An Output Buffer for 3.3-V Applications in a 0.13-μm 1/2.5-V CMOS Process

With a 3.3-V interface, such as PCI-X application, high-voltage overstress on the gate oxide is a serious reliability problem in designing I/O circuits by using only 1/2.5-V low-voltage devices in a 0.13-mum CMOS process. Thus, a new output buffer realized with low-voltage (1- and 2.5-V) devices to drive high-voltage signals for 3.3-V applications is proposed in this paper. The proposed output buffer has been fabricated in a 0.13-mum 1/2.5-V 1P8M CMOS process with Cu interconnects. The experimental results have confirmed that the proposed output buffer can be successfully operated at 133 MHz without suffering high-voltage gate-oxide overstress in the 3.3-V interface. In addition, a new level converter that is realized with only 1- and 2.5-V devices that can convert 0/1-V voltage swing to 1/3.3-V voltage swing is also presented in this paper. The experimental results have also confirmed that the proposed level converter can be operated correctly     

A 0.5-V power-supply scheme for low-power system LSIs using multi-V/sub th/ SOI CMOS technology

This paper proposes a novel power-supply scheme suitable for 0.5-V operating silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS circuits. The system contains an on-chip buck DC-DC converter with over 90% efficiency, 0.5-V operating logic circuits, 100-MHz operating flip-flops at 0.5-V power supply, and level converters for the interface between the 0.5-V operating circuit and on-chip digital-to-analog (D/A) converters or external equipment. Based on the theory, the values of on-resistance and threshold voltage of SOI transistors are clarified for the 0.5-V/10-mW output DC-DC converter, which satisfies both high efficiency and low standby power. The proposed flip-flop can hold the data during the sleep with the use of the external power supply, while maintaining high performance during the active. The level converter comprises dual-rail charge transfer gates and a CMOS buffer with a cross-coupled nMOS amplifier to operate with high speed even in a conversion gain of higher than 6, where the conversion gain is defined as the ratio of the output and input signal swings. The test chip was fabricated for the 0.5-V power supply scheme by using multi-V/sub th/ SOI CMOS technology. The experimental results showed that the buck DC-DC converter achieved a conversion efficiency of 91% at 0.5-V/10-mW output with stable recovery characteristics from the sleep, and that the dual-rail level converter operated with a maximum data rate of 300 Mb/s with the input signal swing of 0.5 V.     

Low-power CMOS/BiCMOS drivers and receivers for on-chipinterconnects

Novel low-voltage swing CMOS and BiCMOS driver/receiver circuits for low-power VLSI applications are proposed. Interconnect wire drivers with low output signal swing are employed. Special receivers provide single and double level conversion while minimizing the total driver/receiver transmission delay. These level converters have no DC power dissipation. At 3.3 V power supply voltage, the proposed circuits consume less power without delay penalty. The power saving is observed to be as high as 30%. At lower supplies further power and delay improvements are observed     

Wide-Range 5.0/3.3/1.8-V I/O Buffer Using 0.35-${mu}hbox{m}$ 3.3-V CMOS Technology

A 5.0/3.3/1.8-V tolerant I/O buffer implemented using typical CMOS 2P4M 0.35-mum process is proposed in this paper. Unlike traditional mixed-voltage-tolerant I/O buffers, the proposed I/O buffer can transmit and receive signals with voltage levels of 5.0/3.3/1.8 V. By using a stacked PMOS and a stacked NMOS at the output stage and a dynamic gate bias generator providing appropriate control voltages for the gates of the stacked PMOS, gate-oxide overstress and hot-carrier degradation are avoided. Moreover, gate-tracking and floating n-well circuits are used to remove undesirable leakage current paths. The proposed topology can be applied to any technologies with the constraint of VDD < VDDH < 2 times, which should be considered carefully in sub-100-nm technologies. Measurement results on silicon verify the function and the gate-oxide reliability of the proposed I/O buffer. The maximum transmitting speed of the proposed I/O buffer is measured to be 80/120/84 Mb/s for the supply voltage of I/O buffer at 5.0/3.3/1.8 V, respectively, given the load of 29 pF.     

Low-voltage-swing monolithic dc-dc conversion

A low-voltage-swing MOSFET gate drive technique is proposed in this paper for enhancing the efficiency characteristics of high-frequency-switching dc-dc converters. The parasitic power dissipation of a dc-dc converter is reduced by lowering the voltage swing of the power transistor gate drivers. A comprehensive circuit model of the parasitic impedances of a monolithic buck converter is presented. Closed-form expressions for the total power dissipation of a low-swing buck converter are proposed. The effect of reducing the MOSFET gate voltage swings is explored with the proposed circuit model. A range of design parameters is evaluated, permitting the development of a design space for full integration of active and passive devices of a low-swing buck converter on the same die, for a target CMOS technology. The optimum gate voltage swing of a power MOSFET that maximizes efficiency is lower than a standard full voltage swing. An efficiency of 88% at a switching frequency of 102 MHz is achieved for a voltage conversion from 1.8 to 0.9 V with a low-swing dc-dc converter based on a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. The power dissipation of a low-swing dc-dc converter is reduced by 27.9% as compared to a standard full-swing dc-dc converter.     

A sub-2.0 V BiCMOS logic circuit with a BiCMOS charge pump

A BiCMOS logic circuit with very small input capacitance has been developed, which operates at low supply voltages. A High-beta BiCMOS (Hβ-BiCMOS) gate circuit which fully utilizes the bipolar transistor features achieves 10 times the speed of a CMOS gate circuit with the same input capacitance and operating at 3.3 V supply voltage. In order to lower the minimum supply voltage of Hβ-BiCMOS, a BiCMOS circuit configuration using a charge pump to pull up the output high level of the BiCMOS gate circuit is proposed. By introducing a BiCMOS charge pump, Hβ-BiCMOS achieves very high speed operation at sub-2.0 V supply voltage. It has also been demonstrated that only a very small number of charge pump circuits are required to drive a large number of Hβ-BiCMOS gate circuits     

1.5V高速全摆幅BiCMOS逻辑电路的研究

分析了影响ＢｉＣＭＯＳ全摆幅输出和高速度的因素,探索了一种新的抑制ＢＪＴ过饱和和反馈网络,提出了具有高速全摆幅输出的ＢｉＣＭＯＳ逻辑单元。该单元可以工作于１．５Ｖ,并且易于多输入扩展,它特别适于ＶＬＳＩ设计。模拟结果表明,该单元实现了优于ＣＭＯＳ的全摆幅输出,且其速度高于同类ＣＭＯＳ电路１０倍以上。     

100V高压CMOS工艺关键技术的研究

提出了一种新的双栅氧(dual gate oxide,DGO)工艺,有效提高了薄栅氧器件与厚栅氧器件的工艺兼容性,同时提高了高低压器件性能的稳定性.在中国科学院微电子研究所0.8μm n阱标准CMOS工艺基础上设计出高低压兼容的100V高压工艺流程,并流片成功.实验结果表明,高压n管和高压p管的关态击穿电压分别为168和-158V,可以在100V高压下安全工作.     

Investigations of Key Technologies for 100V HVCMOS Process

提出了一种新的双栅氧(dual gate oxide,DGO)工艺,有效提高了薄栅氧器件与厚栅氧器件的工艺兼容性,同时提高了高低压器件性能的稳定性.在中国科学院微电子研究所0.8μm n阱标准CMOS工艺基础上设计出高低压兼容的100V高压工艺流程,并流片成功.实验结果表明,高压n管和高压p管的关态击穿电压分别为168和-158V,可以在100V高压下安全工作.     

Silicon-gate n-well CMOS process by full ion-implantation technology

A silicon-gate n-well CMOS process for an application of digital circuits operated by TTL compatible supply voltage was developed. Full ion-implantation technology, a new photolithography technique, n⁺-doped polysilicon gate which contain no boron impurities, and thin gate oxide of 65 nm can realize CMOS circuits of 2-µm gate length. Average impurity concentrations measured from substrate bias effect of MOSFET's and junction depth are in good agreement with those expected from impurity profiles calculated by a simple diffusion theory. So, the process design for CMOS circuits operated by any supply voltage is possible, by adjusting threshold voltages. The process can easily be extended to n-MOS/CMOS process (E/D MOS and CMOS on the same chip), if a photomask to fabricate depletion-type n-MOSFET's is provided.     

单片集成直流-直流转换器的效率提高方法

采用SMIC 0.13μm CMOS工艺,设计实现了开关频率达到250 MHz,单片集成的降压型电源转换器。为了提高电源转换效率,该转换器中的片上电感采用非对称性设计方法,提高了电感的品质因数。采用了高密度片上滤波电容来稳定输出电压,同时对单位电容尺寸的优化设计减小了电容的等效串联电阻以及输出电压纹波。测试结果表明,芯片输入电压为3.3 V,当输出2.5 V电压时,峰值效率达到了80%,最大输出电流达到270 mA;当输出1.8 V电压时,峰值效率达到了70%,最大输出电流达到400 mA。     

Threshold voltage-minimum gate length trade-off in buried channelPMOS devices for scaled supply voltage CMOS technologies

The trade-off between threshold voltage (V_th) and the minimum gate length (L_min) is discussed for optimizing the performance of buried channel PMOS transistors for low voltage/low power high-speed digital CMOS circuits. In a low supply voltage CMOS technology it is desirable to scale V_th and L_min for improved circuit performance. However, these two parameters cannot be scaled independently due to the channel punch-through effect. Statistical process/device modeling, split lot experiments, circuit simulations, and measurements are performed to optimize the PMOS transistor current drive and CMOS circuit speed. We show that trading PMOS transistor V_th for a smaller L_min results in faster circuits for low supply voltage (3.3 to 1.8 V) n⁺-polysilicon gate CMOS technology, Circuit simulation and measurements are performed in this study. Approximate empirical expressions are given for the optimum buried channel PMOS transistor V _th for minimizing CMOS circuit speed for cases involving: (1) constant capacitive load and (2) load capacitance proportional to MOS gate capacitance. The results of the numerical exercise are applied to the centering of device parameters of a 0.5 μm 3.3 V CMOS technology that (a) matches the speed of our 0.5 μm 5 V CMOS technology, and (b) achieves good performance down to 1.8 V power supply. For this process the optimum PMOS transistor V_th (absolute value) is approximately 0.85-0.90 V     

A 1.8 V low power 5 Gbps PMOS-based LVDS output driver with good return loss performance

This paper presents a novel design topology of a 5 Gbps PMOS-based low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) voltage mode output driver. The topology is designed to meet the requirements of low power consumption and high data rates applications. The driver consists of an output stage and a pre-driver stage where the driver’s swing and common-mode output voltage are set. The pre-driver and the output stage consume only 13.1 mW of power at 5 Gbps speed while operating from a 1.8 V voltage supply. Further, the design achieved ?21 dB return loss performance at DC. The driver was extracted and simulated using Mentor Graphics CAD tools and implemented in 180 nm CMOS technology. The output signal is fully compliant with the LVDS standard output swing and common-mode voltage specifications.     

Novel high speed circuit structures for BiCMOS environment

Novel high speed BiCMOS circuits including ECL/CMOS, CMOS/ECL interface circuits and a BiCMOS sense amplifier are presented. A generic 0.8 μm complementary BiCMOS technology has been used in the circuit design. Circuit simulations show superior performance of the novel circuits over conventional designs. The time delays of the proposed ECL/CMOS interface circuits, the dynamic reference voltage CMOS/ECL interface circuit and the BiCMOS sense amplifier are improved by 20, 250, and 60%, respectively. All the proposed circuits maintain speed advantage until the supply voltage is scaled down to 3.3 V     

一种带自适应斜坡补偿的PCM控制Boost变换器

设计了一种带自适应斜坡补偿的峰值电流模式(PCM)控制Boost变换器。采用一种低功耗自适应斜坡补偿电路,使得升压(Boost)变换器能够实现宽输出范围和高带载能力。在此基础上,提出了一种应用于Boost变换器的电感电流采样电路,该电路实现了高采样速度和高采样精度,且具备全周期的电感电流采样特点。变换器基于SMIC 180 nm BCD CMOS工艺设计。仿真结果表明,该带自适应斜坡补偿的PCM控制Boost变换器输入电压转换范围为2.8 V～5.5 V,输出电压转换范围为4.96 V～36.1 V,最大输出负载电流高达5 A。     

BiCMOS circuit technology for a 704 MHz ATM switch LSI

This paper describes BiCMOS level-converter circuits and clock circuits that increase VLSI interface speed to 1 GHz, and their application to a 704 MHz ATM switch LSI. An LSI with a high speed interface requires a BiCMOS multiplexer/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX) on the chip to reduce internal operation speed. A MUX/DEMUX with minimum power dissipation and a minimum pattern area can be designed using the proposed converter circuits. The converter circuits, using weakly cross-coupled CMOS inverters and a voltage regulator circuit, can convert signal levels between LCML and positive CMOS at a speed of 500 MHz. Data synchronization in the high speed region is ensured by a new BiCMOS clock circuit consisting of a pure ECL path and retiming circuits. The clock circuit reduces the chip latency fluctuation of the clock signal and absorbs the delay difference between the ECL clock and data through the CMOS circuits. A rerouting-Banyan (RRB) ATM switch, employing both the proposed converter circuits and the clock circuits, has been fabricated with 0.5 μm BiCMOS technology. The LSI, composed of CMOS 15 K gate logic, 8 Kb RAM, I Kb FIFO and ECL 1.6 K gate logic, achieved an operation speed of 704-MHz with power dissipation of 7.2 W     

Experimental confirmation of an accurate CMOS gate delay model forgate oxide and voltage scaling

MOSFET's and CMOS ring oscillators with gate oxide thicknesses from 2.58 nm to 5.7 nm and effective channel lengths down to 0.21 μm have been studied at voltages from 1.5 V to 3.3 V. Physical and electrical measurement of gate oxide thicknesses are compared. Ring oscillators' load capacitance is characterized through dynamic current measurement. An accurate model of CMOS gate delay is compared with measurement data. It shows that the dependence of gate propagation delay on gate oxide, channel length, and voltage scaling can be predicted     

200Ms/s 177mW 8位折叠内插结构的CMOS模数转换器

介绍了一个采用折叠内插结构的CMOS模数转换器,适合于嵌入式应用.该电路与标准的数字工艺完全兼容,经过改进的无需电阻就能实现的折叠模块有助于减小芯片面积.在输入级,失调平均技术降低了输入电容,而分布式采样保持电路的运用则提高了信号与噪声的失真比.该200MHz采样频率8位折叠内插结构的CMOS模数转换器在3.3V电源电压下,总功耗为177mW,用0.18μm 3.3V标准数字工艺实现.     

CMOS ring VCO for UHF RFID readers

A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) voltage controlled ring oscillator for ultra high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) readers has been realized and characterized. Fabricated in charter 0.35 μm CMOS process, the total chip size is 0.47×0.67 mm2. While excluding the pads, the core area is only 0.15×0.2 mm2. At a supply voltage of 3.3 V, the measured power consumption is 66 mW including the output buffer for 50 Ω testing load. This proposed voltage-controlled ring oscillator exhibits a low phase noise of - 116 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz offset from the center frequency of 922.5 MHz and a lower tuning gain through the use of coarse/fine frequency control.     

Design of charge pump circuit with consideration of gate-oxide reliability in low-voltage CMOS processes

A new charge pump circuit with consideration of gate-oxide reliability is designed with two pumping branches in this paper. The charge transfer switches in the new proposed circuit can be completely turned on and turned off, so its pumping efficiency is higher than that of the traditional designs. Moreover, the maximum gate-source and gate-drain voltages of all devices in the proposed charge pump circuit do not exceed the normal operating power supply voltage (VDD). Two test chips have been implemented in a 0.35-/spl mu/m 3.3-V CMOS process to verify the new proposed charge pump circuit. The measured output voltage of the new proposed four-stage charge pump circuit with each pumping capacitor of 2 pF to drive the capacitive output load is around 8.8 V under 3.3-V power supply (VDD = 3.3 V), which is limited by the junction breakdown voltage of the parasitic pn-junction in the given process. The new proposed circuit is suitable for applications in low-voltage CMOS processes because of its high pumping efficiency and no overstress across the gate oxide of devices.