Low-voltage high-gain differential OTA for SC circuits

A new differential operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) for SC circuits that operates with a supply voltage of less than two transistor threshold voltages is presented. Its simplicity relies on the use of a low-voltage regulated cascode circuit, which achieves very high output impedance under low-voltage restrictions. The OTA has been designed to operate with a supply voltage of V/sub DD/=1.5 V, using a 0.6 /spl mu/m CMOS technology with transistor threshold voltages of V/sub TN/=0.75 V and V/sub TP/=-0.85 V. Post-layout simulation results for a load capacitance (C/sub L/) of 2 pF show a 75 MHz gain-bandwidth product and 100 dB DC gain with a quiescent power consumption of 750 /spl mu/W.     

OTA linearity enhancement technique for high frequency applications with IM3 below -65 dB

A technique to enhance the linearity of continuous-time operational transconductance amplifiers (OTA)-C filters working at high frequencies is proposed. Each OTA consumes 10.5 mW and the transconductance can be tuned from 70 to 160 /spl mu/A/V while the IM3 remains below -70 dB up to 50 MHz for a 1.3-V/sub pp/ differential input. For a 20-MHz low-pass second-order filter implementation, the measured IM3 with an input voltage of 1.3 V/sub pp/ is below - 65 dB. The supply voltage is 3.3 V. Experimental results of the circuit, fabricated in a standard CMOS 0.35-/spl mu/m technology, are presented.     

Low-Voltage Super class AB CMOS OTA cells with very high slew rate and power efficiency

A simple technique to achieve low-voltage power-efficient class AB operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) is presented. It is based on the combination of class AB differential input stages and local common-mode feedback (LCMFB) which provides additional dynamic current boosting, increased gain-bandwidth product (GBW), and near-optimal current efficiency. LCMFB is applied to various class AB differential input stages, leading to different class AB OTA topologies. Three OTA realizations based on this technique have been fabricated in a 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. For an 80-pF load they show enhancement factors of slew rate and GBW of up to 280 and 3.6, respectively, compared to a conventional class A OTA with the same 10-/spl mu/A quiescent currents and /spl plusmn/1-V supply voltages. In addition, the overhead in terms of common-mode input range, output swing, silicon area, noise, and static power consumption, is minimal.     

Single-pole double-throw CMOS switches for 900-MHz and 2.4-GHz applications on p/sup -/silicon substrates

A 900-MHz single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch with an insertion loss of 0.5 dB and a 2.4-GHz SPDT switch with an insertion loss of 0.8 dB were implemented using 3.3-V 0.35-/spl mu/m NMOS transistors in a 0.18-/spl mu/m bulk CMOS process utilizing 20-/spl Omega//spl middot/cm p/sup -/ substrates. Impedance transformation was used to reduce the source and load impedances seen by the switch to increase the power handling capability. SPDT switches with 30-/spl Omega/ impedance transformation networks exhibit 0.97-dB insertion loss and 24.3-dBm output P/sub 1dB/ when tuned for 900-MHz operation, and 1.10-dB insertion loss and 20.6-dBm output P/sub 1dB/ when tuned for 2.4-GHz operation. The 2.4-GHz switch is the first bulk CMOS switch which can be used for 802.11b wireless local area network applications.     

Power-efficient switching-based CMOS UWB transmitters for UWB communications and Radar systems

This paper presents a new carrier-based ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitter architecture. The new UWB transmitter implements a double-stage switching to enhance RF-power efficiency, reduce dc-power consumption, and increase switching speed and isolation, while reducing circuit complexity. In addition, this paper also demonstrates a new carrier-based UWB transmitting module implemented using a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS integrated pulse generator-switch chip. The design of a UWB sub-nanosecond-switching 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS single-pole single-throw (SPST) switch, operating from 0.45 MHz to 15 GHz, is discussed. The design of a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS tunable impulse generator is also presented. The edge-compression phenomenon of the impulse signal controlling the SPST switch, which makes the generated UWB signal narrower than the impulse, is described. Measurement results show that the generated UWB signal can vary from 2 V peak-to-peak with 3-dB 4-ns pulsewidth to 1 V with 0.5 ns, covering 10-dB signal bandwidths from 0.5 to 4 GHz, respectively. The generated UWB signal can be tuned to cover the entire UWB frequency range of 3.1-10.6 GHz. The sidelobe suppression in the measured spectrums is more than 15 dB. The entire CMOS module works under a 1.8-V supply voltage and consumes less than 1 mA of dc current. The proposed carrier-based UWB transmitter and the demonstrated module provide an attractive means for UWB signal generation for both UWB communications and radar applications.     

A 0.7-V MOSFET-only switched-opamp /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator in standard digital CMOS technology

A 0.7-V MOSFET-only /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator for voice band applications is presented. The second-order modulator is realized using a switched-opamp technique. All capacitors are realized using compensated MOS devices operated in the depletion region. A combination of parallel and series compensated depletion-mode MOSCAPs is used to obtain high area efficiency. The circuit is fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. The only components used are standard n-MOS and p-MOS transistors with threshold voltages of approximately 400 mV. All transistors are operated within the supply voltage window of 0.7 V; voltage boosting techniques are not used. The active area is 0.082 mm/sup 2/. The modulator achieves 67-dB signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio, 70-dB signal-to-noise ratio, and 75-dB dynamic range at 8-kHz signal bandwidth and consumes 80 /spl mu/W of power.     

A fully balanced pseudo-differential OTA with common-mode feedforward and inherent common-mode feedback detector

A pseudo-differential fully balanced fully symmetric CMOS operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) architecture with inherent common-mode detection is proposed. Through judicious arrangement, the common-mode feedback circuit can be economically implemented. The OTA achieves a third harmonic distortion of -43 dB for 900 mV/sub pp/ at 30 MHz. The OTA, fabricated in 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS process, is used to design a 100-MHz fourth-order linear phase filter. The measured filter's group delay ripple is 3% for frequencies up to 100 MHz, and the measured dynamic range is 45 dB for a total harmonic distortion of -46 dB. The filter consumes 42.9 mW per complex pole pair while operating from a /spl plusmn/1.65-V power supply.     

A 0.5-V 25-MHz 1-mW 256-kb MTCMOS/SOI SRAM for solar-power-operated portable personal digital equipment - sure write operation by using step-down negatively overdriven bitline scheme

Multithreshold-voltage CMOS (MTCMOS) technology has a great advantage in that it provides high-speed operation with low supply voltages of less than 1 V. A logic gate with low-V/sub th/ MOSFETs has a high operating speed, while a low-leakage power switch with a high-V/sub th/ MOSFET eliminates the off-leakage current during sleep time. By using MTCMOS circuits and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) devices, the authors have developed a 256-kb SRAM for solar-power-operated digital equipment. A double-threshold-voltage MOSFET (DTMOS) is adopted for the power switch to further reduce the off leakage. As regards the SRAM core design, we consider a hybrid configuration consisting of high-V/sub th/ and low-V/sub th/ MOSFETs (that is, multi-V/sub th/ CMOS). A new memory cell with a separate read-data path provides a larger readout current without degrading the static noise margin. A negatively overdriven bitline scheme guarantees sure write operation at ultralow supply voltages close to 0.5 V. In addition, a charge-transfer amplifier integrated with a selector and data latches for intrabus circuitry are installed to enhance the operating speed and/or reduce power dissipation. A 32K-word /spl times/ 8-bit SRAM chip, fabricated with the 0.35-/spl mu/m multi-V/sub th/ CMOS/SOI process, has successfully operated at 25 MHz under typical conditions with 0.5-V (SRAM core) and 1-V (I/O buffers) power supplies. The power dissipation during sleep time is less than 0.4 /spl mu/W and that for 25-MHz operation is 1 mW, excluding that of the I/O buffers.     

A third-order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS with calibrated mixed-mode integrators

This paper describes a third-order sigma-delta (/spl Sigma//spl Delta/) modulator that is designed and implemented in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. In order to increase the dynamic range, this modulator takes advantage of mixed-mode integrators that consist of analog and digital integrators. A calibration technique is applied to the digital integrator to mitigate mismatch between analog and digital paths. It is shown that the presented modulator architecture can achieve a 12-dB better dynamic range than conventional structures with the same oversampling ratio (OSR). The experimental prototype chip achieves a 76-dB dynamic range for a 200-kHz signal bandwidth and a 55-dB dynamic range for a 5-MHz signal bandwidth. It dissipates 4 mW from 1.8-V supply voltages and occupies 0.7-mm/sup 2/ silicon area.     

A low-power CMOS Bluetooth RF transceiver with a digital offset canceling DLL-based GFSK demodulator

This paper presents a fully integrated 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS Bluetooth transceiver. The chip consumes 33 mA in receive mode and 25 mA in transmit mode from a 3-V system supply. The receiver uses a low-IF (3-MHz) architecture, and the transmitter uses a direct modulation with ROM-based Gaussian low-pass filter and I/Q direct digital frequency synthesizer for high level of integration and low power consumption. A new frequency shift keying demodulator based on a delay-locked loop with a digital frequency offset canceller is proposed. The demodulator operates without harmonic distortion, handles up to /spl plusmn/160-kHz frequency offset, and consumes only 2 mA from a 1.8-V supply. The receiver dynamic range is from -78 dBm to -16 dBm at 0.1% bit-error rate, and the transmitter delivers a maximum of 0 dBm with 20-dB digital power control capability.     

A dual-path bandwidth extension amplifier topology with dual-loop parallel compensation

A dual-path amplifier topology with dual-loop parallel compensation technique is proposed for low-power three-stage amplifiers. By using two parallel high-speed paths for high-frequency signal propagation, there is no passive capacitive feedback network loaded at the amplifier output. Both the bandwidth and slew rate are thus significantly improved. Implemented in a 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS process, the proposed three-stage amplifier has over 100-dB gain, 7-MHz gain-bandwidth product, and 3.3-V//spl mu/s average slew rate while only dissipating 330 /spl mu/W at 1.5 V, when driving a 25-k/spl Omega///120-pF load. The proposed amplifier achieves at least two times improvement in bandwidth-to-power and slew-rate-to-power efficiencies than all other reported multistage amplifiers using different compensation topologies.     

Subharmonically pumped CMOS frequency conversion (up and down) circuits for 2-GHz WCDMA direct-conversion transceiver

Subharmonically pumped frequency down- and upconversion circuits are implemented in 0.18-/spl mu/m mixed-mode CMOS technology for 2-GHz direct-conversion WCDMA transceiver applications. These circuits operate in quadrature double-balanced mode and a required octet-phases (0/spl deg/, 45/spl deg/, 90/spl deg/, 135/spl deg/, 180/spl deg/, 225/spl deg/, 270/spl deg/, and 315/spl deg/) local oscillator (LO) signal comes from an active multiphases LO generator composed of a polyphase filter and active 45/spl deg/ phase shifting circuits. For linearity improvement, predistortion compensation and negative feedback schemes are used in the frequency down- and upconversion circuits, respectively. The downconverter achieves a conversion voltage gain of 20 dB (to 1-M/spl Omega/ load), 4-dBm IIP3 (18-dBm OIP3 to 50-/spl Omega/ load), 41-dBm IIP2 and 8.5-dB DSB NF at 1-MHz IF frequency, consuming 13.4 mA from 1.8-V supply, in the WCDMA Rx band (2110-2170 MHz). The upconverter, operating as two switched gain modes in the WCDMA Tx band (1920-1980 MHz), consumes 19.4 mA from 1.8-V supply and shows 14.5-dB conversion power gain, 15 -dBm OIP3 (0.5-dBm IIP3) and -11 dBm P/sub 1dB/ at maximum gain mode. At minimum gain mode, it realizes -0.3-dB conversion loss, 10.7-dBm OIP3 (11-dBm IIP3) and 0-dBm P/sub 1dB/, respectively. 3GPP WCDMA modulation tests are performed for both up- and downconversion circuits and the results are discussed in this paper.     

A CMOS 140-mW fourth-order continuous-time low-pass filter stabilized with a class AB common-mode feedback operating at 550 MHz

A 550-MHz linear-phase low-pass continuous-time filter is described. The operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) is based on complementary differential pairs in order to achieve high-frequency operation. A common-mode feedback (CMFB) based on a Class AB amplifier with improved stability at high frequencies is introduced. Results for the stand alone OTA show a unity gain frequency of 1 GHz while the excess phase is less than 5/spl deg/. The filter is based on G/sub m/-C biquads and achieves IM3 <-40 dB for a two-tone input signal of -10 dBm each. The power consumption of the fourth-order filter is 140 mW from supply voltages of /spl plusmn/1.65 V. The chip was fabricated in a standard 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology.     

Active-feedback frequency-compensation technique for low-power multistage amplifiers

An active-feedback frequency-compensation (AFFC) technique for low-power operational amplifiers is presented in this paper. With an active-feedback mechanism, a high-speed block separates the low-frequency high-gain path and high-frequency signal path such that high gain and wide bandwidth can be achieved simultaneously in the AFFC amplifier. The gain stage in the active-feedback network also reduces the size of the compensation capacitors such that the overall chip area of the amplifier becomes smaller and the slew rate is improved. Furthermore, the presence of a left-half-plane zero in the proposed AFFC topology improves the stability and settling behavior of the amplifier. Three-stage amplifiers based on AFFC and nested-Miller compensation (NMC) techniques have been implemented by a commercial 0.8-/spl mu/m CMOS process. When driving a 120-pF capacitive load, the AFFC amplifier achieves over 100-dB dc gain, 4.5-MHz gain-bandwidth product (GBW) , 65/spl deg/ phase margin, and 1.5-V//spl mu/s average slew rate, while only dissipating 400-/spl mu/W power at a 2-V supply. Compared to a three-stage NMC amplifier, the proposed AFFC amplifier provides improvement in both the GBW and slew rate by 11 times and reduces the chip area by 2.3 times without significant increase in the power consumption.     

A 2.2-mW CMOS bandpass continuous-time multibit /spl Delta/-/spl Sigma/ ADC with 68 dB of dynamic range and 1-MHz bandwidth for wireless applications

A delta-sigma (/spl Delta//spl Sigma/) analog-to-digital converter featuring 68-dB dynamic range and 64-dB signal-to-noise ratio in a 1-MHz bandwidth centered at an intermediate frequency of 2 MHz with a 48-MHz sample rate is reported. A second-order continuous-time modulator employing 4-bit quantization is used to achieve this performance with 2.2 mW of power consumption from a 1.8-V supply. The modulator including references occupies 0.36 mm/sup 2/ of die area and is implemented in a 0.18-/spl mu/m five-metal single-poly digital CMOS process.     

A 14-bit digitally self-calibrated pipelined ADC with adaptive bias optimization for arbitrary speeds up to 40 MS/s

This paper presents a 14-bit digitally self-calibrated pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC) featuring adaptive bias optimization. Adaptive bias optimization controls the bias currents of the amplifiers in the ADC to the minimum amount required, depending on the sampling speed, environment temperature, and power-supply voltage, as well as the variations in chip fabrication. It utilizes information from the digital calibration process and does not require additional analog circuits. The prototype ADC occupies an area of 0.5/spl times/2.3 mm/sup 2/ in a 0.18-/spl mu/m dual-gate CMOS technology; with a power supply of 2.8 V, it consumes 19.2, 33.7, 50.5, and 72.8 mW when operating at 10, 20, 30, and 40 MS/s, respectively. The peak differential nonlinearity (DNL) is less than 0.5 least significant bit (LSB) for all the sampling speeds with temperature variation up to 80/spl deg/C. When operated at 20 MS/s with 1-MHz input, the ADC achieves 72.1-dB SNR and 71.1-dB SNDR.     

A 300-/spl mu/W 1.9-GHz CMOS oscillator utilizing micromachined resonators

A low-power low-phase-noise 1.9-GHz RF oscillator is presented. The oscillator employs a single thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonator and was implemented in a standard 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. This paper addresses design issues involved in codesigning micromachined resonators with CMOS circuitry to realize ultralow-power RF transceiver components. The oscillator achieves a phase-noise performance of -100 dBc/Hz at 10-kHz offset, -120 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz offset, and -140 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset. The startup time of the oscillator is less than 1 /spl mu/s. The oscillator core consumes 300 /spl mu/A from a 1-V supply.     

Ultra-low-Voltage high-performance CMOS VCOs using transformer feedback

A transformer-feedback voltage-controlled oscillator (TF-VCO) is proposed to achieve low-phase-noise and low-power designs even at a supply below the threshold voltage. The advantages of the proposed TF-VCO are described together with its detailed analysis and its cyclo-stationary characteristic. Two prototypes using the proposed TF-VCO techniques are demonstrated in a standard 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. The first design using two single-ended transformers is operated at 1.4 GHz at a 0.35-V supply using PMOS transistors whose threshold voltage is around 0.52 V. The power consumption is 1.46 mW while the measured phase noise is -128.6 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz frequency offset. Using an optimum differential transformer to maximize quality factor and to minimize the chip area, the second design is operated at 3.8 GHz at a 0.5-V supply with power consumption of 570 /spl mu/W and a measured phase noise of -119 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz frequency offset. The figures of merits are comparable or better to that of other state-of-the-art VCO designs operating at much higher supply voltage.     

Adaptively biased linear transconductor

This paper describes a new circuit topology of a linear transconductor. The conventional differential pair (CDP), with a constant tail current, is linearized by an adaptive biasing scheme , and the only extra elements added to the differential pair are source followers. Compared to the CDP, the proposed circuit achieves similar speed and noise performance, but the common-mode rejection is compromised at the expense of tremendous improvement in linearity. While operating from a 1.8-V power supply in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process, the simulated variation in g/sub m/ for 1-V/sub p-p/ and 2-V/sub p-p/ differential input is 1.2% and 22%, respectively. Also, the THD performance for a 1-V/sub p-p/, 1-MHz differential sinusoidal input is -65 dB, which is about a 40-dB improvement over the CDP.     

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.