A 500-MHz 8-bit D/A converter

An ultrafast monolithic 8-bit DAC is designed and fabricated. To realize this DAC, a new high-speed conversion technique, referred to as the data multiplexing method, and a variation of the segmented DAC (J.A. Shoeff, 1979) for low glitch are developed. The DAC is fabricated with shallow-groove-isolated 3-/spl mu/m VLSI technology with peak f/SUB T/'s of 4.5 GHz. An experimental 8-bit DAC features a conversion rate of over 500 MHz, a full-scale settling time to 1% of 2 ns, rise/fall times of 0.6 ns, and a glitch energy of 20 ps-V without input latches or a deglitcher.     

A low glitch 10-bit 75-MHz CMOS video D/A converter

A low glitch 10-bit 75-MHz CMOS current-output video digital-to-analog Converter (DAC) for high-definition television (HDTV) applications is described. In order to achieve monotonicity and low glitch, a special segmented antisymmetric switching sequence and an innovative asymmetrical switching buffer have been used. The video DAC has been fabricated by using 0.8 μm single-poly double-metal CMOS technology. Experimental results indicated that the conversion rate is above 75 MHz, and nearly 50% of samples have differential and integral linearity errors less than 0.24 LSB and 0.6 LSB, respectively. The glitch has been reduced to be less than 3.9 pV·s and the settling time within ±0.1% of the final value is less than 13 ns. The video DAC is operated by a single 5 V power supply and dissipates 1.70 mW at 75 MHz conversion rate (140 mW in the DAC portion). The chip size of video DAC is 1.75 mm×1.2 mm (1.75 mm×0.7 mm for the DAC portion)     

An untrimmed D/A converter with 14-bit resolution

Describes a monolithic 14-bit DAC which uses a new compensation technique for the DAC linearity, the `self-compensation technique', originated through a new concept. Since this technique automatically compensates for linearity error in the DAC by referring to a ramp function with about 17-bit linearity, a high precision DAC can be produced in monolithic form without the trimming of analog components. An experimental 14-bit DAC chip has been fabricated using analog compatible IIL technology and two-level metalization. A linearity error of less that /spl plusmn/1/2 LSB and a settling time of 1-2 /spl mu/s has been achieved.     

一种改进的高速DAC电流开关及其控制信号的产生

系统分析了高速电流型CMOS数模转换器中电流开关对输出毛刺的影响,给出了减小输出毛刺的方法.改进了电流开关及其控制信号的产生电路.利用改进后的电路设计了一个8位数模转换器,在5V电源,满量程输出2 0mA条件下,模拟得到最大输出毛刺为3pV s,且电路在1 0 0MHz采样频率,1 0MHz信号频率下,无假信号动态范围达到53dB     

Design of a 12-bit high-speed CMOS D/A converter using a new 3D digital decoder structure useful for wireless transmitter applications

In this paper a 12-bit Nyquist current-steering digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is implemented using TSMC 0.35 μm standard CMOS process technology. The proposed DAC is an essential part in baseband section of wireless transmitter circuits. Using oversampling ratio (OSR) for it leads to avoid use of an active analog reconstruction filter. The optimum segmentation (75%) has been used to get the best DNL and reduce glitch energy. This segmentation ratio guarantees the monotonicity. Higher performance is achieved using a new 3D thermometer decoding method which reduces the area, power consumption and the number of control signals of the digital section. Using two digital channels in parallel, helps reach 1 GHz sampling frequency. Simulations indicate that the DAC has an accuracy better than 10.7-bit for upcoming higher data rate standards (IEEE 802.16 and 802.11n), and a spurious-free-dynamic-range (SFDR) higher than 64 dB in whole Nyquist frequency band. The post layout four corner Monte-Carlo simulated INL is better than 0.74 LSB while simulated DNL is better than 0.49 LSB. The analog voltage supply is 3.3 V while the digital part of the chip operates with only 2.4 V. Total power consumption in Nyquist rate measurement is 144.9 mW. Active area of chip is 1.37 mm².     

Nyquist电流型7位20MHz采样率CMOS数模转换器

介绍了一种高速7位DAC的设计及芯片测试结果,该DAC选取高5位单位电流源,低2位二进制电流源的分段结构。考虑了电流源匹配、毛刺降低以及版图中误差补偿等方面的问题来优化电路。流片采用0.35μmChartered双层多晶四层金属工艺,测试结果表明在20 MH z的采样频率下,微分非线性度和积分非线性度分别小于±0.2 LSB和±0.35 LSB。该DAC的满幅建立时间是20 ns,芯片面积为0.17 mm×0.23 mm。电源电压为3.3 V,功耗为3 mW。     

A 10-bit 200-MHz CMOS video DAC for HDTV applications

This paper describes a 10-bit 200-MHz CMOS current steering digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for HDTV applications. The proposed 10-bit DAC is composed of a unit decoded matrix for 6 MSBs and a binary weighted array for 4 LSB’s, considering linearity, power consumption, routing area, and glitch energy. A new switching scheme for the unit decoded matrix is developed to improve linearity further. Cascade current sources and differential switches with deglitch latch improve dynamic performance. The measured differential nonlinearity (DNL) and integral nonlinearity (INL) are 0.3 LSB and 0.2 LSB, respectively. The converter achieves a spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of above 55 dB over a100-MHz bandwidth and low glitch energy of 1.5 pVs. The circuit is fabricated in a 0.25 μm CMOS process and occupies 0.91 mm². When operating at 200 M Sample/s, it dissipates 82 mW from a 3.3 V power supply.     

A complete high-speed voltage output 16-bit monolithic DAC

A new single-chip 16-bit monolithic digital/analog converter (DAC) with on-chip voltage reference and operational amplifiers has achieved /spl plusmn/0.0015% linearity, 10 ppm//spl deg/C gain drift, and 4-/spl mu/s settling time. Novel elements of the 16-bit DAC include: the fast settling open-loop reference with a buried Zener, a fast-settling output operational amplifier without the use of feedforward compensation, and a modified R-2R ladder network. Thermal considerations played a significant role in the design. The DAC is fabricated using a 20-V process to reduce device sizes and therefore die size. All laser trimming including temperature drift compensation is performed at the wafer level. The converter does not require external components for operation.     

Design and analysis of high speed capacitive pipeline DACs

Design of a high speed capacitive digital-to-analog converter (SC DAC) is presented for 65 nm CMOS technology. SC pipeline architecture is used followed by an output driver. For GHz frequency operation with output voltage swing suitable for wireless applications (300 mV_pp) the DAC performance is shown to be limited by the clock feed-through and settling effects in the SC array rather than by the capacitor mismatch or kT/C noise, which appear negligible in this application. While it is possible to design a highly linear output driver with HD3 < ?70 dB and HD2 < ?90 dB over 0.5–5 GHz band as we show, the maximum SFDR of the SC DAC is 45 dB with 8-bit resolution and Nyquist sampling of 3 GHz. The capacitor array is designed based on the DAC design area defined in terms of the switch size and unit capacitance value. A tradeoff between the DAC bandwidth and resolution accompanied by SFDR is demonstrated. High linearity of the output driver is attained by a combination of two techniques, the derivative superposition (DS) and resistive source degeneration. In simulations the complete DAC achieves SFDR of 45 dB with 8-bit resolution for signal bandwidth 1.36 GHz with Nyquist sampling. With 6-bit and 5.5 GHz bandwidth 33 dB SFDR is attained. The total power consumption of the SC DAC is 90 mW with 1.2 V supply and clock frequency of 3 GHz.     

A 12-bit 0.35 μm CMOS area optimized current-steering hybrid DAC

In this paper a 12-bit current-steering hybrid DAC is implemented using AMS 0.35 μm CMOS process technology. The architecture and design methodology used for the implementation of the DAC offer advantages like design speed up, easiness in design and a small active area. The proposed hybrid DAC consists of four 3-bit parallel matched current-steering subDACs and resistive networks that properly weight the current output of each subDAC to obtain the overall voltage-mode output of the 12-bit hybrid DAC. The performance of the hybrid DAC is validated through static and dynamic performance metrics. Simulations indicate that the DAC has an accuracy of 12-bit and a SFDR higher than 66 dB in whole Nyquist frequency band. The simulated INL is better than 1 LSB, while simulated DNL is better than 0.25 LSB. At an update rate of 250 MS/s the SFDR for signals up to 10 MHz is higher than 66 dB. The Figure of Merit (FoM) of the implemented hybrid DAC is better than recently presented DACs with 12-bit resolutions and implemented using various process technologies. The proposed hybrid DAC supporting high update rates with good dynamic performance can be used as an alternative in various applications in industry including video, digital TV, cable modems etc.     

A 12-bit intrinsic accuracy high-speed CMOS DAC

A 12-bit intrinsic accuracy digital-to-analog (D/A) converter integrated in a standard digital 0.5 μm CMOS technology is presented. It is based on a current steering doubly segmented 6+2+4 architecture and requires no calibration, no trimming, or dynamic averaging. The differential nonlinearity (DNL) and integral nonlinearity (INL) are 0.3 and 0.6 least significant bits (LSB's), respectively. The measured glitch energy is 1.9 pV.s. For a 12-bit resolution, the converter reaches an update rate of 300 MS/s. By reducing the voltage supply of the latches to 2.0 V, the glitch energy is reduced to sub-pV.s, and the update rate reaches 500 MS/s, for a resolution of 8 bits. The worst case power consumption is 320 mW, and it operates from a single 3.3 V voltage supply. The die area is 3.2 mm²     

应用于AMOLED源极驱动的高精度DAC设计

针对OLED显示面板更高分辨率、更高精度的需求,本文提出了一种应用于高分辨率AMOLED源极驱动的高精度10bit DAC结构。设计的DAC由6bit的GAMMA校正电阻串DAC及4bit的基于尾电流源插值的输出缓冲器级联构成,达到高精度的同时占用较小的芯片面积。为进一步提高AMOLED驱动的灰阶电压精度,增加了一个DAC斜率可编程单元对线性DAC输出曲线进行进一步调节,以更好地拟合AMOLED显示屏所需的灰阶-电压曲线,此外,输出缓冲器采用尾电流源插值的方法来实现高精度的第二级DAC。在UMC 80nm CMOS工艺下,仿真结果表明设计的DAC的最大INL和DNL分别为0.47LSB、0.24LSB。在10kΩ电阻及30pF电容负载下,DAC电压从最低灰阶到最高灰阶的建立时间为3.38μs。驱动电路可以快速、精确地将图像数据转换为建立在像素电路上的电压,满足分辨率为1080×2 160驱动芯片的应用需求。     

Phase-domain fractional-N frequency synthesizers

The concept of phase-domain fractional-N frequency synthesis is presented. Synthesizers using this architecture can achieve fast frequency switching without limiting the minimum channel spacing. In this architecture, a numerical phase comparator is used in conjunction with weighting coefficients, as a linear weighted phase-frequency detector. The synthesizer output spur level is determined by two factors. Namely, the delay of the numerical phase comparator, and the accuracy of the digital-to-analog convertor (DAC) used to convert the phase error to the analog domain. A novel second-order timing-error cancelation scheme is proposed to eliminate the effect of the phase comparator delays. Using this technique together with a 10-bit accuracy DAC, a maximum spur level of less than -65 dBc is simulated for a 900-MHz synthesizer. The settling time of the simulated synthesizer is less than 7 /spl mu/s, and is independent of the channel spacing. The details of the synthesizer architecture, design considerations, and system-level simulations are presented. Implementation issues including the DAC accuracy and timing-error effects are discussed extensively throughout the text.     

A low voltage 8-bit digital-to-analog converter using floating gate MOSFETs

A new low voltage digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) architecture is proposed using weighted summation of voltages at the input terminals of a Floating Gate MOSFET (FGMOS). An 8-bit DAC has been designed based on this architecture and its simulation results are provided to verify its operation at ±1.0 V. The circuit possesses good accuracy, fast dynamic performance and low power consumption. The circuit operation was verified through SPICE simulations carried out using 0.13 μm CMOS technology.     

A 1-V CMOS D/A converter with multi-input floating-gate MOSFET

A low-voltage D/A converter using multi-input floating-gate MOSFET within a matrix current cell architecture is described in this paper. The two-input floating-gate p-channel MOSFET of each current cell performs the combined functions of current source and current switch. The double-gate-driven MOSFET circuit technique was employed in the digital circuitry to facilitate low supply voltage operation. A 6-bit and 8-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) have been fabricated in standard double-poly double-metal 1.2 μm CMOS technology. Measurements show a supply voltage as low as 0.9 and 1.0 V is sufficient to operate the 6-bit and 8-bit DAC, respectively, with a 5 Msamples/s conversion rate     

A 10-Bit LCD Column Driver With Piecewise Linear Digital-to-Analog Converters

A 10-bit LCD column driver, consisting of piecewise linear digital to analog converters (DACs), is proposed. Piecewise linear compensation is utilized to reduce the die area and to increase the effective color depth. The data conversion is carried out by a resistor string type DAC (R-DAC) and a charge sharing DAC, which are used for the most significant bit and least significant bit data conversions, respectively. Gamma correction voltages are applied to the R-DAC to lit the inverse of the liquid crystal trans-mittance-voltage characteristic. The gamma correction can also be digitally fine-tuned in the timing controller or column drivers. A prototype 10-bit LCD column driver implemented in a 0.35-mum CMOS technology demonstrates that the settling time is within 3 mus and the average die size per channel is 0.063 mm², smaller than those of column drivers based exclusively on R-DACs.     

A 100-MHz CMOS DAC for video-graphic systems

A 6-b weighted-current-sink video digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with 10-90% rise/fall time of 4 ns, integrated with a double-metal 3-μm CMOS technology, is described. Current-source matching, glitch reduction, and differential switch driving aspects are considered. A circuit solution and a nonconventional layout technique yield a high conversion rate with a standard CMOS technology. Experimental results show that a conversion rate of 100 MHz is achievable. The power consumption is 150 mW and the active chip area is 0.5×1.0 mm² . The differential of 0.1 LSB demonstrates that 8 b of accuracy can be achieved. The integral linearity is 0.5 LSB     

A 12-bit monolithic 70 ns DAC

Describes a 12-bit monolithic digital-to-analog converter with 70 ns settling time and a low output glitch content. The device is fabricated on a standard high speed digital process and needs no post-processing trimming to achieve the required accuracy and monotonicity. The output from this device is in the form of two complementary output currents, which may be terminated in resistive loads or amplified by a virtual earth input stage. Included on the chip are a temperature compensated voltage reference and reference loop amplifier. Essential external components are limited to a single current range setting resistor and decoupling/compensation capacitors.     

An ultra-high-speed direct digital synthesizer with nonlinear DAC and wave correction ROM

This paper presents a novel direct digital synthesizer (DDS) architecture combining Nonlinear DAC with a small-sized wave-correction-ROM (WCR), which achieves both high operating speed and accuracy. A 6?GHz 8-bit DDS chip based on the proposed architecture is designed and fabricated in a 60?GHz GaAs HBT technology. The major blocks of the DDS MMIC based on ECL logic includes an 8-bit pipelined accumulator, an 8?×?8?×?3-bit WCR, two combined digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and an analog Gilbert Cell for sine-wave generation, a 3-to-7 thermometer coder, digital logic gates and registers. A method of using a series of RC networks to terminate the clock tree together with a pot-layout simulation scheme is developed to maintain the clock tree signal integrity. The DDS chip is tested using an on-wafer measurement approach. The measured spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) is 33.96 dBc with a 2.367?GHz output using a 6?GHz maximum clock frequency. The measurement also shows an average SFDR of 37.5 dBc and the worst case SFDR of 31.4 dBc (FCW?=?112) within the entire Nyquist band under a 5?GHz clock. The chip occupies 2.4?×?2?mm² of area and consumes a 3.27?W of power from a single ?4.6?V power supply.     

A Design of Linearity Built-in Self-Test for Current-Steering DAC

In this paper, a current-mode Built-In Self-Test (BIST) scheme is proposed for on-chip estimating static non-linearity errors in current-steering digital-to-analog converters (DACs). The proposed DAC BIST scheme is designed to verify a 10-bit segmented current-steering DAC, consist of a 5-bit coarse DAC and a 5-bit fine one. This proposed BIST scheme includes a current-mode sample-and-difference circuit to increase the sampling current accuracy and control a current-controlled oscillator (ICO). In addition, only 36 measurements are required by using the selected-code method rather than 1024 measurements for the conventionally-utilized all-code method. Compared to the conventionally-utilized all-code method, about 85-% reduction of test time can be achieved.