Rail-to-rail super class AB CMOS operational amplifiers

Novel class AB single-stage operational amplifiers are presented. They feature rail-to-rail operation owing to the use of floating-gate input transistors. Initial charge of the floating gates is removed during fabrication, without any post-processing. The amplifiers are fast, simple, and able to operate at low supply voltages. They are highly power efficient owing to the enhanced (super) class AB operation based on adaptive biasing and local common-mode feedback. A 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS implementation shows rail-to-rail operation with slew rates of about 40 V//spl mu/s for a load of 80 pF and 144 /spl mu/W of quiescent power consumption.     

Class AB CMOS amplifiers with high efficiency

A new class AB CMOS operational-amplifier principle is presented. A transconductance amplifier based on this principle exhibits small-signal characteristics comparable to those of a conventional OTA. It has, however, a superior current efficiency and its settling time is not slew-rate limited. The new class AB principle can also be used in an output stage with a well-defined quiescent current, a rail-to-rail output swing, and a good driving capability. A two-stage amplifier with both the input and output stages based on the new principle has been realized. It features a rail-to-rail input and output common-mode range, a gain-bandwidth of 370-kHz, a settling time of less than 5 μs independent of the applied step, and a power consumption of 247 μW. It drives a resistive load of 3 kΩ in parallel with a capacitive load of 400 pF when operated on a 2.5-V/-2.5-V power supply     

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.     

High-speed driving scheme and compact high-speed low-power rail-to-rail class-B buffer amplifier for LCD applications

A high-speed driving scheme and a compact high-speed low-power rail-to-rail class-B buffer amplifier, which are suitable for small- and large-size liquid crystal display applications, are proposed. The driving scheme incorporates two output driving stages in which the output of the first output driving stage is connected to the inverting input and that of the second driving stage is connected to the capacitive load. A compensation resistor is connected between the two output stages for stability. The second output stage is used to improve the slew rate and the settling time. The buffer draws little current while static but has a large driving capability while transient. The circuit achieves the large driving capability by employing simple comparators to sense the transients of the input to turn on the output stages, which are statically off in the stable state. This increases the speed of the circuit without increasing static power consumption too much. A rail-to-rail folded-cascode differential amplifier is used to amplify the input signal difference and supply the bias voltages for the second stage. An experimental prototype output buffer implemented in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology demonstrates that the circuit draws only 7-/spl mu/A static current and exhibits the settling times of 2.7 /spl mu/s for rising and 2.9 /spl mu/s for falling edges for a voltage swing of 3.3 V under a 600-pF capacitance load with a power supply of 3.3 V. The active area of this buffer is only 46.5/spl times/57/spl mu/m/sup 2/.     

An Ultra-Low-Voltage Ultra-Low-Power CMOS Miller OTA With Rail-to-Rail Input/Output Swing

An ultra-low-voltage ultra-low-power CMOS Miller operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) with rail-to-rail input/output swing is presented. The topology is based on combining bulk-driven differential pair and dc level shifters, with the transistors work in weak inversion. The improved Miller OTA has been successfully verified in a standard 0.35-mum CMOS process. Experimental results have confirmed that, at a minimum supply voltage of 600 mV, lower than the threshold voltage, the topology presents almost rail-to-rail input and output swings and consumes only 550 nW.     

一种恒跨导轨对轨CMOS运算放大器的设计

设计了一种新颖的恒跨导轨对轨CMOS运算放大器结构。输入级采用轨对轨的结构,在输入级采用4个虚拟差分对管来对输入差分对的电流进行限制,使运放的输入级跨导在工作范围内保持恒定。输出级采用前馈式AB类输出结构,以使输出达到全摆幅。仿真结果显示,在5 V电源电压和带有10 pF电容与10 kΩ电阻并联的负载下,该运放在共模输入范围内实现了恒跨导,在整个共模输入范围内跨导变化率仅为3%,输出摆幅也达到了轨对轨全摆幅,运放的开环增益为108.5 dB,增益带宽积为26.7 MHz,相位裕度为76.3°。     

A 75 μW rail-to-rail class AB CMOS operational amplifier

A new class AB CMOS operational amplifier featuring rail-to-rail output swing is presented. The proposed circuit operates with an output voltage supply of 1 V only, while the overall power consumption is lower than 75 μW. The output stage shows a quiescent current of 15 μA, while it guarantees a peak current of 220 μA. The slew rate is 1.5 V μs⁻¹ (C₁ = 150 pF) and the THD is −63 dB, when a 0.98 V_pp−10.4 kHz sinewave is applied, as measured on an experimental prototype realised with a standard 0.8 μm CMOS process. The circuit presented is suitable for use in portable hand-set systems or in medical aids.     

A novel class of complementary folded-cascode opamps for low voltage

Three novel complementary folded-cascode operational amplifiers (opamps) with high gain, large bandwidth, and rail-to-rail input range for low-voltage operation will be presented. These opamps feature high bandwidth due to minimum internal nodes. The output swing is increased by properly adjusting the output cascode transistor gate voltages close to the power supply voltages. The opamps have been fabricated with a standard 0.8-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. Measurements show the amplification is between 60.1 and 72.4 dB, and the unity gain bandwidth is 14 MHz for a 5-pF load, 2.5-V power supply, and 150-/spl mu/A bias current.     

A -90-dB THD rail-to-rail input opamp using a new local charge pumpin CMOS

This paper describes the principle and design of a CMOS rail-to-rail input operational amplifier with THD performance of -90 dB which is suited for high-quality audio systems. A new output stage has been used featuring an output suing that extends to either supply rail and is capable of driving a low ohmic load (32 Ω). The opamp, which is realized in a 0.5-μm 3.3-V digital CMOS process, uses a standard two-stage Miller configuration. The rail-to-rail input functionality is achieved with a new area-efficient on-chip charge pump which provides the local supply voltage for the input differential pair. THD levels below -90 dB have not yet been shown with existing rail-to-rail techniques. This rail-to-rail input configuration also behaves independently of the common mode level with respect to transconductance and slewing characteristics     

Constant-g/sub m/ constant-slew-rate high-bandwidth low-voltage rail-to-rail CMOS input stage for VLSI cell libraries

This paper introduces a general-purpose low-voltage rail-to-rail input stage suitable for analog and mixed-signal applications. The proposed circuit provides, simultaneously, constant small-signal and large-signal behaviors over the entire input common-mode voltage range, while imposing no appreciable constraint for high-frequency operation. In addition, the accuracy of the circuit does not rely on any strict matching of the devices, unlike most of the traditional approaches based on complementary input pairs, which need to compensate for the difference in mobility between electrons and holes with the transistor aspect ratios. Also, the technique is compatible with deep submicrometer CMOS devices, where the familiar voltage-to-current square law in saturation is not completely satisfied. Based on the proposed input stage, a transconductor with rail-to-rail input common-mode range and an input/output rail-to-rail operational amplifier were developed. Both cells were designed to operate with a 3-V single supply and fabricated in standard 0.8-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. Experimental results are provided.     

Novel Ultra-Low-Power Class AB CCII+ Based on Floating-Gate Folded Cascode OTA

In this paper, a novel low-voltage ultra-low-power class AB current conveyor of the second generation based on folded cascode operational transconductance amplifier OTA with floating-gate differential pairs is presented. The main features of the proposed conveyor are design simplicity and rail-to-rail input voltage range at a low supply voltage of ±0.5 V. The proposed conveyor has a reduced power consumption of only 10 μW. Due to these features, the proposed conveyor could be successfully employed in a wide range of low-voltage low-power analog signal processing applications. PSpice simulation results using the 0.18 μm CMOS technology from TSMC are included to prove the results. As an example of application, a current-mode quadrature oscillator is designed and its functionality is proved by simulation.     

A 4-Gb/s/pin low-power memory I/O interface using 4-level simultaneous bi-directional signaling

This paper presents a simultaneous bi-directional (SBD) 4-level I/O interface for high-speed DRAMs. The data rate of 4 Gb/s/pin was demonstrated using a 500-MHz clock generator and a full CMOS rail-to-rail power swing. The power consumed by the I/O circuit was measured to be 28 mW/pin, when connected to a 10-pF load, at a 1.8-V supply voltage. The transmitter uses a 4-level push-pull linear output driver and a 4-level automatic impedance controller, achieving the reduction of driver currents and the voltage margin as large as 200 mV. The receiver employs a hierarchical sampling scheme, wherein a differential amplifier selects three out of six reference voltage levels. This scheme ensures minimized sampling power and a wide common-mode sampling range. The 6-level reference voltage for sampling is generated by the combination of the transmitter replica. The proposed I/O interface circuits are fabricated using a 0.10-/spl mu/m, 2-metal layers DRAM process, and the active area is 330 /spl times/ 66 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. It exhibits 200 mV /spl times/ 690 ps eye windows on the given channel with a 1.8-V supply voltage.     

A Novel Class AB CMOS Power Amplifier

A novel class AB design is described. To achieve a large output voltage swing and to avoid the offset problems associated with a class AB input stage, the non-linearity is placed between the input and the output stage. Before the output stage the signal is separated in one positive and one negative half, which are then amplified separately.For the first time this topology is used in an integrated CMOS power amplifier. It operates with +/ –2.5 V supplies and can drive more than 4 V_pp into an 8 load.     

一款改进型AB类音频功率放大器的设计

设计了一种全差分高增益AB类音频功率放大器。该运算放大器利用电流抵消技术以提高增益,并采用一种改进型AB类推挽式输出级结构得到大电流驱动能力和宽摆幅。在0.35 μm CMOS工艺条件仿真得到该运算放大器在5 V电源电压下,开环增益为97.4 dB。输出摆幅范围0.07~4.91 V,静态功耗2.96 mW,功率管的面积＜0.2 mm²,在保证一定指标的前提下节省了芯片面积。     

A Robust and Scalable Constant-$g_m$ Rail-to-Rail CMOS Input Stage With Dynamic Feedback for VLSI Cell Libraries

In this paper, we propose a robust and scalable constant- rail-to-rail CMOS input stage for VLSI cell libraries. The proposed circuit does not rely on the characteristics and particular operation (strong, moderate, and weak inversion) regions of the input transistors and is insensitive to mismatches between p- and n-channel devices. Only standard CMOS transistors are used in the circuit without any special devices, such as floating-gate or depletion-mode transistors. Very small variations (less than ) have been achieved without sacrificing the large-signal behavior. The proposed circuit is proven effective for both long-channel and deep sub-micron CMOS technologies and is suitable for VLSI cell libraries, audio/video, embedded mixed-signal system-on-chip (SoC), and other applications. A prototype amplifier with rail-to-rail input common-mode range has been designed and fabricated in a standard 0.35-m CMOS technology. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness and robustness of proposed techniques.     

Class AB Output Stages of the Integrated Amplifiers

General approach to the design of the class AB output stages of bipolar and CMOS amplifiers based on common-mode negative feedback is discussed. Frequency compensation of the result multiloop system is provided by feed forward links. Effectiveness of the proposed method is shown on designs of rail-to-rail bipolar and CMOS output stages, all-NPN output stage, output stage of the hearing aids IC. Common design mistakes are shown using industry-standard ICs.     

一种新型低压高电流驱动能力的CMOS电流传输器

设计了一种电压和电流跟随能力强,低压驱动性能好的第二代电流传输器.采用SMIC 0.18 μm工艺,利用Spectre对整个电路进行了仿真.电源电压为1.8 V,输入级采用轨对轨的结构,有效地提高了信号的摆幅;输出级采用AB类推免输出方式,在降低电路功耗的同时,也提高了电流的驱动能力.通过采用MOS管与电容串联的补偿方式,有效地改善了CCII+的频率响应特性.仿真结果表明,该CCII+的-3 dB带宽达709 MHz,X端输入电阻低于100 Ω,电流驱动能力为0.05 mA-2.5 mA,电路功耗为140 μW.     

A cost-efficient high-speed 12-bit pipeline ADC in 0.18-/spl mu/m digital CMOS

A 12-bit pipeline ADC fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m pure digital CMOS technology is presented. Its nominal conversion rate is 110 MS/s and the nominal supply voltage is 1.8 V. The effective number of bits is 10.4 when a 10-MHz input signal with 2V/sub P-P/ signal swing is applied. The occupied silicon area is 0.86 mm/sup 2/ and the power consumption equals 97 mW. A switched capacitor bias current generator scales the opamp bias currents automatically with the conversion rate, which gives scaleable power consumption and full performance of the ADC from 20 to 140 MS/s.     

A high-speed low-power rail-to-rail column driver for AMLCD application

A high-speed rail-to-rail low-power column driver for active matrix liquid crystal display application is proposed. An inversion controller is attached to a typical column driver for rail-to-rail operation. Two high-speed complementary differential buffer amplifiers are proposed to drive a pair of column lines and to realize a rail-to-rail and high-speed drive. The output buffer amplifier achieves a large driving capability by employing a simple comparator to sense the transients of the input to turn on an auxiliary driving transistor, which is statically off in the stable state. This increases the speed without increasing static power consumption. The experimental prototype 6-bit column driver implemented in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology demonstrates that the driver exhibits the maximum settling times of 1.2 /spl mu/s and 1.4 /spl mu/s for rising and falling edges with a dot inversion under a 680-pF capacitance load. The static current consumptions are 4.7 and 4.2 /spl mu/A for pMOS input buffers and nMOS input buffers, respectively. The values of the differential nonlinearity (DNL) and integral nonlinearity (INL) are less than 1/2 LSB.     

A low-voltage CMOS switch with a novel clock boosting scheme

There is a strong demand for an input switch in switched-capacitor circuits, covering rail-to-rail signal swing when low power-supply voltages are used. This brief proposes a novel clock-boosting scheme. The generated clock voltages of this new circuit are applied to a regular CMOS transmission gate to implement a simple and robust sampling switch when the supply voltages are very low. In this new approach, during the sampling phase, the gate-voltage of an nMOS switch is boosted up to V/sub dd/+k/spl middot/V/sub dd/, and the gate voltage of a pMOS switch is lowered to V/sub gnd/-k/spl middot/V/sub dd/, where k can be made programmable, and is usually smaller than 1. This allows sampling of the full signal swing, even when supply voltages are lower than |V/sub th/,p|+V/sub th/,n without applying extreme stress to the gate oxide of a transistor.