IF-sampling fourth-order bandpass /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator for digital receiver applications

Bandpass modulators sampling at high IFs (/spl sim/200 MHz) allow direct sampling of an IF signal, reducing analog hardware, and make it easier to realize completely software-programmable receivers. This paper presents the circuit design of and test results from a continuous-time tunable IF-sampling fourth-order bandpass /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator implemented in InP HBT IC technology for use in a multimode digital receiver application. The bandpass /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator is fabricated in AlInAs-GaInAs heterojunction bipolar technology with a peak unity current gain cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) of 130 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation (f/sub MAX/) of 130 GHz. The fourth-order bandpass /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator consists of two bandpass resonators that can be tuned to optimize both wide-band and narrow-band operation. The IF is tunable from 140 to 210 MHz in this /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator for use in multiple platform applications. Operating from /spl plusmn/5-V power supplies, the fabricated fourth-order /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator sampling at 4 GSPS demonstrates stable behavior and achieves a signal-to-(noise + distortion) ratio (SNDR) of 78 dB at 1 MHz BW and 50 dB at 60 MHz BW. The average SNDR performance measured on over 250 parts is 72.5 dB at 1 MHz BW and 47.7 dB at 60 MHz BW.     

A 1-MHz-bandwidth second-order continuous-time quadrature bandpass sigma-delta modulator for low-IF radio receivers

This paper presents a quadrature bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with continuous-time architecture. Due to the continuous-time architecture and the inherent anti-aliasing filter, the proposed /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator needs no additional anti-aliasing filter in front of the modulator in contrast to quadrature bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators with switched-capacitor architectures. The second-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator digitizes complex analog I/Q input signals at 1-MHz intermediate frequency and operates within a clock frequency range of 25-100 MHz. The modulator chip achieves a peak signal-to-noise-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 56.7 dB and a dynamic range of 63.8 dB within a 1-MHz signal bandwidth and at a clock frequency of 100 MHz. Furthermore, it provides an image rejection of at least 40 dB. The 0.65-/spl mu/m BiCMOS chip consumes 21.8 mW at 2.7-V supply voltage.     

A 75-dB image rejection IF-input quadrature-sampling SC /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ Modulator

Quadrature sampling of intermediate frequency (IF) signals is subject to the well-known problem of gain and phase mismatches between the in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) channels. This paper presents an IF-input quadrature-sampling switched-capacitor (SC) /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator that circumvents the I/Q mismatch problem by time-sharing between the I and Q channels the critical circuit components, namely, the sampling capacitor and the capacitor of the first-stage feedback digital-to-analog converter (DAC). In addition, a clocking scheme that is insensitive to I/Q phase imbalance is used. A third-order single-loop 1-bit low-pass modulator has been designed and fabricated in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS process with an active area of 0.57mm/sup 2/. The experimental results show that the modulator achieves an image-rejection ratio (IRR) of greater than 75dB throughout a 200-kHz signal bandwidth.     

A 1-V 10.7-MHz switched-opamp bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator using double-sampling finite-gain-compensation technique

A 1 V switched-capacitor (SC) bandpass sigma-delta (/spl Sigma//spl Delta/) modulator is realized using a high-speed switched-opamp (SO) technique with a sampling frequency of up to 50 MHz, which is improved ten times more than prior 1 V SO designs and comparable to the performance of the state-of-the-art SC circuits that operate at much higher supply voltages. On the system level, a fast-settling double-sampling SC biquadratic filter architecture is proposed to achieve high-speed operation. A low-voltage double-sampling finite-gain-compensation technique is employed to realize a high-resolution /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator using only low-DC-gain opamps to maximize the speed and to reduce power dissipation. On the circuit level, a fast-switching methodology is proposed for the design of the switchable opamps to achieve a switching frequency up to 50 MHz. Implemented in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS process (V/sub TP/=0.82 V and V/sub TN/=0.65 V) and at 1 V supply, the modulator achieves a measured peak signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 42.3 dB at 10.7 MHz with a signal bandwidth of 200 kHz, while dissipating 12 mW and occupying a chip area of 1.3 mm/sup 2/.     

A 3.3-mW /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator for UMTS in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS with 70-dB dynamic range in 2-MHz bandwidth

A quadrature fourth-order, continuous-time, /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with 1.5-b quantizer and feedback digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) receiver chain is presented. It achieves a dynamic range of 70 dB in a 2-MHz bandwidth and the total harmonic distortion is -74 dB at full-scale input. When used in an integrated receiver for UMTS, the dynamic range of the modulator substantially reduces the need for analog automatic gain control and its tolerance of large out-of-band interference also permits the use of only first-order prefiltering. An IC including an I and Q /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator, phase-locked loop, oscillator, and bandgap dissipates 11.5 mW at 1.8 V. The active area is 0.41 mm/sup 2/ in a 0.18-/spl mu/m 1-poly 5-metal CMOS technology.     

Low-power low-voltage CMOS A/D sigma-delta modulator for bio-potential signals driven by a single-phase scheme

Since the 1970's, the analog switches in switched-capacitor (SC) circuits are operated by nonoverlapping bi-phase control signals (/spl phi//sub 1/, /spl phi//sub 2/). The nonoverlapping of these two phases is essential for successful SC operation since, a capacitor inside an SC circuit can discharge if two switches, driven by /spl phi//sub 1/ and /spl phi//sub 2/, are turned on simultaneously. Moreover, since 1983, two additional phases are generally used in many SC circuits, which consist of advanced versions of /spl phi//sub 1/ and /spl phi//sub 2/. These two additional phases overcome the problem of signal-dependent charge injection. This paper presents a low-power and low-voltage analog-to-digital (A/D) interface module for biomedical applications. This module provides an A/D conversion based on a mixed clock-boosting/switched-opamp (CB/SO) second-order sigma-delta (/spl Sigma//spl Delta/) modulator, capable of interfacing with several different types electrical signals existing in the human body, only by re-programming the output digital filter. The proposed /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ architecture employs a novel single-phase scheme technique, which improves the dynamic performance and highly reduces the clocking circuitry complexity, substrate noise and area. Simulated results demonstrate that the signal integrity can be preserved by exploring the gap between the high conductance region of pMOS and nMOS switches at low power-supply voltages and the fast clock transitions that exist in advanced CMOS technologies. The mixed CB/SO architecture together with the overall distortion reduction resulting from using the proposed single-phase scheme, result that the dynamic range of the modulator is pushed closer to the theoretical limit of an ideal second-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator.     

A 1.5-V 12-bit power-efficient continuous-time third-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator

This paper presents the design strategy, implementation, and experimental results of a power-efficient third-order low-pass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ analog-to-digital converter (ADC) using a continuous-time (CT) loop filter. The loop filter has been implemented by using active RC integrators. Several power optimizations, design requirements, and performance limitations relating to circuit nonidealities in the CT modulator are presented. The influence of the low supply voltage on the various building blocks such as the amplifier as well as on the overall /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator is discussed. The ADC was implemented in a 3.3-V 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with standard threshold voltages. Measurements of the low-power 1.5-V CT /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ ADC show a dynamic range and peak signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio of 80 and 70 dB, respectively, in a bandwidth of 25 kHz. The measured power consumption is only 135 /spl mu/W from a single 1.5-V power supply.     

A time-interleaved continuous-time /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator with 20-MHz signal bandwidth

This paper presents the first implementation results for a time-interleaved continuous-time /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator. The derivation of the time-interleaved continuous-time /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator from a discrete-time /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator is presented. With various simplifications, the resulting modulator has only a single path of integrators, making it robust to DC offsets. A time-interleaved by 2 continuous-time third-order low-pass /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator is designed in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with an oversampling ratio of 5 at sampling frequencies of 100 and 200 MHz. Experimental results show that a signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 57 dB and a dynamic range of 60 dB are obtained with an input bandwidth of 10 MHz, and an SNDR of 49 dB with a dynamic range of 55 dB is attained with an input bandwidth of 20 MHz. The power consumption is 101 and 103 mW, respectively.     

A 10.7-MHz self-calibrated switched-capacitor-based multibit second-order bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with on-chip switched buffer

A second-order multibit bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator (BP/spl Sigma//spl Delta/M) used for the digitizing of AM/FM radio broadcasting signals at a 10.7-MHz IF is presented. The BP/spl Sigma//spl Delta/M is realized with switched-capacitor (SC) techniques and operates with a sampling frequency of 37.05 MHz. The input impulse current, required by the SC input branch, is minimized by the use of a switched buffer without deteriorating the overall system performance. The accuracy of the in-band noise shaping is ensured with two self-calibrating control systems. In a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology, the device die size is 1 mm/sup 2/ and the power consumption is 88 mW. In production, the BP/spl Sigma//spl Delta/M features at least 78-dB dynamic range and 72-dB peak SNR within a 200-kHz bandwidth (FM bandwidth). The intermodulation (IMD) is -65 dBc for two tones at -11 dBFS. The robustness of the aforementioned performance is demonstrated by the fact that it has been realized with the BP/spl Sigma//spl Delta/M embedded in the noisy on-chip environment of a complete mixed-signal FM receiver.     

A 92-MHz 13-bit IF digitizer using optimized SC integrators in 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

A feedforward compensation scheme with no Miller capacitors is proposed to overcome the bandwidth limitations of traditional Miller compensation schemes. The technique has been used in the design of an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) with a dc gain of 80 dB, gain bandwidth of 1.4 GHz, phase margin of 62/spl deg/, and 2 ns settling time for 2-pF load capacitor in a standard 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. The OTA's current consumption is 4.6 mA. The OTA is used in the design of a fourth-order switched-capacitor bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with a clock frequency of 92 MHz. It achieves a peak signal-to-noise ratio of 80 and 54 dB for 270-kHz (GSM) and 3.84-MHz (CDMA) bandwidths, respectively and consumes 19 mA of current from a /spl plusmn/1.25-V supply.     

A triple-mode continuous-time /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with switched-capacitor feedback DAC for a GSM-EDGE/CDMA2000/UMTS receiver

Time jitter in continuous-time /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators is a known limitation on the maximum achievable signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). Analysis of time jitter in this type of converter shows that a switched-capacitor (SC) feedback digital-to-analog converter (DAC) reduces the sensitivity to time jitter significantly. In this paper, an I and Q continuous-time fifth-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with 1-bit quantizer and SC feedback DAC is presented, which demonstrates the improvement in maximum achievable SNR when using an SC instead of a switched-current (SI) feedback circuit. The modulator is designed for a GSM/CDMA2000/UMTS receiver and achieves a dynamic range of 92/83/72 dB in 200/1228/3840 kHz, respectively. The intermodulation distance IM2, 3 is better than 87 dB in all modes. Both the I and Q modulator consumes a power of 3.8/4.1/4.5 mW at 1.8 V. Processed in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS, the 0.55-mm/sup 2/ integrated circuit includes a phase-locked loop, two oscillators, and a bandgap.     

A CMOS 110-dB@40-kS/s programmable-gain chopper-stabilized third-order 2-1 cascade sigma-delta Modulator for low-power high-linearity automotive sensor ASICs

This paper describes a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS chopper-stabilized switched-capacitor 2-1 cascade /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator for automotive sensor interfaces. The modulator architecture has been selected from an exhaustive comparison among multiple topologies in terms of resolution, speed and power dissipation. To obtain a better fitting with the characteristics of different sensor outputs, the circuit can be digitally programmed to yield four input-to-output gain values (/spl times/0.5,/spl times/1,/spl times/2, and /spl times/4) and has been designed to operate within the stringent environmental conditions of automotive electronics (temperature range of -40/spl deg/C to 175/spl deg/C). In order to relax the amplifier's dynamic requirements for the different modulator input-to-output gains, switchable capacitor arrays are used for all the capacitors in the first integrator. The design of the building blocks is based on a top-down CAD methodology which combines simulation and statistical optimization at different levels of the modulator hierarchy. The circuit is clocked at 5.12 MHz and the overall power consumption is 14.7 mW from a single 3.3-V supply and occupies 5.7 mm/sup 2/ silicon area. Experimental results show a maximum SNR of 87.3 dB within a 20-kHz signal bandwidth and 90.7 dB for 10-kHz signals, and an overall DR of 110 and 113.8dB, respectively. These performance features place the reported circuit at the cutting edge of state-of-the-art high-resolution /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators.     

A continuous-time sigma-delta modulator with 88-dB dynamic range and 1.1-MHz signal bandwidth

This paper presents the design and experimental results of a continuous-time /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator for ADSL applications. Multibit nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) DAC pulse shaping is used to reduce clock jitter sensitivity. The nonzero excess loop delay problem in conventional continuous-time /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators is solved by our proposed architecture. A prototype third-order continuous-time /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with 5-bit internal quantization was realized in a 0.5-/spl mu/m double-poly triple-metal CMOS technology, with a chip area of 2.4 /spl times/ 2.4 mm/sup 2/. Experimental results show that the modulator achieves 88-dB dynamic range, 84-dB SNR, and 83-dB SNDR over a 1.1-MHz signal bandwidth with an oversampling ratio of 16, while dissipating 62 mW from a 3.3-V supply.     

A noise-shaped switching power supply using a delta-sigma modulator

A technique to reduce in-band tones in switch-mode power supplies is described. It takes advantage of the noise-shaping properties of the delta-sigma (/spl Delta//spl Sigma/) modulator to eliminate the spikes normally present in switching power supplies. A framework is introduced for comparing the conventional pulsewidth modulated (PWM) controller and this approach. A buck converter test circuit is constructed that is designed for a PWM controller clocked at 200 kHz and then substituted with a /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator controller clocked at 400 kHz. The RMS noise power of the PWM controller is 14.9 mW compared to the rms noise power for the /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator of 75.85 mW measured in a 2-MHz bandwidth. Although the /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator rms noise power is higher, the noise floor is below the tones seen at the output of the PWM controller. A multibit /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator controller, however, provides a significant reduction in the spectral output of the power supply. Values of 3.75 and 0.24 mW rms noise power are observed at the output of a 2-bit and 4-bit /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator controller, respectively.     

80-MHz bandpass /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulators for multimode digital IF receivers

Three fully differential bandpass (BP) /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulators are presented. Two double-delay resonators are implemented using only one operational amplifier. The prototype circuits operate at a sampling frequency of 80 MHz. The BP /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulators can be used in an intermediate-frequency (IF) receiver to combine frequency downconversion with analog-to-digital conversion by directly sampling an input signal from an IF of 60 MHz to a digital IF of 20 MHz. The measured peak signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratios are 78 dB for 270 kHz (GSM), 75 dB for 1.25 MHz (IS-95), 69 dB for 1.762 MHz (DECT), and 48 dB for 3.84 MHz (WCDMA/CDMA2000) bandwidths. The circuits are implemented with a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology and consume 24-38 mW from a 3.0-V supply, depending on the architecture.     

A 25-MS/s 14-b 200-mW /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ Modulator in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS

The design of a fifth-order 4-b quantizer single-loop /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator is presented that achieves 25-MS/s conversion rate with 84 dB of dynamic range and 82 dB of signal-to-noise ratio. Implemented in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology, the 0.95-mm/sup 2/ chip has a power consumption of 200 mW from a 1.8-V supply.     

An energy-efficient analog front-end circuit for a sub-1-V digital hearing aid chip

A low-power energy-efficient adaptive analog front-end circuit is proposed and implemented for digital hearing-aid applications. It adopts the combined-gain-control (CGC) technique for accurate preamplification and the adaptive-SNR (ASNR) technique to improve dynamic range with low power consumption. The CGC technique combines an automatic gain control and an exponential gain control together to reduce power dissipation and to control both gain and threshold knee voltage. The ASNR technique changes the value of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in accordance with input amplitude in order to minimize power consumption and to optimize the SNR by sensing an input signal. The proposed analog front-end circuit achieves 86-dB peak SNR in the case of third-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator with 3.8-/spl mu/Vrms of input-referred noise voltage. It dissipates a minimum and maximum power of 59.4 and 74.7 /spl mu/W, respectively, at a single 0.9-V supply. The core area is 0.5 mm/sup 2/ in a 0.25-/spl mu/m standard CMOS technology.     

A vertically integrated tool for automated design of /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators

We present a tool that starting from high-level specifications of switched-capacitor (SC) /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators calculates optimum specifications for their building blocks and then optimum sizes for the block schematics. At both design levels, optimization is performed using statistical techniques to enable global design and innovative heuristics for increased computer efficiency as compared with conventional statistical optimization. The tool uses an equation-based approach at the modulator level, a simulation-based approach at the cell level, and incorporates an advanced /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ behavioral simulator for monitoring and design space exploration. We include measurements taken from two silicon prototypes: (1) a 16 b @ 16 kHz output rate second-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator; and (2) a 17 b @ 40 kHz output rate fourth-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator. Both use SC fully differential circuits and were designed using the proposed tool and manufactured in a 1.2 /spl mu/m CMOS double-metal double-poly technology.<>     

A wide-band 280-MHz four-path time-interleaved bandpass sigma-delta modulator

This paper describes a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS fourth-order bandpass analog-digital sigma-delta (/spl Sigma//spl Delta/) modulator for wide-band base stations receivers. The modulator, based on a time-interleaved four-path architecture, achieves an equivalent sampling frequency of 280 MHz, although the building blocks operate at only 70 MHz. In measurements, the prototype chip achieves a dynamic range of 72 dB (12 bits of resolution) with a signal bandwidth of 4.375 MHz centered around an intermediate frequency of 70 MHz. The measured spurious-free dynamic range is 69 dB. The /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator dissipates 480 mW from a 3.3-V supply, including voltage reference buffers and output pads with high-driving capabilities, and occupies 20 mm/sup 2/ of silicon area.     

Self-tuning algorithms for high-performance bandpass switched-capacitor /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators

Switched-capacitor high-frequency bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators could suffer from capacitor mismatch, finite opamp dc gain, and finite opamp bandwidth. These problems make the notch frequency and the quality factor of the zeros of the noise transfer function to deviate from their nominal values, strongly affecting the modulator dynamic range (DR). In order to avoid this situation, two sampled-data algorithms have been developed which allow to self-calibrate the bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulators. They use 3500 gate and 0.043 mm/sup 2/ area and consume power only when they are active, while, when the system is on, they are off and do not interfere with standard operation. The validity of the proposal is demonstrated by a silicon prototype in which the proposed solution allows to guarantee a 75-dB DR performance also under worst case conditions. In the particular case, it allows for the recovery of 3 dB in the SNR for the 200-kHz FM band (from 73 to 76 dB).