Measurements for TEG based Energy Harvesting for EQS-HBC Body Nodes and EM Emanations for Hardware Security

Sensing and communication circuits and systems are crucial components in various electronic devices and technologies. These systems are designed to acquire information from the surrounding environment through sensors, process that information, and facilitate communication between different devices or systems. It plays a vital role in modern electronic devices, enabling them to collect, process, and exchange information to perform various functions in applications such as IoB (Internet of Body), healthcare, hardware security, industrial automation, and more.

This work focuses on innovations in sensing and communication circuits spanning two independent application areas – human body communication and hardware emanations security.

First, an ultra-low power ECG monitoring system is implemented to perpetually power itself using Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) to harvest body energy while securely transmitting sensed data through on-body communication, achieving closed-loop operation without external charging or batteries. Custom circuits allow demonstrated feasibility of self-sustaining wearables leveraging Human Body Communication’s advantages.

Second, investigations reveal vulnerabilities introduced when repairing broken cables, with unintended monopole antennas boosting electromagnetic emissions containing signal correlations. Experiments characterize long-range detection regimes post-repair across USB keyboard cables. Further circuit and structural innovations provide localized shielding at repair points as a potential mitigation. Advancements offer contributions in understanding hardware emission security risks to inform protection strategies.

The two separate research work demonstrate specialized circuits advancing the state-of-the-art in sensing and communication for wearable body-based systems and hardware security through greater awareness of vulnerabilities from unintended emissions.