Research
List of Publications
For a complete and up-to-date list refer to Research Gate or ORCID.
Wake-up Receivers based on Commercial Off-The-Shelf Components: A Survey
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Journal article published in IEEE Journal of Microwaves
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
Real Comparator Behavior and Its Effect on Wake-Up Receivers
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for I²MTC 2026
Manuscript (PDF)
The Hidden Cost of Performance: How Microcontrollers Drain Batteries in Sensor-Integrating Machine Elements
Robert Fromm, Erich Knoll, Cedric Wagner, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for I²MTC 2026
Manuscript (PDF)
Analysis of Goertzel Filter Variants for Low-Power and Memory-Constrained Frequency Analysis
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for SSD 2026
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
Enhancing Wake-up Receiver Sensitivity Beyond –68 dBm Without Additional Power Consumption
Robert Fromm, Robert Thiel, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for Sensors 2025
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
Fitting Wake-Up Radio Communication in ISM Bands by Employing Signal Shaping
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for I²MTC 2025 received Best Paper Award (2nd place), see i2mtc2025.ieee-ims.org/program/2025-award-winners
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
The Necessity of Comparators in Wake-Up Receiver Circuits
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for SSD 2024
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
Quasi-Real-Time Wireless Communication Based on Wake-Up Receivers with a Latency Below 5 ms
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for I²MTC 2024
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
Univocal and Reliable Addressing Patterns for Wake-Up Receivers based on Low-Frequency Pattern Matchers
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Journal article published in IEEE Sensors Journal, 2024
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
An Improved Wake-Up Receiver Based on the Optimization of Low-Frequency Pattern Matchers
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, Faouzi Derbel
Journal article published in MDPI Sensors, 2023
DOI, PDF
Improved Wake-Up Receiver Architectures with Carrier Sense Capabilities for Low-Power Wireless Communication
Robert Fromm, Lydia Schott, and Faouzi Derbel
Book chapter, published 2022
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
Reliable Wake-up Receiver with Increased Sensitivity using Low-Noise Amplifiers
Robert Fromm, Olfa Kanoun, and Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for SSD 2022
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
An Efficient Low-power Wake-up Receiver Architecture for Power Saving for Transmitter and Receiver Communications
Robert Fromm, Lydia Schott, and Faouzi Derbel
Conference article for SENSORNETS 2021
DOI, Manuscript (PDF)
Wake-up Receiver
Wake-up receivers (WuRxs) are currently my main research topic and the topic of my upcoming dissertation. In the following some few words explaining the importance of WuRx:
The use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in research and industry is steadily increasing. WSNs are essential for the sensing and collection of environmental data in different application fields. Powering sensor nodes using small batteries is often mandatory. Recharging and swapping batteries is usually not possible or would lead to higher maintenance costs. Parameters like latency, transmission range, and sensitivity are likewise major parameters when designing the hardware of a sensor node.
A continuous or a real-time wireless communication is nowadays essential for many applications when building an autonomous WSN. To maintain such a wireless communication even with modern wireless transceivers would lead to a power consumption greater than 10 mW. In order to power such a sensor node for a long period with a battery, the receiving and sending intervals need to decrease significantly. This inevitably leads to increased latency and response times of the WSN.
A WuRx is a special RF receiver that enables the sensor node to be in a continuous receiving mode. Different approaches with passive and active components exist in order to keep the WuRx power consumption below 10 µW. The following figure shows how a WuRx can be integrated into a sensor node.
