2.5 Gbit/s multifunctional CMOS transceiver for chip-to-chip optical link

A novel multifunctional transceiver for chip-to-chip optical interconnects operating at 2.5 Gbit/s is proposed, which shares a common block between a receiver and a transmitter. This transceiver provides four conversion functions - electrical-to-optical, optical-to-optical, optical-to-electrical, and electrical-to-electrical - depending on the selection switch on a single chip. The whole chip integrated in 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS occupies an area measuring 0.82/spl times/0.82 mm/sup 2/.     

Low-power and area-efficient FIR filter implementation suitable for multiple taps

This paper describes a 32-tap finite impulse response (FIR) filter with two 16-tap macros suitable for multiple taps. The derived condition for a coded coefficient and data block shows 35% savings in power consumption and 44% improvement in occupied area compared to a typical radix-4 modified Booth algorithm. According to the condition and separated shifting-accessing clock scheme, we have implemented a 32-tap FIR filter in 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with three levels of metal. The chip that occupies 2.3/spl times/2.5 mm/sup 2/ of silicon area has an operating frequency of 20 MHz and consumes 75 mW at V/sub dd/=3.3 V.     

A CMOS voltage reference based on weighted /spl Delta/V/sub GS/ for CMOS low-dropout linear regulators

A CMOS voltage reference, which is based on the weighted difference of the gate-source voltages of an NMOST and a PMOST operating in saturation region, is presented. The voltage reference is designed for CMOS low-dropout linear regulators and has been implemented in a standard 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS technology (V/sub thn//spl ap/|V/sub thp/|/spl ap/0.9 V at 0/spl deg/C). The occupied chip area is 0.055 mm/sup 2/. The minimum supply voltage is 1.4 V, and the maximum supply current is 9.7 /spl mu/A. A typical mean uncalibrated temperature coefficient of 36.9 ppm//spl deg/C is achieved, and the typical mean line regulation is /spl plusmn/0.083%/V. The power-supply rejection ratio without any filtering capacitor at 100 Hz and 10 MHz are -47 and -20 dB, respectively. Moreover, the measured noise density with a 100-nF filtering capacitor at 100 Hz is 152 nV//spl radic/(Hz) and that at 100 kHz is 1.6 nV//spl radic/(Hz).     

A 25-ns 1-Mbit CMOS SRAM with loading-free bit lines

A 128 K/spl times/8-b CMOS SRAM is described which achieves a 25-ns access time, less than 40-mA active current at 10 MHz, and 2-/spl mu/A standby current. The novel bit-line circuitry (loading-free bit line), using two kinds of NMOSFETs with different threshold voltages, improves bit-line signal speed and integrity. The two-stage local amplification technique minimizes the data-line delay. The dynamic double-word-line scheme (DDWL) allows the cell array to be divided into 32 sections along the word-line direction without a huge increase in chip area. This allows the DDWL scheme to reduce the core-area delay time and operating power to about half that of other conventional structures. A double-metal 0.8-/spl mu/m twin-tub CMOS technology has been developed to realize the 5.6/spl times/9.5-/spl mu//SUP 2/ cell size and the 6.86/spl times/15.37-mm/SUP 2/ chip size.     

A 32-Mb chain FeRAM with segment/stitch array architecture

This paper demonstrates the 32-Mb chain ferroelectric RAM (chain FeRAM) with 0.2-/spl mu/m three-metal CMOS technology. A small die size of 96 mm/sup 2/ and a high cell/chip area efficiency of 65.6% are realized not only by the small cell size using capacitor-on-plug technology but also by two key techniques that utilize the three-metal process: 1) a compact memory cell block structure that eliminates plateline area and reduces block selector area and 2) the segment/stitch array architecture which reduces the area of row decoders and plate drivers. As a result, the average cell size shrinks to 1.875 /spl mu/m/sup 2/, which is smaller than a 0.13-/spl mu/m SRAM cell, and the chip size is reduced to 70% of the chain FeRAM of conventional configuration with two-metal process. Moreover, a power-on/off sequence suitable to the chain FeRAM is introduced to protect the memory cell data from the startup noise. Compatibility with low-power SRAM is a key issue for mobile applications. The low-standby-current bias generator is introduced and the standby current of the chip is suppressed to 3 /spl mu/A. The modified address access mode is also adopted to eliminate the need of intentional address transition after the startup of the chip. The chip enable access time was 50 ns and cycle time was 75 ns at 3.0-V V/sub dd/.     

A 4K CMOS gate array with automatically generated test circuits

A 2-/spl mu/m CMOS 4K-gate array using a newly devised scan bus method has been developed. This method is applied to the array by using a double-latch structure, parallel scanning, and normal-test common pin techniques. The gate array can be tested for 95-100% of all DC faults using computer-generated test circuits and test data, without placing restrictions on the logic design. Due to an access-to-output flip-flop structure and a gate-isolated three-input type basic cell, including embedded transistors, the area increase and operating speed degradation due to test circuits are considerably reduced. Furthermore, besides the flip-flop blocks, a built-in RAM macroblock is available. Degradation of operating speed is evaluated as 10%. The scan operation is done at a clock cycle of 120 ns, and the access time of the RAM macroblock is 34 ns. The gate array includes 4032 three-input gates on a 7.2/spl times/7.02-mm chip.     

New miniature 15-20-GHz continuous-phase/amplitude control MMICs using 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology

The design and performance of two new miniature 360/spl deg/ continuous-phase-control monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) using the vector sum method are presented. Both are implemented using commercial 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. The first phase shifter demonstrates all continuous phase and an insertion loss of 8 dB with a 37-dB dynamic range from 15 to 20 GHz. The chip size is 0.95 mm /spl times/ 0.76 mm. The second phase shifter can achieve all continuous phase and an insertion loss of 16.2 dB with a 38.8-dB dynamic range at the same frequency range. The chip size is 0.71 mm /spl times/ 0.82 mm. To the best of the authors' knowledge, these circuits are the first demonstration of microwave CMOS phase shifters using the vector sum method with the smallest chip size for all MMIC phase shifters with 360/spl deg/ phase-control range above 5 GHz reported to date.     

Ultra-low-power DLMS adaptive filter for hearing aid applications

We present an ultra-low-power, delayed least mean square (DLMS) adaptive filter operating in the subthreshold region for hearing aid applications. Subthreshold operation was accomplished by using a parallel architecture with pseudo nMOS logic style. The parallel architecture enabled us to operate the system at a lower clock rate and reduced supply voltage while maintaining the same throughput. Pseudo nMOS logic operating in the subthreshold region (subpseudo nMOS) provided better power-delay product than subthreshold CMOS (sub-CMOS) logic. Simulation results show that the DLMS adaptive filter can operate at 22 kHz using a 400-mV supply voltage to achieve 91% improvement in power compared to a nonparallel, CMOS implementation. To validate the robust operation of subthreshold logics, a 0.35 /spl mu/m, 23.1 kHz, 21.4 nW, 8/spl times/8 carry save array multiplier test chip was fabricated where an adaptive body biasing scheme is used for compensating process, supply and temperature variations. The test chip showed stable operation at a supply voltage of 0.30 V, which is even lower than the threshold voltages of the pMOS (0.82 V) and nMOS (0.67 V) transistors.     

A low power 46 ns 256 kbit CMOS static RAM with dynamic double word line

A fast, low-power 32K/spl times/8-bit CMOS static RAM with a high-resistive polyload 4-transistor cell has been developed utilizing a dynamic double word line (DDWL) scheme. This scheme combines an automatic power down circuitry and double word line structure. The DDWL, together with bit line and sense line equilibration, reduces the core area delay time and operating power to about 1/2 and 1/15 that of a conventional device, respectively. A newly developed fault-tolerant circuitry improves fabrication yield without degrading the access time. As for a fabrication process, an advanced 1.2-/spl mu/m p-well CMOS technology is developed to realize the ULSI RAM, integrating 1,600,000 elements on a 6.68/spl times/8.86 mm/SUP 2/ chip. The RAM offers, typically, 46 ns access time, 10 mW operating power and 30 /spl mu/W standby power.     

A 1.1-V 270-/spl mu/A mixed-signal hearing aid chip

This paper presents a single-chip mixed-signal IC for a hearing aid system. The IC consumes 270 /spl mu/A of supply current at a 1.1-V battery voltage. The presented circuit and architectural design techniques reduce the total IC power to 297 /spl mu/W, a level where up to 70 days of lifetime is achieved at 10 h/day for a small zinc-air battery. The measured input referred noise for the entire channel is 2.8 /spl mu/Vrms and the average THD in the nominal operating region is 0.02%. The jitter for the on-board ring oscillator is 147 ps rms. The chip area is 12 mm/sup 2/ in a 0.6-/spl mu/m 3.3-V mixed-signal CMOS process.     

A low-jitter mutual-correlated pulsewidth control loop circuit

This work presents a low-jitter pulsewidth control loop (PWCL) circuit. A mutual-correlated scheme is implemented to adjust the duty cycle and increase the stability of the PWCL. The design is less sensitive to process variation. The jitter induced by voltage ripple is suppressed. The circuit is implemented using 0.35 /spl mu/m 1P4M CMOS process. The area of the PWCL is 136 /spl times/ 143 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. At an operating frequency of 300 MHz, the power dissipation and voltage ripple are reduced by 35.4% and 93.7%, respectively. A test chip is successfully verified to obtain 42-ps jitter at an operating frequency of 900 MHz.     

A transmit/receive IF chip set for WCDMA mobiles in 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS

An implementation of the IF section of WCDMA mobile transceivers with a set of two chips fabricated in an inexpensive 0.35-/spl mu/m two-poly three-metal CMOS process is presented. The transmit/receive chip set integrates quadrature modulators and demodulators, wide dynamic range automatic gain control (AGC) amplifiers, with linear-in-decibel gain control, and associated circuitry. This paper describes the problems encountered and the solutions envisaged to meet stringent specifications, with process and temperature variations, thus overcoming the limitations of CMOS devices, while operating at frequencies in the range of 100 MHz-1 GHz. Detailed measurement results corroborating successful application of the new techniques are reported. A receive AGC dynamic range of 73 dB with linearity error of less than /spl plusmn/2 dB and spread of less than 5 dB for a temperature range of -30/spl deg/C to +85/spl deg/C in the gain control characteristic has been measured. The modulator measurement shows a carrier suppression of 35 dB and sideband/third harmonic suppression of over 46 dB. The core die area of each chip is 1.5 mm/sup 2/.     

CMOS low dropout linear regulator with single Miller capacitor

A 2-5V 150 mA CMOS low dropout (LDO) linear regulator with a single Miller capacitor of 4pF is presented. The proposed LDO regulator with a bandgap voltage reference has been fabricated in a 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS process and the active chip area is 485/spl times/586 /spl mu/m. The maximum output current is 150 mA and the regulated output voltage is 1.8 V.     

A low-voltage 40-GHz complementary VCO with 15% frequency tuning range in SOI CMOS technology

The design of a low-voltage 40-GHz complementary voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with 15% frequency tuning range fabricated in 0.13-/spl mu/m partially depleted silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS technology is reported. Technological advantages of SOI over bulk CMOS are demonstrated, and the accumulation MOS (AMOS) varactor limitations on frequency tuning range are addressed. At 1.5-V supply, the VCO core and each output buffer consumes 11.25 mW and 3 mW of power, respectively. The measured phase noise at 40-GHz is -109.73 dBc/Hz at 4-MHz offset from the carrier, and the output power is -8 dBm. VCO performance using high resistivity substrate (/spl sim/300-/spl Omega//spl middot/cm) has the same frequency tuning range but 2 dB better phase noise compared with using low resistivity substrate (10 /spl Omega//spl middot/cm). The VCO occupies a chip area of only 100 /spl mu/m by 100 /spl mu/m (excluding pads).     

A 9-V/Lux-s 5000-frames/s 512/spl times/512 CMOS sensor

A high-responsivity 9-V/Lux-s high-speed 5000-frames/s (at full 512/spl times/512 resolution) CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) is presented in this paper. The sensor was designed for a 0.35-/spl mu/m 2P3M CMOS sensor process and utilizes a five-transistor pixel to provide a true parallel shutter. Column-parallel analog-to-digital converter (ADC) architecture yields fast readout from pixels and digitization of the data simultaneously with acquiring a new frame. The chip has a two-row SRAM to store data from the ADC and read previous rows of data out of the chip. There are a total of 16 parallel ports operating up to 90 MHz delivering /spl sim/1.3 Gpixel/s or 13 Gb/s of data at the maximum rate. In conclusion, a comparison between two high-speed digital CMOS sensor architectures, which are a column-parallel APS and a digital pixel sensor (DPS), is conducted.     

A very low-complexity space-time block decoder (STBD) ASIC for wireless systems

This paper presents a computationally efficient application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) implementation for the decoding of space-time block codes (STBCs) . Alternative methods of evaluating the originally proposed maximum-likelihood decision metrics are explored at the algorithm and architectural level. At the algorithm level, unique decoding techniques are developed that result in computation savings of as much as 65%. At the architectural level, a low-computation symmetrical approach for the implementation of the proposed algorithm is presented. The proposed ASIC architecture offers considerable computation reductions leading to substantial power and area savings compared to a direct implementation of the original algorithm. The proposed architecture was realized in an ASIC referred to as the ST block decoder ASIC. The chip was fabricated using 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology and occupies a core area of 0.25 mm/sup 2/. The ASIC architecture is highly scalable and can implement 2 /spl times/ 2, 8 /spl times/ 3, and 8 /spl times/ 4 STBCs with modulation formats ranging from binary-phase shift keying (BPSK) to 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and can operate at any symbol rate up to 20 Mbaud. Depending on the mode of operation, the decoder power consumption ranges from 0.54 mW for 2 /spl times/ 2 BPSK systems to 1.89 mW for 8 /spl times/ 4 16-QAM systems.     

A capacitor-free CMOS low-dropout regulator with damping-factor-control frequency compensation

A 1.5-V 100-mA capacitor-free CMOS low-dropout regulator (LDO) for system-on-chip applications to reduce board space and external pins is presented. By utilizing damping-factor-control frequency compensation on the advanced LDO structure, the proposed LDO provides high stability, as well as fast line and load transient responses, even in capacitor-free operation. The proposed LDO has been implemented in a commercial 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS technology, and the active chip area is 568 /spl mu/m/spl times/541 /spl mu/m. The total error of the output voltage due to line and load variations is less than /spl plusmn/0.25%, and the temperature coefficient is 38 ppm//spl deg/C. Moreover, the output voltage can recover within 2 /spl mu/s for full load-current changes. The power-supply rejection ratio at 1 MHz is -30 dB, and the output noise spectral densities at 100 Hz and 100 kHz are 1.8 and 0.38 /spl mu/V//spl radic/Hz, respectively.     

An elliptic continuous-time CMOS filter with on-chip automatic tuning

A voice-band continuous-time filter is described which was designed based on the technique of fully balanced networks and was fabrication in a 3.5-/spl mu/ CMOS technology. The filter implements a fifth-order elliptic low-pass transfer function with 0.05-dB passband ripple and 3.4 kHz cutoff frequency. A phase-locked loop control system fabricated on the same chip automatically references the frequency response of the filter to an external fixed clock frequency. The cutoff frequency was found to vary by less than 0.1% for an operating temperature range of 0-85/spl deg/C. The absolute value accuracy of the cutoff frequency was 0.5% (standard deviation). With /spl plusmn/5-V power supplies the measured dynamic range of the filter was approximately 100 dB.     

Design of the processing core of a mixed-signal CMOS DTCNN chip for pixel-level snakes

This paper introduces the processing core of a full-custom mixed-signal CMOS chip intended for an active-contour-based technique, the so-called pixel-level snakes (PLS). Among the different parameters to optimize on the top-down design flow our methodology is focused on area. This approach results in a single-instruction-multiple-data chip implemented by a discrete-time cellular neural network with a correspondence between pixel and processing element. This is the first prototype for PLS; an integrated circuit with a 9/spl times/9 resolution manufactured in a 0.25 -/spl mu/m CMOS STMicroelectronics technology process. Awaiting for experimental results, HSPICE simulations prove the validity of the approach introduced here.     

A 2-V/sub pp/ 80-200-MHz fourth-order continuous-time linear phase filter with automatic frequency tuning

A CMOS 80-200-MHz fourth-order continuous-time 0.05/spl deg/ equiripple linear phase filter with an automatic frequency tuning system is presented. An operational transconductance amplifier based on transistors operating in triode region is used and a circuit that combines common-mode feedback, common-mode feedforward, and adaptive bias is introduced. The chip was fabricated in a 0.35-/spl mu/m process; filter experimental results have shown a total harmonic distortion less than -44 dB for a 2-V/sub pp/ differential input with a single 2.3-V power supply. The group delay ripple is less than 4% for frequencies up to 1.5 f/sub c/. The frequency tuning error is below 5%.