At a Glance

CGPP3 2005/4

Recent studies like the TNO and Halmos

report for the Dutch government have
indicated that building Heating
Ventilation and Air Conditioning
(HVAC) systems are often operated
inefficiently with energy wastage as
high as 35%. A key factor in improving
efficiency is the comprehensive
deployment of indoor environment
sensors
monitoring
temperature,
humidity and potentially gases like CO2.
Today such deployment is greatly
limited by installation/wiring and
equipment costs.

A Silicon Single Chip Humidity

and Temperature Sensor

In this project ChipSensors Ltd (formerly

Cratlon Ltd) has developed a low cost,
silicon
microchip
sensor.
The
prototypes demonstrate humidity and
temperature sensing for use in Building
Energy
Management
(BEM)
applications, but the technology is also
applicable to other environmental and
energy sensitive applications, e.g.
monitoring of perishable goods, white
goods, etc. The commercial availability
of such cheap easily installed wireless
sensors will significantly cut energy
wastage in buildings.

ChipSensors Ltd
Block 2, International Business Centre,
Plassey Technology Park, Limerick.

ChipSensors Ltd (Cratlon Ltd)

ChipSensors
Ltd
(Cratlon
Ltd).
is
a
semiconductor company developing novel
sensors in foundry CMOS for temperature,
humidity, certain gases and pathogens. The
company was founded in 2003 and is located at
the International Business Centre on the campus
of the Limerick University. The company has
developed a number of wireless sensor modules
aimed at commercial building applications and
has successfully deployed this technology with a
leading
provider
of
Building
Energy
Management (BEM) solutions in Ireland.
In 2005 the company identified a trend in the
semiconductor industry to introduce new
materials and recognised the potential of these
porous oxide materials to produce embedded
sensors. ChipSensors Ltd (Cratlon Ltd) filed a
patent application in March 2005 and set about
transitioning the company to focus exclusively
on the embedded silicon sensor business.

Aim of this Project

The aim of the project is to develop a low cost
integrated humidity and temperature sensor
where sensor element and signal conditioning
electronics are combined in a silicon chip, see
Photo 1. The combination of innovative sensor
materials and silicon chip economies of scale
make it feasible to produce very low cost
building and environmental monitoring systems.
It is envisaged that the first commercial
application of this technology will be in building
management for energy conservation, but other
applications in supply chain and food monitoring
are also under consideration.

Photo 1: Prototype ChipSensors (Cratlon) Humidity

and Temperature Sensor Chips

Project Description

Proof of Concept
System Architecture, Modelling
Design of Sensor Test Structures
Design of Signal Conditioning Test Chip
Tape Out and Prototype Build
Analysis and Characterisation
Commercialisation

Proof of Concept
The proof of concept involved an investigation
of the fundamental relationship between
environmental moisture (humidity) and its effect
on semiconductor low-k dielectric materials.
An investigation into how sensors are used in a
Building Management System and an
examination of the various implementation,
communication and signal conditioning options,
was undertaken. Early stage humidity sensor
experiments were completed in conjunction
with the Tyndall Institute, Cork.
System Architecture, Modelling
Having demonstrated the effect of humidity and
temperature on a number of dielectric materials
the next task was to design sensitive signal
conditioning circuitry to accurately capture these
changes. A Switched Capacitor (SC) front-end
followed by a Sigma Delta ADC (Analog to
Digital Converter) was chosen. The design was
simulated at a high level with a C code model.
Design of Sensor Test Structures
The sensor works by exposing a sensitive
dielectric material to the environment and
measuring changes in its permittivity by use of a
differential
capacitor
technique.
The
reference/sense capacitor pair was designed to
meet sensitivity and linearity requirements.

Design Signal Conditioning Test Chip

This was the detailed transistor level design
and layout of the CMOS test chip. This was a
joint task undertaken with the Circuits and
Systems Research Centre at the University of
Limerick.
Tape Out and Prototype Build
The chip was manufactured by UMC in
Taiwan. Prototype packaged devices are
shown in Photo1
Analysis and Characterisation of Test
Structures
To characterise the prototype ChipSensors Ltd
(Cratlon Ltd) used a combination of standard
laboratory and custom built test harnesses.
Photo 2 shows the custom characterisation
boards. The small printed circuit board at the
top of the picture is referred to as the DUT
(Device Under Test) board. This houses the
sensor chip, some support electronics and
also a reference sensor. The DUT board is
connected to the display board via a ribbon
cable. The LCD displays 4 parameters the
humidity and temperature as measured by
the reference device and the Chipsensors
(Cratlon) prototype chip. The USB cable
shown connects to a PC for data logging and
analysis.
Commercialisation
ChipSensors (Cratlon) is actively pursuing
commercialisation of the sensor and has
spoken to leading manufacturers in the two
most commercially promising market
segments, HVAC and Data Logging and have
received a considerable level of interest.
Commercial discussions are ongoing.

Achievements

Cleaner Greener Production Programme

ChipSensors (Cratlon) through the

assistance of the EPA CGPP project has
successfully demonstrated a patent
pending innovative silicon chip sensor to
measure temperature and humidity.

The Cleaner Greener Production Programme

(CGPP) of the EPA was funded under the
National Development Plan 2000 2006. The
CGPP was launched in 2001 as a grant scheme
to Irish organisations to implement cleaner
greener practices while achieving significant
cost savings.

Prototypes have been built and evaluated

and
performance
compares
very
favourably to commercially available
discrete devices.
As the sensor is manufactured in standard
CMOS it offers a very cost effective
solution for building monitoring and other
energy saving and environmental sensing
applications.

Additional Information
For more information on this project contact:
Ray Speer, COO, ChipSensors Ltd
Block 2, International Business Centre,
Plassey Technology Park,
Limerick, Ireland
tel: +353 61 635732
email: ray.speer@chipsensors.com

Cleaner Greener Production is the application

of integrated preventive environmental
strategies to processes, products and services
to increase overall efficiency and reduce risks
to humans and the environment.
Production processes: conserving raw
materials and energy, eliminating toxic raw
materials, and reducing the quantity and
toxicity of all emissions and wastes.
Products: reducing negative impacts along
the life cycle of a product, from raw
materials extraction to its ultimate disposal.
Services: incorporating environmental
concerns into designing and delivering
services.
The programme aims are focussed on avoiding
and preventing adverse environmental impact
rather than treating or cleaning up afterwards.
This approach brings better economic and
environmental efficiency.
Under Phase 3 of CGPP, a number of
organisations were funded from a variety of
sectors (e.g. chemicals, food, metals,
electronics, service etc.). Major achievements
such as reductions in environmental impacts,
energy savings, economic savings, increased
competitiveness and patent applications
resulted from Phase 3.

The programme will continue to be funded by

the EPA in the NDP 2007-2013.
This case study report is one of the reports
available from the companies that
participated in the third phase of the
Cleaner Greener Production Programme.
A summary of all the projects and CD
containing all the reports are also
available.
Photo 2: Sensor Characterisation Board

More information on the programme is

available from the EPA:
Ms. Lisa Sheils or Dr Brian Donlon,
Environmental Protection Agency,
Richview, Clonskeagh Rd., Dublin 14, Ireland.
www.epa.ie/researchandeducation/research/