionality of the TPMS and the RKE receiver can help to reduce the
overall system cost.
2.5 Power management in TPMS
This section lists various important techniques employed currently to reduce the
power consumption in TPMS. The power consumption of the tire-pressure module has
become a key performance factor because of battery-life requirements. Presently,
techniques such as standby or sleep modes along with duty cycling of the RF
transmission are used to obtain the lowest power consumption. As a part of this, the
14
devices can be operated in two modes, namely “inactive” and “active” modes. The
motion of the car triggers the active mode and increases the repetition rate for the
pressure readings by up to 100 times compared to the inactive mode. The highest current
consumption mode of a TPMS application is during RF transmission—upwards of five
times higher than the pressure measurement processing mode [7]. Thus additional power
savings can be achieved if the pressure measurements are transmitted less frequently or if
only a significant decrease in pressure is measured and then broadcast.
In some models, when the vehicle is parked, the sensor transmits the signals once an
hour, while other models are equipped with speed detectors that shut down the
transmission. More sophisticated sensor modules contain a low-frequency receiver
integrated circuit, which waits in standby mode and wakes up the sensor once it detects a
trigger from the vehicle’s main processor. This technique is called pressure on demand.
Currently, microcontrollers are becoming more relevant to improving the tire-
pressure monitoring solution in tire modules [8]. The microcontroller that is employed in
the system plays a vital role in power management. The primary advantage of a
microcontroller-based architecture lies in the software and is the major differentiator
between two manufacturers in the TPMS market, even if both are using the same
standard set of components. This approach allows significant cost reductions both in
terms of material cost and development cost. Furthermore, upgrading or adding
functionality becomes easier since software modifications require less development and
qualification work [3].
15
The TPMS sensor if designed to work in full concert with the microcontroller, allows
sharing of some of the vital functions, such as power management as illustrated in Figure
2.3. Whenever the sensor is in standby mode, its internal low-frequency oscillator wakes
up the microcontroller at regular intervals, after which the microcontroller may execute
different tasks according to the software program. Thus it can be observed that in
between two wakeup pulses, the microcontroller will be in sleep mode. All functions are
disabled to minimize power consumption, and only an external stimulus can wake-up the
microcontroller again [3].
Figure 2.3: Optimization of power management.
16
2.6 Definition of RFID
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) in the contemporary world has become a very
well established technology and is well on its way to becoming ubiquitous. RFID belongs
to the family of Automatic Identification and Data capture (AIDC) technologies. In
simple words RFID refers to the transfer of information wirelessly using radio waves.
RFID in general is used to address technologies that involve the use of radio waves to
transmit information wirelessly from small tags or transponders located on the object, to
the RFID reader or interrogator.
2.7 Components and Operation of RFID
This section discusses the basic components of a typical RFID system; their
classification coupled with major advantages and disadvantages and also gives an
overview of the operation of RFID system. A typical RFID system is illustrated in Figure
2.4. It consists of tags and readers.
Figure 2.4: A typical Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system.
17
2.7.1 Definition of RFID tag
An RFID tag or transponder is made up of small microchip that is attached to an
antenna. The various factors that affect the distance at which a tag can be read or the read
range are
• Frequency used for identification.
• Gain of antenna.
• Polarization and orientation of the reader antenna and the transponder antenna.
• Position of the tag on the object to be tracked.
2.7.2 Definition of RFID reader
An RFID reader usually contains a transmitter and a receiver as a module along
with a control unit and antenna. It performs three main functions called energizing,
demodulating and decoding. Moreover, readers can be provided with an interface that
converts the radio waves returned from the RFID tag into digital format suitable for
processing by a computer or any programmable logic controller. Anti-Collision
algorithms permit the simultaneous reading of large numbers of tagged objects, while
ensuring that each tag is read only once.
2.7.3 Classification of RFID tags
RFID tags can be broadly classified into two types, namely, passive and active.
(i) Passive tag: This type of RFID tag does not contain a battery and the power is
supplied by the reader. Whenever the passive tag receives radio waves from the reader,
the coil antenna within it generates a current that energizes the circuits in the tag. Now
18
the tag sends the information encoded in its memory and controls the delivery of data by
radiating energy back to the reader.
Advantages of a passive RFID tag:
• These tags have a useful life of at least twenty years as they do not depend on
batteries and are much cheaper to manufacture.
• The tag is small in size and light in weight.
• They can operate effectively in harsh environments.
• They are maintenance free.
Disadvantages of a passive RFID tag:
• The operating range of the tag is typically only a few feet at most which greatly
limits its applications.
• Inclusion of sensors that use electricity for power may not be possible.
• The tag remains readable for a very long time, even after the object is no longer
being tracked.
(ii) Active tag: In contrast to passive tags, active tags have internal batteries and generate
their own energy to radiate back to the interrogator. Here the tag is referred to as a
transmitter of radio frequency signals rather than as a reflector. Also we can program,
read from or write to these tags. They are capable of initiating communications and
performing monitoring, diagnosis and control operations independently. Higher data
bandwidth is also one of the promising features of active tags. These tags can also
determine the best communication path autonomously if equipped with autonomous
networking.
19
Advantages of an active RFID tag:
• The operating range of these tags is up to a mile or more which improves the
utility of the device.
• Other sensors that can use electricity for power can be incorporated into these
tags.
Disadvantages of an active RFID tag:
• These tags have a short lifetime as they cannot function without battery power.
• The tag is typically more expensive and physically larger limiting many
applications.
• The maintenance costs may be high as the batteries have to be replaced in the
long run.
• Undesirable effects such as data misreads can occur due to battery outage.
2.7.4 Operation of RFID
A typical RFID system utilizes small tags, which contain small microchips and an
antenna, and low-frequency radio wave signals that travel between the tags and the
interrogators (readers). Readers convert the signals to digital information and move the
data to a network. The system also has software to update the information. The tags can
be located on tires, parts of engine; tools, etc. and they carry a basic series of numbers
that comprise the item’s electronic code.
20
2.8 Communication in wireless applications
The process of transmission and reception of data in wireless applications along with
popular encoding schemes and modulation methods are presented in this section. These
methodologies are referred to later in this work and therefore a general understanding of
them is considered essential.
2.8.1 Transmission and reception of data in wireless applications
The essential building blocks of a wireless communication system are illustrated in
Figure 2.5. In wireless communication, the data that has to be transmitted by the
transmitter is essentially in the form of binary digits i.e. 1s and 0s. If the transmission has
to be secure and reliable this data needs to be encoded. Further this encoded data has to
be modulated so that it can be sent from the transmitter to the receiver via the channel.
There are different modulation and encoding techniques being used for different
purposes. An antenna is also placed at the receiver’s front end to pick up the signal at the
carrier frequency and amplify that signal to increase the strength of received signal. The
demodulator now demodulates the signal and reconstructs the encoded data. Now that we
have data at the receiver, it is necessary to decode it i.e. make sure that we received the
same data that has been sent by the transmitter.
2.8.2 Encoding schemes
Encoding refers to the process of transforming information from one format to
another. The most widely used encoding techniques in short range wireless applications
are
21
• Manchester encoding.
• Pulse width modulation (PWM) encoding.
This section discusses the Manchester encoding technique which is most widely
used in wireless applications and also referred in later sections.
Figure 2.5: The communication system.
There are two opposing conventions for the representation of data in Manchester
encoding which are considered to be standard. According to G.E Thomas' convention, in
Manchester encoding Logic 0 is represented as a bit transition from 0 to 1 (low to high) at
the bit centre and Logic 1 is represented as a bit transition from 1 to 0 (high to low) at the
bit centre [9]. The opposite of G.E Thomas’ convention which is referred to as IEEE
802.3 convention is also a valid standard [9]. Thus it is observed in that the effective
bandwidth required for transmission doubles if we use Manchester encoding technique.
22
Manchester code is widely used in RF communication because the direct current (dc)
average value doesn’t vary with the content of the message, which allows easier
demodulation and shaping of the signal. Additionally, each transmitted bit contains a
transition that allows easy clock recovery. Sometimes the transmitter may send a long
string of 1’s and 0’s making it difficult for the receiver to understand the actual message
pattern. This may result in inter-symbol interference (ISI) which is undesirable. But the
Manchester encoding scheme being DC balanced ensures that the encoded signal has
either 1 or 0 only for 50% of the time allowing proper decoding at the receiver’s end.
Manchester encoding for a string of 0s and 1s according to G.E. Thomas and IEEE 802.3
conventions is illustrated in Figure 2.6 [9].
Figure 2.6: Manchester encoding for a string of 0s and 1s according to G.E. Thomas and
IEEE 802.3 conventions [9].
23
2.8.3 Modulation
The process of varying an analog signal in such a way that it conveys a message is
known as modulation. A carrier signal is usually a sinusoidal waveform that is modulated
or modified with an input signal for the purpose of conveying information. The frequency
of the carrier signal is much higher than the frequency of the signal which contains the
information i.e. the baseband modulating signal. The two types of modulation methods
are analog modulation and digital modulation. In analog modulation, the modulation is
applied continuously in response to the analog information signal. In digital modulation,
an analog carrier signal is modulated by a digital bit stream.
The three principal parameters of any carrier signal are amplitude, frequency and
phase. In practice, digital modulation schemes are classified based on the parameter of
the carrier (amplitude, frequency or phase) being varied in accordance with the baseband
message signal. They are
• Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK).
• Frequency Shift Keying (FSK).
• Phase Shift Keying (PSK).
2.8.4 Modulation techniques
This section discusses two important modulation techniques namely ASK and FSK
that are widely used in RF communications.
1) Amplitude-Shift Keying (ASK)
ASK is defined as that modulation technique in which the amplitude of the carrier is
24
varied in accordance with the message signal. This means that the higher carrier
amplitude is chosen for Logic 1 and the lower carrier amplitude is chosen for Logic 0.
Mathematically ASK can be expressed as,
S (t ) = Ac × cos(2 × pi × f c × t ) (2.1)
where Ac is the amplitude of the signal, fc is the carrier frequency and t is the bit period.
Ac may take two different values depending on the message bit. ASK technique for input
bit stream (0, 1, 1, 0, 1) is illustrated in Figure 2.7 [10].
A special case of ASK known as On/Off keying (OOK) is one of the most
commonly employed modulation techniques in short range wireless communications. In
this scheme, a carrier with constant amplitude is chosen for Logic 1 and no carrier is
present during the transmission of Logic 0. OOK modulation has the advantage of
allowing the transmitter to idle during the transmission of logic 0 therefore conserving
almost 50% of the power. Mathematically it is given as, where
S (t ) = A × m(t ) × cos(2 × pi × f c × t ) (2.2)
where A is the fixed amplitude and m (t) is the binary message (either 1 or 0).
2) Frequency-Shift Keying (FSK)
FSK is defined as that modulation technique where in the frequency of the carrier is
varied in accordance with the digital baseband input signal. For Logic 1 a carrier
frequency f1 is transmitted and for Logic 0, a frequency f2 is transmitted. Here the
amplitude of the carrier remains constant. Mathematically this is expressed as,
S (t ) = A × cos(2 × pi × f c × t ) (2.3)
FSK for input bit stream (1, 0, 1, 0, 1) is illustrated in Figure 2.8 [11].
25
2.9 Conclusions
This chapter presents the important aspects of both the tire pressure monitoring
system and radio frequency identification. A detailed description of their operation,
different types available on market, the design challenges and power management
methods involved are discussed. An understanding of communication in wireless
applications, various encoding and modulation schemes currently in use are also
presented in this chapter.
Figure 2.7: Amplitude Shift Keying [10].
26
Figure 2.8: Frequency Shift Keying [11].
27
CHAPTER III
BACKGROUND AND RELATED WORK
This chapter deals with the power sources for TPMS, functionality of transmitter and
receiver in TPMS, current consumption in TPMS along with the methods to minimize
power consumption in TPMS and RFID tags. This also discusses in detail the commonly
employed TPMS strategies, some of the related energy harvesting techniques and helps to
provide an insight into the losses in tires and their impact on the read range of RFID tags
embedded inside the tires.
3.1 Power sources for TPMS
The most widely used power sources for direct TPMS are Lithium (Li) - ion primary
batteries. Even though other alternatives such as inductive coupled power schemes have
been developed, due to higher overall system costs they could not replace batteries
successfully. Li–ion coin cells exhibit an excellent energy-density versus weight ratio
with an open-circuit voltage of about 3-3.6 V as well as an extended operating
temperature range [12]. The three types of Li-ion batteries that have been used for TPMS
applications are
• Polycarbonate monoflouride (BR type).
28
• Manganese dioxide (CR type).
• Thionyl chloride (ER type).
However due to superior high temperature performance, better durability and lower
weight the BR and CR types of batteries are more often used. A few basic requirements
for TPMS power supplies are listed in Table 3.1 [12].
Table 3.1: Requirements for TPMS power supplies [12].
Requirements for power supply (battery) Specifications
Lifetime 10 years (87600 hours)
Operating temperature -40°C ±125°C
Voltage range 2V-3.6 V
Pulse current 8-10 mA
Duty cycle (run mode) 1:500-1:1000
Self-discharge Less than or equal to 1% per year
Vibration robustness Continuous (5-2000Hz)
Acceleration robustness Max. 1500-2000g
Humidity 5-95%
No coin cell battery can provide enough energy to power the TPMS continuously for
a lifetime of 10 years. Therefore, the needed battery capacity strongly depends on the
application program, temperature profile, transmission power level and ASIC
specifications. Usually coin cells of the type 2450 (24 mm diameter and 5 mm height)
29
with a battery capacity of about 450-600 mAh are utilized within commercial TPMS in
order to fulfill the requirements [12].
3.2 Current consumption in a TPMS module.
This section discusses the battery–based TPMS and the development towards a
reduced current consumption through intelligent low-power management technique. The
amount of current consumed by the TPMS module determines the size, weight, cost, and
life time of the battery that is being used as the power source. The percentage of current
consumed by different processes of a battery-based TPMS module is illustrated in Figure
3.1 [12].
Figure 3.1: Percentage of current consumed by different processes of a battery-based

TPMS module [12].
It can be seen from Figure 3.1 that specific modes such as power-down current (leakage
currents), motion detection, CPU execution and RF transmission consume largest
amounts of current. These modes are discussed in the following sections.
30
3.2.1 RF transmission
The RF transmitter in general modulates the data provided by the microchip,
amplifies the signal and sends it out via the RF antenna. There are two possible methods
to reduce current consumption during RF transmission. One power saving option is to
utilize higher data rates and therefore shorter transmission times. The second power
saving option is given by the definition of so-called intelligent datagram. A typical
datagram of a current TPMS module is illustrated in Table 3.2 [12].
The pressure is measured at periodic intervals and compared with the previous
stored value. If the difference in pressures is zero, then only the ID is transmitted
according to the datagram. The datagram that has to be transmitted can be reduced to a
minimum of three bytes if there is no difference between the measured values, which
results in about 25% of current saved.
3.2.2 CPU execution.
The amount of current consumed by CPU execution is about 11% of the total
current consumed by the TPMS module itself. A fast processor such as a single
instruction cycle CPU is required so as to minimize the cycle time and in turn the current
consumption. Also, an optimization of the software according to the used hardware
components could significantly reduce the overall current consumption [12].
31
Table 3.2: Typical Datagram of current TPMS module [12].
Byte Description Comments
1 Synchronization Synchronization bytes for the receiver
2 Synchronization Synchronization bytes for the receiver
3 Identification ID3 Unique 32 bit ID number
7 Pressure Pressure value
8 Temperature Temperature value
9 Diagnostics Status Information
10 Check sum CRC
11 End of message 1-2 bits
3.2.3 Motion detection.
Effective management of power can be facilitated with the help of vehicle motion
detection. Generally any vehicle on an average is in parking mode for more than 90% of
its lifetime. Thus it becomes extremely important to determine the driving and parking
modes since the number of measurements and RF transmission can be minimized during
parking mode. A special current saving mode called the power-down mode is used for the
remaining time and is discussed in the following section.
32
3.2.4 Power down current.
The TPMS module in the power down mode consumes more than 50% of the total
current. This is mostly because the TPM sensor is 85% of the time in this mode wherein
only a few parts of the sensor are active and the rest are turned off. The peripherals that
are active and inactive during the power down mode are illustrated in Figure 3.2.
The large amount of current consumed is mainly due to the leakage currents within
the module i.e. current drawn by discrete components on the system IC level. Also the
current consumption increases dramatically at high temperatures because of the leakage
currents caused due to the CMOS technology.
3.3 Power management
The most critical operational issue with TPMS is keeping the power consumption to a
minimum. Power management is an important technique to prolong the lifespan of any
battery operated TPMS module. Different power management schemes are discussed in
this section.
Power consumption has become a primary constraint in integrated circuit (IC) design,
along with other factors such as performance, clock frequency and die size. The process
of design abstraction comprises of different levels such as system, architectural, gate,
circuit and technology level. Power reduction can be implemented at each of these levels.
For example, power at system level can be saved by turning off all the inactive modules
or the method of clock gating helps to minimize power consumption at the gate level.
Intelligent selection of power saving algorithms, architectures in conjunction with
33
determining parameters such as supply voltage, clock frequency, etc. at the highest levels
of design abstraction seem to be significantly effective.
Figure 3.2: Active and inactive parts of a TPM sensor during power down mode.
The dynamic power consumption of CMOS circuitry is given by the equation
P = C ×V 2 × f (3.1)
where P is the power, C is the effective switch capacitance, V is the supply voltage and f
is the frequency of operation [13]. Several approaches can be used to lower power
consumption. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to lower the supply voltage
because power consumption drops quadratically with the supply voltage. But this may
34
affect the device performance and additional circuitry may be needed to compensate for
reduced supply voltage.
Another commonly employed technique to increase battery life in modern ICs is to
use variable clock frequency and operating voltage controlled by the operating system.
These represent a trade-off between delay and power-consumption. As power
consumption scales linearly with the operating frequency, lowering the frequency seems
to be a good approach to reduce power consumption. However the concern here is that
the system has to run for a longer time in order to perform the same amount of work.
In CMOS devices, the clock to inactive or unused logic or peripherals is dynamically
turned off either by the operating system of the application or by some kind of hardware
control, to reduce power consumption.
3.3.1 Data management and strobe oscillator
The most common method for power reduction is the duty cycle method. In this
method an oscillator is used to turn on or off the power in a cyclic manner. The shut off
pin on the receiver is activated at some pre-determined rate based on the duty cycle. This
section describes the data manager and strobe oscillator power management features
which operate in conjunction with the systems control and help to substantially reduce
the power consumption in RF devices.
1) Strobe oscillator: One of the power management features is the strobe oscillator in
which implementation must be coordinated with the system time frame transmission [14].
This implementation of strobe oscillator is explained as follows:
35
A periodic sleep/run sequence helps to strobe the receiver if at all the receiver has to
operate with minimum operating current. Here a MCU can be used for the periodic wake
up. One more method that is adopted often is to integrate a low-frequency oscillator in
the receiver and link to its state machine. If the receiver is operated during TRUN and is
sleeping during TSLEEP then we can define a strobe ratio (SR) that is equal to [14]
TSLEEP
SR = (3.2)
TRUN
The average current consumption is given by equation 3.3.
I RUN I
I MEAN = + SLEEP (3.3)
1 + SR 1 + 1
SR
The time duration TSLEEP has a direct impact on the reaction time of the receiver,
Therefore SR, TRUN and TSLEEP should be appropriately sized in order to be compatible
with the reception of any incoming frame. Whenever there is no RF frame to be received
the MCU and the receiver can be put into sleep mode. But the receiver has to do periodic
wake ups to check for the incoming RF frame.
2) Data manager: The second power management feature is the data manager which
allows the MCU to sleep by doing frame-recognition tasks [14]. If a valid frame is
received, then the data manager wakes up the MCU. This feature avoids the complex task
of decoding data with MCU. The data manager is a powerful logic block that allows
clock recovery from a Manchester coded signal and then decodes the frame [14]. If the
data manager recognizes a specific programmable ID in the frame, it sends the data that
follows on the serial peripheral interface (SPI) port. Now it becomes necessary for the
MCU to wake up from sleep based on a signal coming to its SPI port.
36
Figure 3.3 Implementation of strobe oscillator power management feature.
The data manager essentially converts a Manchester coded signal to non-return to zero
(NRZ) signal with a separated clock on the SPI port of the receiver. If selected, this
process is initiated when the receiver wakes up and detects a Manchester coded signal at
a selected data rate [14].
After the clock recovery is complete, the data manager verifies if an ID is received.
An ID is a word that is programmable and that can be inserted in the transmitted frame
[14]. This ID is used to identify whether a frame is useful to receive or not. Also, when
the receiver is strobed, it is required to detect an ID so as to stay in run mode and not
miss the frame. Once the ID is detected, a header is searched to find the beginning of the
useful data that has to be sent on the SPI port. And once the header is found, all following
data till the end of the message are sent on the SPI port.
Thus the data manager and strobe oscillator power management features if
implemented adequately can significantly lower the power consumption without
disturbing the link reliability. In the case of TPMS available on cars, the transmitter may
send a lot of frames to the receiver in order to add redundancy to the system. Therefore,
37
keeping in mind the lifetime of battery, it is better to have a short frame resulting in a
higher data rate and a shorter ID field.
3.3.2 Wake-up and sleep schedules
Most of the power management techniques employ wake-up/sleep schedules. This
is accomplished by providing on/off enables in each module and controlling these enables
with a MCU. These techniques need to control when a device should enter a high power
active mode and when to enter a low-power sleep mode. The transition from active to
sleep mode can usually be done with the help of a set of instructions that shutdown the
appropriate hardware components whenever no events occur in the system for
sufficiently long time. However the transition from sleep to active mode needs some
attention because the processor is halted while in sleep mode and thus is not aware of the
external events. Therefore some of the devices have to wake up periodically and watch
for any event of interest to occur in order to wake up the processor. An efficient wake-
up/sleep technique often employs a timer to wake up the processor via an interrupt.
In a TPMS, the wheel based pressure sensor will usually be in standby mode waiting for
a need to measure and process data. This wake-up function is usually done by a very low
power oscillator that outputs a pulse periodically.
3.4 RFID device wake-up methods.
A generic RFID communication system, arrangement of RFID tags, different
operational modes of the processor along with methods to reduce power consumption of
an active RFID tag are discussed in this section.
38
3.4.1 RFID communication system.
In the RFID system shown in the Figure 3.4, the first communication device may
be implemented as a reader, and the second communication device may be implemented
as a tag. In this RFID system, the reader is configured to communicate with a large
number of tags or transponders.
Figure 3.5 illustrates an exemplary arrangement of second communication device
or the RFID tag. It includes an antenna, communication circuitry, wake-up circuitry and a
battery. The presence of battery is typical to an active device configuration. For any
active implementation, this battery provides the necessary operational electrical power to
the communication circuitry, the wake-up circuitry and also helps to generate radio
frequency power for communication of signals.
In the absence of a battery, which is referred to as passive implementation the
received electromagnetic power is utilized to provide all the required operational
electrical power to the components.
Figure 3.4: Radio frequency identification device (RFID) communications system.
39
In order to extend the useful, operational life of the battery the RFID tag including the
communication circuitry is arranged to operate in multiple modes which have different
power requirements and utilize electrical power of the battery at different rates. This is
facilitated by activating different parts of the processing circuitry or tag during different
modes of operation. The processor present in the communication circuitry mainly
controls the operation of the tag and is arranged to process received wireless signals and
to control communication of outputted wireless signals.
Initially, in the absence of wireless communication, the processor will be in so
called first mode of operation. This first mode is referred to as SLEEP mode, wherein a
minimum amount of electrical power is utilized by the device components. After the
communication device detects the presence of radio frequency power, the processor goes
into a second mode of operation in response to the detection. This mode is called an
intermediate mode of operation, wherein an increased amount of electrical power as
compared to the first one is utilized. Here the device performs certain additional
functions such as generation of a reference signal, enabling the watchdog timer,
energizing the wake-up circuitry and so on.
There also exists a third mode of operation of the device which consumes greater
power than the other two modes because it handles the processing of the wireless signals.
40
Figure 3.5: Arrangement of second communication device.
3.4.2 Method to reduce power consumption of an active tag.
This section discusses the methods for minimizing the power consumed by active
transponders. Tracking, monitoring and managing a system of multiple active RFID tags
is done by embedding tags into the system. Thus in the current RFID systems, active
RFID tags are kept in a state where
(i) An RF receiver of the tag is in an active state to receive RF signals.
(ii) The controller is in a low power (sleep) state to preserve power.
Whenever information is required from one or more of these active tags, the RFID
reader sends out a wake-up signal to the receiver of the tag, which in turn wakes up the
controller of the tag by sending another signal. The particular tags for which the RFID
reader sends out the signals will then perform the necessary action, and the remaining
tags move back to sleep.
41
There are two major power management problems that arise in the above mentioned
cases.
1) Each active RFID tag is required to have at least one component in an
active, relatively high power consuming state at all time such as the RF
receiver in every tag has to be always “on”.
2) Even though the RFID reader needs information from one or few
particular tags, all the tags of the system are woken, i.e. their controllers
are moved to an active state. Once the tags determine that the query was
not intended for them, they move back to sleep state.
Thus there is unnecessary use of power from the battery of each tag and the lifetime
of the battery is reduced significantly.
3.4.3 A better method to reduce the power consumption of an active tag
This method relates to a transponder that has an identifier associated with an RF
receiver, a battery and a processing unit such as microcontroller, microprocessor, etc.
operatively coupled to the battery. The transponder apparatus also includes a buffer that
is in electronic communication with the receiver and the processing unit and is structured
to accomplish three important tasks that were lacking in the method discussed above. The
three tasks are:
i) Receive an information signal based on the RF signal from the receiver.
ii) Determine whether the information signal includes the identifier.
iii) If the information signal includes the identifier then, move the processor from inactive
to active state and transmit at least a portion of the information signal to it.
42
The block diagram of an RF transponder is illustrated in Figure 3.5. The RF transponder
consists of a high frequency ASK/FSK/FM receiver with an antenna. This receiver is
enabled so as to communicate with a buffer. The transponder also consists of an RF
transmitter communicates with the processing unit and transmits RF signals through
another antenna in response to the commands received from the processing unit. This RF
transmitter must be able to operate in two modes namely active mode and sleep mode so
as to minimize power consumption. All the components mentioned above are powered by
a battery present internal to the transponder.
Initially the processing unit and the transmitter of each RF transponder will be in the
sleep state where as the receiver and the buffer device are configured to be in the active
state. If a particular RF transponder needs to be woken up, the interrogator unit which
communicates with the host computer sends an RF information signal of appropriate
frequency. This information signal includes the identifier specifically assigned to that RF
transponder. Here some of the popular modulation techniques such as ASK or FSK can
be used. The receiver then demodulates the input RF signal to obtain a corresponding
digital signal. The information signal, which includes the identifier and one or more
commands, is then sent to the buffer of each RF transponder. The buffer now compares
this identifier with the identifier already stored in it and if they match, it sends a DC
wake-up signal to the sleep input pin of the associated processing unit in order to change
its state. If the identifiers do not match then no action is taken by the buffer. Once the
processing unit is in active state, it can perform any action that is required by the received
commands and after the task is completed it returns back to the sleep state until
43
subsequently woken up by the buffer. Therefore this arrangement provides improved
performance by maximizing the life of the battery included in the RF transponder.
Figure 3.5: Block diagram of RF transponder.
The power consumption from the battery can further be minimized by providing
operational power to the buffer from an energy harvesting circuit that harvests energy
that is transmitted in space, instead of having it operatively coupled to and continuously
powered by the battery.
3.5 Tire pressure monitoring systems on current market
This section presents the various tire pressure monitoring systems that are currently
available on the market.
44
3.5.1 TPMS based on vehicle speed.
While the vehicle is being driven if any one of the four tires lose significant amount
of air pressure, this type of TPMS warns the driver and allows the driver to display the
individual tire pressures on the driver information center (DIC). The system uses the
AM/FM antenna grid in the driver side rear glass, antenna module, dash integration
module (DIM), DIC, instrument panel cluster (IPC), 4 radio frequency transmitting
pressure sensors inside each wheel/tire assembly, and the serial data circuit to perform the
system functions [15].
If the vehicle moves at a speed less than 32 km/h (20 mph), the sensors go into
stationary mode wherein the sensors transmit to the antenna module once every 60
minutes to minimize sensor battery consumption. When the vehicle speed increases to 32
km/h (20 mph), centrifugal force closes the sensor's internal roll switch. This enables the
sensors to go into drive mode wherein transmission occurs every 60 seconds to the
antenna module which in turn translates the information within the sensors radio
frequency transmission into sensor presence, sensor mode, and tire pressure. This
information is sent to the DIC via the serial data circuit where the tire pressures along
with their locations are displayed. The DIC displays a graphic overhead view of the
vehicle, and displays the pressure of each tire at each respective corner of the graphic
[15].
3.5.2 An integrated chip to monitor tire pressure.
In order to measure tire pressure directly, a new signal conditioning chip has been
unveiled. This new chip broadcasts the temperature and pressure of each tire, at regular
45
intervals which can be displayed on a dashboard. The system works well with the
receivers used for RKE. Antennas are installed in each wheel well. The RKE receiver,
which uses rolling ID numbers to match keys to cars, is modified so that it can send out a
low-frequency signal through the wheel well antennas [16]. This low-frequency signal
then wakes up an active RFID tag either in the tire valve or inside the rim of the tire. The
active tag broadcasts its rolling ID number to identify the location of the tire and also data
on the temperature, pressure of that tire, either at 315 MHz or 434 MHz.
Instead of the entire active sensor, only the microchip that will communicate with
the RKE receiver has been produced. This chip is later combined with pressure and heat
sensors and the whole combination is again mounted on a tiny circuit board with a small
battery. By having the chip communicate with the RKE receiver, the cost of
implementing the tire pressure sensor is minimized to some extent.
3.6 Energy harvesting
The need for small, efficient and inexpensive power sources has become inevitable
with recent developments in the field of wireless communications. The low power
requirements of battery operated devices have sparked interest in energy harvesting
techniques, a few of which are discussed in this section.
Energy harvesting, also known as power harvesting or energy scavenging is the
process by which energy is captured and stored [17]. Energy harvesting acquires energy
from the environment or the user. Environmental power sources such as solar, wind,
water energy have been used in macro scale devices. A potential opportunity for energy
harvesting is to capture and use the ambient RF energy due to the presence of RF
46
receiving and emitting devices around us. However there are some significant problems
that exist with these methods. In the case of powering passive RFID tags, only very little
power can be derived even after deliberately directing RF energy towards them. Most
passive RFID tags consume between 1 and 100 µW. Therefore, except for the
exceedingly low power sensors, ambient RF energy harvesting is not viable [18].
Another energy harvesting approach that is used quite often involves solar energy
wherein power is derived from ambient light. This method to be successful requires a
strong source of illumination, preferably direct sunlight. Therefore typical harvesting
efficiencies using solar energy are around 16-20% because they depend on the amount of
illumination available [18].
For CMOS and/or MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System) devices, new concepts
have been proposed due to the reduction of the potential volume/surface of the generator.
Pressure-, vibration-, thermal gradient changes, micro-solar and fuel cells are the possible
energy sources for micro scale devices. The tire/wheel assembly in TPMS provides
significantly more vibrations at higher amplitude [12]. Various criteria of the vibration
energy harvester such as its design, volume, amplitude, frequency of vibrations, etc.
determine the amount of power that can be delivered to the application. Thus, a vibration
energy harvester is estimated to deliver enough average power supply (in the range of
several nW to a few mW) to a TMPS device.
A TPMS module requires a power level of the order of several µW and higher so as
to enable certain common power management circuits. Besides using the vibration energy
harvesting technique, it might also be useful to have an additional arrangement for a
47
temporary storage device such as a capacitor or secondary battery to power various other
processes such as RF transmission etc.
3.7 Hardware and software concepts of TPMS
The hardware components that are embedded into the TPMS module both interior and
exterior to the tire and the software required to implement the necessary operations are
listed in this section.
3.7.1 Inside the tire
The TPMS tire module has both hardware and software components embedded
inside it. The hardware components include pressure and temperature sensors,
microcontroller unit (MCU), an ultra high frequency (UHF) transmitter along with a
crystal, battery and an antenna. Any programmable MCU with a low-power sleep mode
proves to be very useful for battery-powered TPMS. Proper design of the antenna ensures
sufficient RF power essential for reliable reception of signal from the interior of the tire.
The software used for TPMS has to perform the following three vital tasks:
• Measure
• Process data
• Transmit
The tire module derives power from a lithium coin cell battery which has a typical
capacity of 250-300mAh. Therefore an extremely efficient algorithm is required to
provide the 7-10 year lifetime for a TPMS [19]. The efficiency of this software program
48
or algorithm is related to timing and prior to designing the system the following questions
have to be considered.
i. Will the receiver display pressure of each tire, or just indicate a low pressure
warning?
ii. How often are pressure and temperature data measured and transmitted?
iii. Does the system always measure both pressure and temperature or is one
measured more often than the other?
iv. How many bits of data are in each data frame? The shorter the data frame the
lesser battery energy is consumed by the transmitter.
v. What happens when the pressure gets low? For efficient transmission of data to
the receiver in a noisy environment, warning signal may have to be sent several
times.
3.7.2 Outside the tire
The TPMS components present inside the car, external to the tire module also
consist of both hardware and software features. A cost-effective receiver module consists
of a UHF receiver, a central antenna, and an interface to the rest of the car. This functions
as a receiver for both the TPMS and RKE systems. Higher end systems might include
distributed receiver antenna at each wheel well enabling the tires to transmit at a lower
power. The electronics inside the receiver work on the basis of signal received by the
antenna. The stronger the power of the signal delivered by the antenna, the easier will be
the work of the electronics.
49
The highest-end systems include an LF signal initiator in each wheel well along with an
LF receiver on the tire module. Such a design allows the central body controller to send a
signal to a single tire, thus asking for a transmission from that tire only and eliminating
data collision issues. Automatic tire location is also efficiently managed in such systems.
The system's usefulness could also be enhanced by using the LF initiator to send data to
the tire module—anything from new low-pressure thresholds to instructions for
completely reprogramming the MCU [19].
If both the TPMS and RKE systems use the same central receiver then efficient
communication protocols would be required. Most RKE systems use amplitude shift
keying (ASK) modulation, which works well for stationary transmitters such as a key
fob. But the data coming from the rotating tire are not as reliable as those from a key fob.
Therefore to increase reliability of data, TPMS uses frequency shift keying (FSK). Thus
receivers that can receive and demodulate both ASK and FSK seem to be the best choice.
With respect to software, many automobiles with RKE systems should require only
a software upgrade at the body controller to enable them to accommodate a TPMS. The
receiver should be reconfigured to alternate between ASK and FSK modulation so that it
can receive signals from both the TPMS and RKE systems. One option is to always
default to ASK so that existing RKE transmitters don't have to be modified. The TPMS
modules transmit a wake-up tone to the receiver, which the receiver takes as a cue to
reconfigure itself for FSK modulation. Once the TPMS data are received, the receiver
goes back to ASK [19]. In order to make sure that the car battery does not drain during
long periods of inactivity, it is important to program an efficient algorithm that allows the
receiver to oscillate periodically between sleep and receive modes.
50
3.8 TPMS functionality.
This section explains the functionality of TPMS module and discusses the two main
components of TPMS module i.e. transmitter and receiver.
3.8.1 TPMS Transmitter
Currently, external SAW or PLL based UHF transmitters are used as TPMS
transmitters. In Figure 3.6, the transmitter includes a tire identification IC which is
powered by a lithium cell battery. The tire ID is typically 32 bits in length. The TPMS
transmitter module is based on low battery consumption and thus the components within
must have minimum current requirements and use very little energy. Typical active
operating current is approximately 1 to 5 mA and 100 nA during stand-by mode [20].
Electronically, the TPMS module functionality lies in translating the coded input from
each wheel, into the receiver module to display the pressure level. Figure 3.6 depicts its
functionality. Typically the data format is sent at 9600 bps and Manchester encoded using
FSK/ASK modulation. With a reference quartz oscillator of 13.56MHz, the PLL can be
able to generate 315, 433, 868 MHz carriers.
Testing of the TPMS transmitter module involves checking the signal power level,
frequency deviation (FSK), burst measurement (ASK), and demodulation of ASK/FSK
signal. A low frequency wakeup signal of about 125 KHz is needed by the transmitter to
wake-up the microcontroller in order to generate continuous RF transmission [20].
51
3.8.2 RF generator
The RF generator as shown in Figure 3.6 is used to modulate the carrier signal and
create an output for the TPMS receiver. TPMS RF bands are typically 315MHz in the
United States/Japan and 433/868 MHz in Europe. To test the receiver module, signal
generators which can generate ASK/FSK signals are required to simulate the signal.
3.8.3 TPMS Receiver
The goal of any radio receiver is to extract and detect selectively a desired signal
from the electromagnetic spectrum [21]. This selectivity in the presence of a plethora of
interfering signals and noise is the fundamental attribute that drives many of the tradeoffs
inherent in radio design. Radio receivers must often be able to detect signal powers as
small as femto watt while rejecting a multitude of other signals that may be twelve orders
of magnitude larger [21].
The design of wireless receivers is a complex, multi-faceted subject that has a
fascinating history. Few of the early receiver architectures are
• Crystal detector.
• Heterodyne receiver.
• Regenerative receiver.
• Super heterodyne receiver.
• Super regenerative receiver.
52
Figure 3.6: TPMS Functionality.
Receivers that can receive and demodulate both ASK and FSK seem to be the best choice
for TPMS. After the receiver receives the data frame, the tire ID will be compared to the
other four tire IDs that are stored in the memory. If an ID match is detected, the pressure
data is processed and the particular tire indicator is lit for low pressure warning. Finally,
the data frame is sent through the serial interface for external data acquisition and storage
[20].
53
3.9 Tire losses and RFID
This section in general presents information about tires, their composition, properties
of rubber, importance of carbon black and the factors that affect the performance of RFID
tag embedded inside the tire.
3.9.1 Composition of tires
Tires are made of vulcanized (i.e. cross-linked polymer chains) rubber and various
reinforcing materials [22]. Natural rubber is considered as the best tire material because it
possesses the following technical strengths [23]:
• High green strength, tack and cohesive properties which are essential for
maintaining green tire uniformity and stability during building and shaping
operations.
• Excellent adhesion to brass-plated steel cord.
• Low hysteresis which imparts low heat generation, which in turn maintains new
tire service integrity and extends retread ability.
• Low rolling resistance with enhanced fuel economy.
• Excellent snow and ice traction for winter tires and all-season treads.
• High resistance to cutting, chipping and tearing.
The black color of tires is due to the use of a very important filler material known as
carbon black. Carbon black is often used as a pigment and reinforcement in rubber and
plastic products [24]. The advantages of carbon black have been known for a long time as
the best material to strengthen tire rubber compounds and to extend tread life. It also
54
helps in conducting heat away from the tread and belt area of the tire which in turn
reduces thermal damage and increases lifetime of tires [24].
Besides rubber, certain metals like high tensile-strength steel in the form of wires,
cords; belts, etc. along with special alloys such as bronze or brass for coating purposes
form major constituents in tire manufacturing process. Various other additives are also
included in order to increase strength and toughness of tires.
3.9.2 Cross-section of a tire
The cross section of a tire illustrated in Figure 3.7 helps to understand the position
of RFID tag embedded into the tire along with the dimensions of tire, rubber material,
and thickness of steel. The RFID tag is placed parallel to the outer steel mesh at a
distance that depends on the tire size and ranges from 4 to 8 cm above the inner steel
mesh. The tag may be added to the tire during tire build by itself or encased in a
sandwich of green rubber of a low carbon composition [25]. The thickness of the
sandwich correlates directly to the final read distance since the carbon in the tire rubber
detunes the tag [25].
3.9.3 Factors influencing the read range of RFID tags
Tires contain about 6 to 10 percent of carbon black. Even though carbon adds to the
mechanical strength of the tire rubber, it has strong negative effect on the performance of
RFID. In particular, UHF RFID is known to be negatively influenced by materials with
high conductivity i.e. the property which explains the ability of any material to conduct
55
Figure 3.7: RFID tag placement in tire material.
electricity. This results in subsequent detuning of UHF RFID in the tires because carbon
black is a good conductor.
Also an RFID tag's read distance performance varies according to the type of tire i.e.
the effective read range depends on the absorption/attenuation factor of the type of the
material in which the tag is embedded. For example, on the sidewall of a passenger tire
(containing a low amount of carbon), the read range might be 36 inches; on a heavy truck
tire (with a higher amount of carbon), it might be 18 inches; and a giant earthmover tire
(which has a very high amount of carbon) might read up to 6 inches [26]. A few
percentage changes in carbon amount can half or quarter the RFID read distance [27].
56
Tires also consist of some amount of metal such as steel rims which again affect the
performance of RFID tags. It is generally well known that the most direct way to
overcome the negative effect of the metal on the RFID performance is to space the RFID
tag roughly a 0.25 inch (6.35 mm) or so above the metal’s surface [27].
In complicated lossy media such as tires, tag size plays a major role in determining
the read range. The area in which energy is captured varies with the size of the tag. The
smaller the tag, the smaller the energy capture area and the smaller the read range. A
proper design of the system and a thorough optimization of the interrogator power, the
antenna positioning and orientation, and an optimum tag in-tire positioning helps to
alleviate this limitation [28]. Multiple tagging can be used to improve the detection of the
tags in both the horizontal and vertical planes [28].
3.10 Conclusions
This chapter presented various important aspects of the TPMS such as the power
sources available and the working of transmitter and receiver modules in the TPMS.
Much emphasis is laid on factors such as current and power consumed in TPMS. Hence
an insight into the methods used to minimize power consumption in TPMS and RFID
tags is provided. The most widely used TPMS strategies prevailing on current market, the
common energy harvesting techniques and the losses that occur in tires affecting the read
range of the embedded RFID tags are also presented here.
57
CHAPTER IV
SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION FOR TPMS
This chapter discusses calibration of the pressure sensor, fixed-point implementation
of its transfer function, interfacing the pressure sensor to the microcontroller and the
implementation of SLEEP mode in PIC18F452. It also presents the algorithm and
flowchart for the software implemented in PIC18F452.
4.1 Fixed-Point Implementation
The classification of processors available currently is done depending on the way they
represent numbers internally. The two most common processors are
• Fixed-point processors.
• Floating-point processors.
In fixed-point processors, all numbers are represented as integers and fixed-point
arithmetic instructions operate on the fixed-point data. The floating-point processor, on
the other hand performs floating-point operations on floating-point data. The major
advantage of fixed-point processor over floating-point processor is that it needs lower
power, is cheaper and faster in processing. A fixed-point processor is used in
58
this thesis to lower the power consumed by the MCU and all the equations developed in
floating-point format are converted to fixed-point format.
For an n-bit fixed point processor, let the floating-point number f be represented as F
in the fixed-point notation. The fixed point numbers are often associated with a b-number
which indicates the number of bits present in the fraction part of the number. In other
words the b-number points to the location of the binary point in an n-bit number. Thus, F
is represented as F (n, b) where b is called the b-number of F. The integer part and the
fraction part of a fixed point number are illustrated in Figure 4.1. The selection of the b-
number is generally based on the number of bits required to represent the integer part of
the floating-point number, i.e., if a bits are required to represent the integer part of a
floating-point number, the b number is given by (n-a). This is to ensure that the fixed-
point representation of the number comes with as many fraction bits as possible. The
fixed-point number F is obtained from the floating-point number f from the equation
F (n, b) = |_f × 2b_|, where |_._| denotes the floor function. A floating-point equivalent can
be reconstructed using f1 = F/2b. Mostly due to the truncation error, the floating-point
reconstruction f1 is not exactly equal to f.
4.2 Fixed-Point Arithmetic rules.
The rules for fixed-point arithmetic and the procedure for converting floating-point
computations to fixed-point computations are presented in this section.
Let F1 and F2 be two fixed-point numbers with b-numbers b1 and b2 respectively.
59
According to the rules for fixed-point arithmetic, multiplication of F1 and F2 results in a
fixed-point number F3 whose b-number is given by sum of the two individual b-numbers
i.e. b3=b1+b2. Thus in general, multiplication of P (n, b1) with Q (n, b2) results in (PQ)
(2n, b1+b2). The data flow diagram for this case is illustrated in Figure 4.2.
Figure 4.1: The integer and fraction parts of a fixed-point number.
Consider an example involving the multiplication of two floating-point numbers 0.75
and 3.125 in an 8-bit fixed-point processor. The product should be 2.3438. The result in a
fixed-point processor can be obtained in the following steps.
1) 0.75 can be represented in an 8-bit processor with 8 bits of fraction as 0.75 × 28 = 192
and so is represented as 192(8, 8).
2) For 3.125, two bits must be used for the integer part, leaving rest of the 6 bits for
fraction. 3.125 × 26 =200, so 3.125 is represented as 200(8, 6).
3) Finally multiplication in fixed-point implementation is 192 × 200 = 38400(16, 14).
60
The original floating point product or result can be obtained back from this fixed-point
representation as 38400/ 214 = 2.3438. Figure 4.2 shows the data flow diagram
representation of this multiplication.
It is significant to know that multiplying a number by 2m is equivalent to shifting the
number towards the left by m bits and dividing a number by 2m is equivalent to shifting
the number towards the right by m bits.
Figure 4.2: Data flow diagrams for general fixed-point multiplication and for the example
0.75 × 3.125.
Addition or subtraction of two fixed-point numbers on a fixed-point processor
requires the operands to possess a common b-number. Further upon performing the
operation, the resulting fixed-point number will possess the same b-number. In general,
addition of P(n,b) with Q(n,b) will result in (P+Q) (n,b). The data flow diagram for this
case is illustrated in Figure 4.3.
61
In order to understand the process of addition of two floating-point numbers in an 8-bit
fixed-point processor, let us consider an example wherein two floating-point numbers
0.75 and 3.125 are added together to yield 3.8750. The result in a fixed-point processor is
obtained as follows.
1) 0.75 can be represented in an 8-bit processor with 8 bits of fraction as 0.75 × 28 = 192
and so is represented as 192(8, 8).
2) For 3.125, two bits must be used for the integer part, leaving rest of the 6 bits for
fraction. 3.125 × 26 =200, so 3.125 is represented as 200(8, 6).
3) As mentioned previously, addition of two numbers is possible only when they have
same b-numbers. Thus, one of the numbers has to be shifted either towards the left or
towards the right so that the two operands have the same b-number. Here the operand
192(8, 8) is shifted right by two bits to get 48(8, 6). It can be observed that this kind of
shifting implies the loss of two bits of precision at the least significant end.
4) Fixed-point addition 48+200=248 (8, 6).
The original floating-point result can be obtained back from 248 as 248/26 = 3.8750.
Figure 4.3 illustrates the data flow diagram representation of the addition example.
In both the examples that were provided above, the operands could be represented as
powers of two with a small number of bits and therefore the fixed-point addition and
62
Figure 4.3: Data flow diagrams for general fixed-point addition and for the example
0.75+3.125.
multiplication operations yielded perfectly matching or ideal results. But in practice, all
the numbers cannot be represented as sums of powers of two using a fixed number of
bits. For example, if we want to add two floating-point numbers like 0.7 and 0.45 then the
first step is to convert them into fixed-point numbers. So 0.7 and 0.45 are approximated
as closely as possible using eight bits, as 179(8, 8) and 115(8, 8) respectively. Now it is
clearly seen that the fixed point result which is 294(8, 8) = 1.1484 does not exactly match
with the ideal solution of 1.15. The error in the result is due to quantization, as the
process of conversion from floating-point to fixed-point numbers involved some kind of
rounding off the digits.
63
4.3 Calibration of pressure sensor
The calibration of the pressure sensor MPXH6400AC6T1, analog to digital
conversion using PIC18F452, interfacing the sensor to the PIC and fixed point
implementation of the obtained pressure sensor transfer function are presented in this
section.
4.3.1 Analog-to-digital converter
Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) embedded inside the microcontroller (PIC) is
used to capture data from the pressure sensor. An ADC module, as the name suggests
converts the analog voltage V applied at its input to a digital number N with respect to
the reference voltage. The digital output N for an n-bit ADC module with a reference
voltage Vref is given by
Vout × 2 n
N= (4.1)
Vref
To obtain consistent analog-to-digital conversion, the ADC module of the PIC
therefore requires a constant reference voltage. The reference voltage to the ADC module
by default is the supply voltage to the PIC.
Any physical parameter can be measured with the help of this ADC module;
provided that a sensor which generates voltage proportional to the physical quantity
exists. The process of converting the digital output N back to into engineering units for
the physical quantity is handled by the code embedded by the user in the PIC. The
following section explains how the transfer function for the pressure sensor was
64
determined, so that the captured ADC data can be mapped back to the original pressure
being measured.
4.3.2 Pressure sensor
A pressure sensor senses the pressure and generates a voltage proportional to the
pressure. The pressure sensor MPXH6400AC6T1 produced by Motorola which can
measure pressure in the range 20kPa to 400kPa is used here. The power supply voltage
range of this sensor is 4.64V to 5.36V and it operates in the temperature range -40°C to
125°C. The pressure sensor is an 8 pin device with pins 1,5,6,7 and 8 being the internal
device connections (NC). Pins 2 and 3 serve as the power supply and ground respectively
while pin 4 generates a voltage Vout proportional to the pressure, which is interfaced to
the PIC’s ADC. The diagram for interfacing the pressure sensor to the PIC is shown in
Figure 4.4.
In order to take experimental data, the pressure sensor is fitted inside an air filled
enclosure or portable air tank to ensure that required amount of pressure can be applied as
desired by the user. The readings for output voltage versus absolute pressure for different
supply voltages are recorded and plotted in excel and the calibration curves for the
pressure sensor were obtained. It is observed that the curves are linear and parametric for
different supply voltages and pressures. The datasheet of MPXH6400AC6T1 reveals that
its transfer function is of the form shown in equation 4.2.
Vout = a × P + b (4.2)
65
The constants a and b in the transfer function of the pressure sensor are obtained by
varying the pressure and measuring the voltage obtained at the sensor output. Voltages
from the pressure sensor are obtained by varying the pressure from 100kPa to 400kPa in
steps of 20kPa.
Figure 4.4: Interfacing pressure sensor MPXH6400AC6T1 to PIC18F452.
Table 4.1 shows the voltages obtained experimentally from the pressure sensor at a
supply voltage of 5V.
66
Table 4.1: Voltages obtained from pressure sensor for various pressures at 5V supply.
Pressure (kPa) Sensor voltage (V)
100 1.15
120 1.38
140 1.6
160 1.86
180 2.1
200 2.35
220 2.6
240 2.89
260 3.08
280 3.32
300 3.59
320 3.82
340 4.05
360 4.29
380 4.54
400 4.78
Figure 4.5 shows the plot of the sensor output voltage as a function of absolute pressure
for 5V supply voltage.
67
Figure 4.5: Pressure sensor calibration.
The constants a and b are obtained by using a linear curve fit as 0.0122 and -0.0783
respectively. Therefore the transfer function of the pressure sensor is
V = 0.0122 × P-0.0783 (4.3)
And the pressure is given by
P = 81.9672131 × Vout+6.41803279 (4.4)
Using the transfer function of the ADC module and the transfer function of the
pressure sensor, the actual pressure in kPa can be reconstructed in the PIC using
81.9672131 × N × Vref
P= + 6.41803279 (4.5)
210
where
68
N = Digital output of the ADC
n=10 (10-bit ADC)
Vref = 5V
4.3.3 Fixed-point implementation of the sensor transfer function
The implementation of transfer function of the pressure sensor in a fixed-point
processor is illustrated here. The transfer function of the pressure sensor is given as
81.9672131 × N × Vref
P= + 6.41803279 (4.6)
210
N
We can substitute the value for Vref and also can be written as N (16, 10). Thus
210
the pressure is given by
P = 409.8361 × N(16,10) + 6.41803279 (4.7)
For implementation purposes 409.8361 and 6.41803279 must be converted to fixed-
point. Table 4.2 shows the representation of constants in the pressure sensor transfer
function in fixed point format.
Table 4.2: Representation of constants in the pressure sensor transfer function.
Floating-point value Fixed-point format
409.8361 13115 (16,5)
6.41803279 52577 (16,13)
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The result obtained from 13115(16, 5) × N (16, 10) i.e. (32, 15) is shifted left by 2 bits so
as to have the same b numbers such that (32, 13) can be added to 52577(16, 13). Figure
4.6 shows the fixed-point implementation of the transfer function.
4.4 PIC programming
This section presents the details of software programming of PIC18F452 MCU so as
to operate in SLEEP mode and perform different functions such as turning on the
pressure sensor at regular intervals of time specified by the user, conversion of analog
voltage outputs from pressure sensor to their corresponding digital values of pressure and
serial transmission of this data at user specified instants to the computer display using
RS232 communication interface.
Figure 4.6: Fixed-point implementation of pressure sensor transfer function.
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4.4.1 PIC18F452
The microcontroller used in this thesis work belongs to the high-performance,
enhanced flash microcontroller PIC18FXX2 family from Microchip. PIC18F452 is a 40-
pin microcontroller with 10-bit Analog-to-Digital converter and most importantly a
power saving feature called SLEEP mode. It is based on low power, high speed CMOS
technology which can operate over a wide voltage range of 2.0V to 5.5V and also offers a
wide selection of peripheral features such as the timers, interrupts, USART, etc. The C
compiler optimized architecture/instruction set of PIC18F452 allows the programming to
be done in “C” language instead of assembly language. The pin diagram of PIC18F452 is
illustrated in the Figure 4.7 [29].
Figure 4.7: Pin configuration of PIC18F452 [29].
71
4.4.2 Hardware and software developments tools
The hardware and software development tools from Microchip that support
PIC18F452 micro controllers are listed in this section.
1. MPLAB Integrated Development Environment Software: MPLAB IDE is a Windows
based application which supports various debugging tools in a single development
platform [34]. MPLAB IDE allows one to edit source files, compile and download to
PICmicro emulator and simulator tools and also helps to debug using source files,
absolute listing file or machine code [31].
2. MPASM Assembler: The MPASM assembler is a full-featured universal macro
assembler for all PICmicro MCUs [29].
3. MPLAB C18 C Compiler: The MPLAB C18 Code Development System is a complete
ANSI ‘C’ compiler for PIC18F452 which provides powerful integration capabilities,
superior code optimization and ease of use [29].
4. MPLAB ICD 2 In-Circuit Debugger: This is a low cost development tool which
connects a PC and the designer’s target board for direct in-circuit debugging of the
PICmicro target microcontroller [31]. MPLAB ICD 2 allows users to download programs
to be executed in real time or single step, establish watch variables, set break points,
complete memory read/writes, etc. This also serves as a development programmer for the
target PICmicro microcontroller [31].
5. MPLAB ICE In-Circuit Emulator: The In-circuit emulator is intended to provide the
product development engineer with a complete microcontroller design tool for high end
72
PICmicro microcontrollers [29]. Software control of this emulator is provided by the
MPLAB IDE, which allows editing, building, downloading, and source debugging from a
single environment [29].
5. PICDEM 2 Plus Demonstration Board: The PICDEM 2 Plus is a simple board which
demonstrates the capabilities of the 18, 28 and 40-pin PIC16 and PIC18 devices [30].
This demonstration board can be used stand-alone with a programmed part, with an in-
circuit emulator (e.g., MPLAB® ICE) or with an in-circuit debugger (e.g., MPLAB ICD
2) [30]. Figure 4.8 illustrates the PICDEM 2 Plus demonstration board.
The PICDEM 2 Plus demonstration board has the following hardware features [30]:
1: 18, 28 and 40-pin DIP sockets.
2: On-board +5V regulator for direct input from 9V, 100 mA AC/DC wall adapter or 9V
battery, or hooks for a +5V, 100 mA regulated DC supply.
3: RS-232 socket and associated hardware for direct connection to an RS-232 interface.
4: In-Circuit Debugger (ICD) connector.
5: 5 KΩ pot for devices with analogue inputs.
6: Three push button switches for external stimulus and Reset.
7: Green power-on indicator LED.
8: Four red LEDs connected to PORTB.
9: Jumper J6 to disconnect LEDs from PORTB.
10: 4 MHz canned crystal oscillator.
11: Unpopulated holes provided for crystal connection.
12: 32768 Hz crystal for Timer1 clock operation.

73
13: Jumper J7 to disconnect on-board RC oscillator (approximately 2 MHz).
14: 32K x 8 Serial EEPROM.
15: LCD display.
16: Piezo buzzer
17: Prototype area for user hardware.
18: Microchip TC74 thermal sensor.
Figure 4.8: Microchip PICDEM2 Plus Hardware (Figure courtesy of Microchip® Inc
[30]).
74
4.5 Sleep mode
This section describes the important aspects of the special SLEEP feature of the PIC
whose effective use has resulted in achieving low power consumption.
4.5.1 Definition of sleep mode
Most modern MCUs on current market are available with a power saving feature
called SLEEP. Implementation of this mode essentially implies that the operation of the
programs are halted, and the MCU enters a low-power, idle mode, drawing only enough
current to keep it alive.
Figure 4.9: PICDEM 2 PLUS connected To MPLAB ICD 2 using USB [30].
75
4.5.2 Importance of SLEEP mode
The TPMS as discussed earlier monitors air pressure in the tire and sends this
information to the display unit inside the car. This can be done in two ways:
• Measure pressure on a continuous basis.
• Measure pressure at regular time intervals.
Since the focus is on designing a low power TPMS, measuring pressure at regular
intervals of time proves advantageous. This can also be accounted to the fact that in cases
where pressure inside the tires does not vary rapidly from one instant to another,
continuous measurement of pressure only results in higher power consumption. Therefore
the microcontroller needs to be active or ON only for a small period of time required to
perform ADC and can be switched OFF until the next interrogation. So the most efficient
way to accomplish this is to put the microcontroller to SLEEP and wake it up using
interrupts at regular intervals. This explains the importance of SLEEP mode.
In SLEEP mode the microcontroller is supposed to consume minimal power. The
behavior of microcontroller during the SLEEP mode can be monitored by observing the
waveforms on the oscilloscope and determining the duty cycle of the necessary
waveforms.
4.5.3 Implementation of Sleep mode in PIC18F452.
The two main operating modes of PIC18F452 MCU are known as Active mode and
SLEEP mode. In the active mode, the MCU runs at 4MHz i.e., at the speed of the crystal
oscillator. The MCU can also run on other types of clock sources such as the crystal
oscillator and the Timer1 oscillator. Timer 1 oscillator is enabled by setting the control
76
bit T1OSCEN (T1CON<3>) [29]. The crystal oscillator circuit is built-in between pins
T1OSI (input) and T1OSO (amplifier output) [29]. The oscillator is a low power
oscillator rated up to 200 kHz and will continue to run even during the SLEEP mode
[29]. It is primarily intended for a 32 kHz crystal [29]. In order to provide charge-up for
Timer 1 oscillator, two 33pF capacitors are required.
A crystal oscillator, usually a quartz resonator is required to be connected between
the OSC1 and OSC2 pins for standard operation of the MCU. This crystal is supported by
two 33pF charge-up capacitors and can speed as high as 40 MHz for up to 10 MIPS
operation. Clearly it is advantageous to use the high speed crystal for quick operation but
this comes at the cost of higher current drawn by the PIC.
In general, in PIC MCUs this power-down mode is entered by executing a SLEEP
instruction [29]. The main device oscillator is turned off, so no system clocks are
occurring in the device, with the exception of the optional Timer1 oscillator and the
Watch-Dog timer (WDT), if enabled.
For lowest current consumption in this mode [29],
1) All I/O pins must be placed either at VDD or VSS.
2) External circuitry must not draw any current from the I/O pins.
3) ADC module must be powered-down.
4) External clocks must be disabled.
5) All I/O pins that are hi-impedance inputs must be pulled high or low externally, to
avoid switching currents caused by floating inputs.
6) The T0CKI input should also be at VDD or VSS.
7) The MCLR pin must be at a logic high level.
77
Whenever the SLEEP instruction is executed by the device, the on-chip clocks and
oscillators are turned off. This means that the device is held at the beginning of an
instruction cycle. Because of this OSC1 and OSC2 signals will stop oscillating. Since all
the transistor switching currents have been removed, SLEEP mode achieves the lowest
current consumption of the device (only leakage currents) [29]. Enabling any on-chip
feature that will operate during SLEEP will increase the current consumed during SLEEP
[29]. The device can be woken up from SLEEP by enabling an external RESET,
watchdog timer RESET or through an interrupt.
The device can wake-up from SLEEP through the following list of events:
1. External RESET input on MCLR pin.
2. Watchdog Timer Wake-up (if WDT was enabled).
3. Interrupt from INT pin, RB port change or a Peripheral Interrupt.
Some of the peripheral interrupts that can wake-up the device from SLEEP are as
follows:
1. TMR1 interrupt. Timer1 must be operating as an asynchronous counter.
2. TMR3 interrupt. Timer3 must be operating as an asynchronous counter.
3. Special event trigger (Timer1 in Asynchronous mode using an external clock).
4. USART RX or TX (Synchronous Slave mode).
5. Low Voltage Detect (LVD) interrupt.
PIC18F452 has a free running on-chip RC oscillator known as Watchdog Timer (WDT)
which does not require any external components and is separate from the RC oscillator of
the OSC1/CLKI pin. That means that the WDT will continue to run even after the
execution of a SLEEP instruction. If the device is in normal operation, a WDT time-out
78
generates a RESET known as the Watchdog Timer Reset where as if the device is in
SLEEP mode, a WDT time-out causes the device to wake-up and continue with normal
operation. The TO bit in the RCON register will be cleared upon a WDT time-out so that
the programmer can find out if a reset has been due to the WDT, by examining this bit
[29]. The Watchdog Timer is enabled and disabled by a device configuration bit. Thus to
ensure that the MCU wakes up from SLEEP only on the arrival of desired interrupt, the
WDT has been disabled here.
The following interrupts need to be enabled in order to be able to wake-up the
device from SLEEP:
1) Global Interrupt Enable (Configure INTCONbits.GIE = 1)
2) Peripheral Interrupt Enable (Configure INTCONbits.PEIE = 1)
3) Interrupt Priority level Enable (Configure RCONbits.IPEN = 1)
4.5.4 SLEEP mode and the pressure sensor
The pressure sensor MPXH6400C6T1 is interfaced to PIC18F452 to obtain the
pressure readings. As mentioned in the previous section, the microcontroller will be in
SLEEP mode whenever there is no need to measure pressure. Thus the pressure sensor
also can be turned OFF during this time interval and can be turned ON (with the help of
an output pin RD4 of the microcontroller) when ever the microcontroller wakes up from
sleep. This helps to minimize the power consumption. The SLEEP mode is intended only
for a 32 kHz crystal and hence a separate 32 kHz crystal is used in the test circuit.
The embedded program enables the MCU to perform the following functions at
regular user defined intervals of time:
79
1) Initially MCU will be in SLEEP mode i.e. when the car is not turned ON.
2) Wakes up from SLEEP on an interrupt.
3) Turns ON the pressure sensor.
4) Performs analog to digital conversion.
5) Turns OFF the pressure sensor.
6) Goes back to SLEEP.
In order to turn ON the pressure sensor, a supply voltage in the range 4.64V to
5.36V is required. But the voltage supplied by the output pin on the MCU was not
sufficient to turn the pressure sensor ON completely. This issue led to the incorporation
of a p-channel MOSFET IRF9640 in to the circuit. The two important parameters that
determine the power loss in a MOSFET when it is ON are its drain-to-source resistance
and the current that flows through it. Thus in order to have minimum power loss, the
MOSFET with a very low drain-to source resistance (RON) must be chosen. The IRF9640
MOSFET has a small drain to source resistance of 0.500Ω and is rated for a maximum
current of 11A, maximum drain-to-source voltage of 200 and a maximum power
dissipation of 125W. The MOSFET is controlled by the PIC18F452.
The output pin RD4 on the PIC is connected to the gate of this MOSFET, the drain
of which is connected to the input pin of the pressure sensor and the source of the
MOSFET is connected to the supply voltage. Now the microcontroller is programmed so
as to set a logic ‘0’ value on the output pin RD4 to turn this MOSFET ON because a low
value on the gate of a p-channel MOSFET turns it ON. Thus whenever the
microcontroller wakes up from sleep, it turns ON the MOSFET which in turn turns ON
80
the pressure sensor and the process of analog to digital conversion follows in order to
obtain the pressure reading. The SLEEP mode is illustrated in Figure 4.10.
4.5.5 Analog to digital conversion
PIC18F452 has five I/O ports namely A, B, C, D and E, out of which port A and
port D are configured here as analog input and digital output ports respectively. The
analog output voltage from pin 4 of the pressure sensor is given as input to the analog pin
AN1 of the microcontroller which is then converted into the corresponding digital value
of pressure. This pressure value is then stored in a register.
4.5.6 Serial transmission of pressure data
The microcontroller stores the pressure reading in the assigned register every time
an analog to digital conversion occurs. However this pressure reading needs to be
displayed using some sort of communication interface for human interpretation. So there
has to be a well defined form of serial transmission from the tire to the display unit inside
the car. PIC18F452 has two serial I/O modules. Universal Synchronous Asynchronous
Receiver Transmitter (USART) is one of the I/O modules and supports RS-232
communication. Thus the microcontroller is programmed to enable this feature. The
pressure data is sent to the RS-232 serial port using the USART on the PIC MCU. Finally
a Hyper Terminal program on the PC will be able to display the pressure information.
81
Figure 4.10: Illustration of SLEEP mode in PIC18F452.
Initially the microcontroller was programmed to measure pressure at regular
intervals of 30 seconds. Therefore it becomes essential to transmit the measured pressure
data serially for every 30 seconds. However this kind of transmission proved to be
wasteful of power as the pressure values were transmitted to the display unit every 30
seconds even though there was no significant change in the pressure reading. Further this
kind of transmission would not be significant to the vehicle drivers as they cannot keep
looking at the same pressure reading on a continuous basis. Since most of the power is
consumed during RF transmission process, the microcontroller now has been
programmed in such a way that it measures pressure at regular intervals of time (30
seconds) and stores the pressure value in the assigned register but transmits this value of
pressure to the display unit inside the vehicle only at two instants of time:
82
i. First time the car is turned ON.
ii. Next time only when there is a significant change in the pressure reading (like
about 10 kPa as set by the user).
4.6 Software Implementation-Algorithm and Flow-chart
The algorithm, flow chart and the source code (C program using MPLAB C18 C
compiler) that were implemented in the MCU PIC18F452 are presented in this section.
4.6.1 Algorithm
The pressure sensor MPXH6400C6T1 is interfaced to the microcontroller
PIC18F452 so that the MCU controls the processes such as measurement and
transmission of pressure readings. The steps involved for initializing the MCU
PIC18F452 are as follows:
1) Initialize the I/O ports as required. Here port A is configured as analog input port and
port D is configured as the digital output port.
2) Initialize the ADC module to perform the analog to digital conversion from the
channel to which the pressure sensor is connected.
3) Initialize Timer1 to generate high priority interrupt every 30s.
4) Initialize the I/O module USART to enable RS-232 for serial communication.
After completion of this initialization process, the following steps are executed every
time we run the embedded program:
Step 1: Turn ON the MOSFET upon the arrival of TIMER 1 interrupt.
Step 2: Perform ADC.
83
Step 3: Store the pressure reading in the register.
Step 4: Transmit this pressure reading serially using RS-232 cable to the hyper terminal
program on the PC.
Step 5: Turn the pressure sensor OFF.
Step 6: Go to SLEEP.
Step 7: Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3. Go to step 4 if the difference in pressure values is at least
10kPa.
RESET=0 if the difference in old pressure value and new pressure value is at least
10kPa else RESET =1.
Step 8: Repeat steps 5, 6 and 7.
4.6.2 Flowchart
Figure 4.11 illustrates the flowchart for software implementation in PIC18F452
microcontroller.
84
Figure 4.11: Flowchart for software implementation in PIC18F452.
85
4.6.3 Source code
The PIC18F452 is programmed in C language with the help of MPLAB C18 C
Compiler. After verifying the operation of the microcontroller in the “debug” mode, it is
programmed in the “release” mode and placed on the bread board to evaluate the current
consumption. The circuit connections remain the same except that a separate 4 MHz
crystal is required on the bread board for normal operation of the microcontroller in
active mode.
LISTING:
#include<p18f452.h>
long int intermediate, pressure, oldadc, newadc;
int dummyprescaler=0;
int reset=0;
void uartinit(void);
void transmit(char);
void delay(void);
void manipulate(long int);
void high_isr (void);
void InterruptHandlerHigh(void);
void main(void)
{
int i;
for(i=1;i<100;i++)
delay();
// Initialization
TRISD=0x00; // Port D as digital output
TRISA=0xff; // Port A as analog input
PORTDbits.RD6=1;
PORTDbits.RD5=1;
PORTDbits.RD4=1;
// Timer initialization
// Timer1 is configured as 16 bit timer/counter
T1CONbits.RD16=1;
// Prescaler 1:8
T1CONbits.T1CKPS1=1;
T1CONbits.T1CKPS0=1;
// Enable Timer1 oscillator

T1CONbits.T1OSCEN=1;
86
// Use external clock source
T1CONbits.TMR1CS=1;
T1CONbits.T1SYNC=1;
// Set timer1 to high priority interrupt
IPR1bits.TMR1IP=1;
// Enable Timer1 interrupt
PIE1bits.TMR1IE=1;
// To wakeup from sleep
RCONbits.IPEN=1; // Interrupt priority enable
INTCONbits.GIE=1; // Global interrupt enable
INTCONbits.PEIE=1; // Peripheral interrupt enable
// Wake up every 30 seconds
TMR1H=0x8a;
TMR1L=0xd0;
// To enable Timer1
T1CONbits.TMR1ON=1;
uartinit();
// ADC initialization
// A/D conversion clock selection bits
ADCON0bits.ADCS1=1;
ADCON0bits.ADCS0=1;
// Port A as analog port
ADCON1bits.PCFG3=0;
ADCON1bits.PCFG2=0;
ADCON1bits.PCFG1=0;
ADCON1bits.PCFG0=1;
// Selecting Channel 1(AN1)
ADCON0bits.CHS2=0;
ADCON0bits.CHS1=0;
ADCON0bits.CHS0=1;
ADCON0bits.ADON=1;
ADCON1bits.ADFM=1;
while(1)
{
oldadc=newadc;
PORTDbits.RD5=~PORTDbits.RD5;
if(dummyprescaler==4)
{
// Pin to turn ON MOSFET and in turn the pressure sensor
PORTDbits.RD4=0;
delay();
delay();
dummyprescaler=0;
// ADC function
ADCON0bits.GO=1;
87
while(ADCON0bits.GO==1);
ADCON0bits.GO=0;
pressure=((int)ADRESH<<8)+ADRESL;
newadc=pressure;
intermediate=13115*pressure;
pressure=(intermediate>>2)+52577;
if(reset==0)
{
manipulate(pressure);
delay();
transmit(13);
delay();
transmit(10);
reset=1;
}
if((oldadc>newadc?oldadc-newadc:newadc-oldadc)>25)
reset=0;
}
// To turn OFF the pressure sensor
PORTDbits.RD4=1;
Sleep();
}
}
void transmit(char reg)
{
// Transmit status and control register: transmit enable bit
TXSTAbits.TXEN=1;
delay();
// USART Transmit register
TXREG=reg;
while(!TXSTAbits.TRMT);
// Transmit shift reg status bit
TXSTAbits.TRMT=1;
}
void uartinit(void)
{
SPBRG=26; //BAUD RATE
TXSTAbits.BRGH=1; // Baud rate set high
TXSTAbits.SYNC=0; // Asynchronous mode
RCSTAbits.SPEN=1; // Serial port enable bit
}
void delay(void)
{
int i;
for (i=0;i<100;i++)
88
{
}
}
void manipulate(long int b)
{
char digit;
int i,j;
long int num,div;
num=b;
for(i=8;i>=1;i--)
{
div=1;
j=i-1;
while(j)
{
div=10*div;
j--;
}
digit=(num/div);
transmit(digit+0x30); //ASCII
delay();
num=num-digit*div;
}
}
//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// High priority interrupt vector
#pragma code InterruptVectorHigh = 0x08
void
InterruptVectorHigh (void)
{
_asm
goto InterruptHandlerHigh //jump to interrupt routine
_endasm
}
//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// High priority interrupt routine
#pragma code
#pragma interrupt InterruptHandlerHigh
void
InterruptHandlerHigh ()
{
if (PIR1bits.TMR1IF)
{ // Check for TMR1 overflow
PIR1bits.TMR1IF=0;
TMR1H=0x8a;
TMR1L=0xd0;
89
dummyprescaler++;
}
}
4.7 Circuit connections
The circuit diagram depicting the entire essential inter-connections between the
microcontroller, the MOSFET and the pressure sensor is illustrated in Figure 4.12.
4.8 List of hardware components
Table 4.3 gives the list of hardware components that have been used in this thesis.
Table 4.3: List of hardware components.
Name Identification Quantity
Microcontroller PIC18F452 1
Pressure sensor MPXH6400AC6T1 1
MOSFET IRF9640 1
Resistor 51kΩ 1
Capacitor 100nF 1
Capacitor 47pF 1
Capacitor 33pF 2
Capacitor 15pF 2
Crystal 4MHz 1
Crystal 32kHz 1
Demonstration board PICDEM 2 PLUS from 1

Microchip
90
Figure 4.12: Circuit diagram for interfacing the pressure sensor and the microcontroller.
91
4.9 Conclusions
This chapter presents the software and hardware details of the proposed low power
method. Pressure sensor used for measuring the pressure of the tire is calibrated and its
transfer function is obtained. The pressure sensor is interfaced to PIC18F452 and SLEEP
mode is implemented in the microcontroller to achieve lower power consumption. The
important features of SLEEP mode are also discussed here. Details of the hardware
components, circuit diagrams, algorithm, flowchart and the C program essential for
implementation purpose are presented in this chapter.
92
CHAPTER V
RESULTS
This chapter puts forth all the real time pressure sensor calibration data, tables
illustrating the current consumed, average current calculations, and the related plots
obtained during the implementation of SLEEP mode. It also discusses the effect of
SLEEP mode in improving the battery life of an AA battery with the help of some
calculations.
5.1 Calibration curves
This section presents the data and plots acquired as part of calibration of the pressure
sensor (MPXH6400AC6T1) at different values of absolute pressures and supply voltages.
Tables 5.1 and 5.2 show the calibration data.
93
Table 5.1: Voltages obtained from the pressure sensor for various pressures and supply
voltages.
Supply voltage=5.0Vdc Supply voltage=4.0Vdc
Pressure (kPa) Sensor voltage(Volts) Pressure (kPa) Sensor voltage(Volts)
100 1.15 100 0.91
120 1.38 120 1.08
140 1.6 140 1.22
160 1.86 160 1.36
180 2.1 180 1.48
200 2.35 200 1.73
220 2.6 220 1.88
240 2.89 240 2.07
260 3.08 260 2.29
280 3.32 280 2.49
300 3.59 300 2.68
320 3.82 320 2.87
340 4.05 340 3.07
360 4.29 360 3.28
380 4.54 380 3.47
400 4.78 400 3.63
94
Table 5.1: Voltages obtained from the pressure sensor for various pressures and supply
voltages (continued).
Supply voltage=3.0Vdc Supply voltage=2.0Vdc
Pressure (kPa) Sensor voltage(Volts) Pressure (kPa) Sensor voltage(Volts)
100 0.68 100 0.45
120 0.8 120 0.6
140 0.9 140 0.64
160 1.02 160 0.69
180 1.14 180 0.76
200 1.29 200 0.86
220 1.41 220 0.95
240 1.56 240 1.04
260 1.71 260 1.14
280 1.85 280 1.25
300 2.01 300 1.33
320 2.15 320 1.44
340 2.29 340 1.54
360 2.44 360 1.63
380 2.58 380 1.74
400 2.75 400 1.81
95
Table 5.2: Sensor voltages obtained for supply voltage for varying pressures.
Supply voltage Supply voltage Supply voltage Supply voltage

(volts) (volts) (volts) (volts)
2 3 4 5
Absolute Sensor Sensor Sensor Sensor

pressure (kPa) voltage(Volts) voltage(Volts) voltage(Volts) voltage(Volts)
100 0.45 0.68 0.91 1.15
200 0.86 1.29 1.73 2.35
300 1.33 2.01 2.68 3.59
400 1.81 2.75 3.63 4.78
The calibration curves obtained for the pressure sensor exhibit linear and parametric
behavior. This is illustrated in Figure 5.1.
5.2 Current consumption
The current consumed by the microcontroller and the pressure sensor at a supply
voltage of 5V was measured experimentally and tabulated as shown in Table 5.3. Both
the SLEEP current and the ON current are recorded in this Table.
96
SENSOR VOLTAGE Vs SUPPLY VOLTAGE FOR
VARYING PRESSURES
5
100 kPa
4.5 200 kPa
4 300 kPa
Sensor Voltage (in volts) 400 kPa
3.5
2.5
1.5
0.5
0
2 3 4 5
Supply voltage (in volts )
Figure 5.1: Linear and parametric behavior of the pressure sensor.
Table 5.3: Current consumed by the pressure sensor and the microcontroller.
Component Power Current consumption

supply
Pressure sensor 5V 4.85mA
Microcontroller 5V ON Sleep mode Average
2.23mA With Without With Without
BOD BOD BOD BOD
53 µA 17 µA 63.8µA 28 µA
From the duty cycle taken from the oscilloscope it has been observed that the times for
which the microcontroller is in SLEEP and active modes are TSLEEP = 29.3 seconds and
97
TACTIVE = 0.1465 seconds respectively. Now the average current consumed by the PIC is
calculated using equation 5.1.
I ACTIVE × T ACTIVE + I SLEEP × TSLEEP

I AVERAGE = (5.1)
T ACTIVE + TSLEEP
The SLEEP and active times as found previously and the values for SLEEP and
active currents IACTIVE and ISLEEP are taken from Table 5.3 in order to calculate the average
current IAVERAGE consumed by the microcontroller to perform the desired tasks. It was
observed that the current consumed by the microcontroller varied significantly with the
brown-out-detect feature. Initially when the brown-out-detect feature was enabled, the
current consumed by the PIC was found to be 53 µA. Later this feature was disabled in
the configuration settings and the current consumed by the PIC reduced drastically to
17µA from 53 µA. Therefore the average current also decreased from 63.8 µA to 28 µA.
It is evident from Table 5.3 showing the experimental data, that the pressure sensor
always consumes a current of 4.85 mA at a supply voltage of 5V or in other words the
ON current of the pressure sensor is 4.85 mA. Also the microcontroller consumes 2.23
mA of current to perform the desired task. Since the microcontroller here is programmed
to perform the same function at specific times or whenever required, it is obvious that the
time for which it stays in ACTIVE or ON mode is always fixed. It has been recorded that
the SLEEP current of the microcontroller is 17µA. Therefore the total amount of current
consumed by both the microcontroller and the pressure sensor while turned ON is 7.08
98
mA. Now the average current consumed by them is calculated using the formula for
I AVERAGE listed in equation 5.1.
The average current consumed for different values of OFF times and a fixed value of
ON time is calculated and presented in Table 5.4. It can be observed from Figure 5.2 that
the average current consumption decreases with an increase in the SLEEP period TSLEEP.
This also results in a significant increase in the battery life and calculations are shown
with the help of an AA battery with 2800 mAh capacity leading to battery power
conservation. All the calculations and results tabulated here are for a supply voltage of
5V. Even lower current consumption can be achieved by considering certain factors such
as operating at lower supply voltages, using a microcontroller with lowest SLEEP and
ON currents and also by selecting a pressure sensor with a very low current consumption.
Table 5.4: Average current consumed by the pressure sensor and the microcontroller for
fixed ON time and varying OFF times.
TACTIVE TSLEEP Average Current (µA) Lifetime of an AA battery

(seconds) (seconds) consumed by the (in hours) with 2800 mAh
Fixed ON time Varying OFF pressure sensor and capacity
times the microcontroller
.1465 29.3 52.1393 53702.293 (6.130 years)
.1465 59.7 34.2897 81657.174 (9.321 years)
.1465 119.6 25.6410 109200.109 (12.465 years)
.1465 179.4 22.7630 123006.633 (14.041 years)
.1465 239.7 21.3141 131368.436 (14.996 years)
.1465 299.3 20.4555 136882.501 (15.625 years)
99
Average current consumed Vs OFF period
60
Average current in microamperes 50
40
30
20
10
0
50 100 150 200 250 300
TSLEEP or OFF period in seconds
Figure 5.2: Average current consumed by the pressure sensor and the microcontroller
while doing work versus the OFF or SLEEP time.
5.3 Conclusions
This chapter discussed the experimental results obtained as an important part of the
thesis work presented.
100
CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
The implementation of a tire pressure monitoring system in combination with a very
low power (active or passive) RFID was proposed in this thesis. The SLEEP mode in the
microcontroller was successfully implemented and the experimental results discussing
the current consumption in SLEEP and ACTIVE modes were presented. Further the
calculations and plots for average current consumed by the components for varying duty
cycles were also presented. The thesis work also discussed how the implementation of
SLEEP mode in the microcontroller resulted in the improvement of lifetime of a battery
leading to battery power conservation. The importance of SLEEP mode in achieving
lower currents was understood in much greater detail.
The thesis work proposes an idea of using a separate RFID circuit that is used to wake
up the pressure sensor, temperature sensor, etc., located inside the TPMS but does not
discuss its implementation which can be done in future.
In later years, TPMS will most likely be expected to incorporate new and more
features owing to the increasing safety standards in automotive industry. This could be
achieved in a number of ways like adding more sensors to the TPMS module in order to
101
provide data other than pressure, temperature, etc. or combining different information
sources like the integration between RKE and TPMS so as to communicate more
effectively with other parts of the vehicle. Moreover, adding wireless capabilities such as
Bluetooth to the TPMS would definitely make it simpler than other complicated methods.
As TPMS will become a standard safety feature on all vehicles, it is very important to
consider the methods that improve the battery life. Battery less TPMS based on
alternatives such as inductive coupling is also being developed so as to conserve battery
power. Here the TPMS will be equipped with a central transceiver which handles both
transmission and reception of transmitted values and a transponder utilizes power from
this transceiver to relay data from the sensors located inside the TPMS module. This
method eliminates batteries which were required previously to transmit data from the
sensors.
102
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LOW POWER TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM

The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron

of the Requirements for the Degree

Power management is considered to be an important aspect in designing battery

TPMS in combination with a separate Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) circuit,

off until the next interrogation.

The implementation of SLEEP mode to minimize power consumption is discussed in

AA battery with 2800mAh battery life.

Dedicated to my family, teachers and Kalyan Kaladhar.

and II Labs enjoyable and memorable.

infrastructure needed to complete my research work. I express my heartfelt gratitude to

a sweet smile right from the day I started my Master’s program.

and friends for their invaluable support and cooperation.

LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ xii

LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xiii

1.1. Goal of Research.....................................................................................................1

1.2. Major Focus ............................................................................................................2

1.3. Thesis outline..........................................................................................................5

II. FUNDAMENTAL THEORY........................................................................................7

2.1. Definition of Tire pressure monitoring system.......................................................7

2.2. Evolution of TPMS.................................................................................................8

2.3. TPMS concepts.......................................................................................................8

2.3.1. Types of TPMS ............................................................................................9

2.3.2. Direct Versus Indirect TPMS.....................................................................10

2.3.3. Operation of TPMS....................................................................................10

2.3.4. Applications and architectures of Tire pressure monitoring system..........11

2.4. Design challenges of TPMS .................................................................................13

2.6. Definition of RFID ...............................................................................................17

2.7. Components and Operation of RFID....................................................................17

2.7.1. Definition of RFID tag...............................................................................18

2.7.2. Definition of RFID reader..........................................................................18

2.7.3. Classification of RFID tags........................................................................18

2.7.4. Operation of RFID .....................................................................................20

2.8. Communication in wireless applications ..............................................................21

2.8.1. Transmission and reception of data in wireless applications.....................21

2.8.2. Encoding schemes......................................................................................21

2.8.4. Modulation techniques...............................................................................24

III. BACKGROUND AND RELATED WORK ...............................................................28

3.1. Power sources for TPMS ......................................................................................28

3.2. Current consumption in a TPMS module .............................................................30

3.2.1. RF transmission .........................................................................................31

3.2.2. CPU execution ...........................................................................................31

3.2.3. Motion detection ........................................................................................32

3.2.4. Power down current ...................................................................................33

3.3. Power management...............................................................................................33

3.3.1. Data management and strobe oscillator .....................................................35

3.3.2. Wake-up and sleep schedules ....................................................................38

3.4.1. RFID communication system ....................................................................39

3.4.2. Method to reduce power consumption of an active tag .............................41

3.4.3. A better method to reduce power consumption of an active tag................42

3.5. Tire pressure monitoring systems on current market ..........................................44

3.5.1. TPMS based on vehicle speed ...................................................................45

3.5.2. An integrated chip to monitor tire pressure ...............................................45

3.6. Energy harvesting .................................................................................................46

3.7. Hardware and software concepts of TPMS ..........................................................48

3.7.1. Inside the tire..............................................................................................48

3.7.2. Outside the tire...........................................................................................49

3.8. TPMS functionality ..............................................................................................51

3.8.1. TPMS Transmitter .....................................................................................51

3.8.3. TPMS Receiver..........................................................................................52

3.9. Tire losses and RFID ............................................................................................54

3.9.1. Composition of tires……………………………………………………...54

3.9.2. Cross-section of a tire ................................................................................55

3.9.3. Factors influencing the read range of RFID tags .......................................55