Resistorless dual-mode quadrature sinusoidal oscillator using a single active building block

This paper presents a new realization of resistorless mixed-mode (i.e. both voltage-mode and current-mode) quadrature sinusoidal oscillator using a new active building block (ABB) called the differential voltage current-controlled conveyor transconductance amplifier (DVCCCTA). The proposed oscillator circuit uses a single DVCCCTA, two grounded capacitors (GCs) and does not employ any external linear resistors. The tuning laws for the condition of oscillation (CO) and the frequency of oscillation (FO) are non-interactive; and controlled by separate bias currents. The circuit provides two explicit quadrature current outputs and two quadrature voltage outputs and thus can be classified as a mixed-mode quadrature oscillator. Another notable feature of the proposed circuit is that it can also be used as a biquadratic filter to realize low-pass and band-pass filtering functions simultaneously. Non-ideal analysis of the circuit is provided and PSpice simulation results have been included to verify the workability of the proposed circuit.     

Comparative study of sub-volt differential difference current conveyors

Enhancing the performances of analog circuits with sub-volt supplies becomes a great challenge for circuit designers. Techniques such as bulk-driven (BD) and quasi-floating gate (QFG) count among the suitable ones for ultra-low voltage (ULV) operation capability with extended input voltage range and simple CMOS circuitry. However, in comparison to the conventional gate-driven (GD) MOS transistor (MOST), these techniques suffer from several disadvantages such as low transconductance value and bandwidth that limit their applicability for some applications. Therefore, the idea of merging the BD and QFG techniques to eliminate their drawbacks appears as efficacious solution. This new merging is named bulk-driven quasi-floating gate (BD-QFG)^* technique and in order to demonstrate its advantages in compassion to BD and QFG ones, this paper presents a comparison study of three ULV differential difference current conveyor (DDCC) blocks based on BD, QFG and BD-QFG techniques. The significant increment of the transconductance and the bandwidth values of the BD-QFG are clearly observed. The proposed CMOS structures of the DDCCs work at ±300 mV supply voltage and 18.5 µW power consumption. The simulation results using 0.18 µm CMOS n-Well process from TSMC show the features of the proposed circuits.     

A General Model of Unit Testing Efficacy

Much of software engineering is targeted towards identifying and removing existing defects while preventing the injection of new ones. Defect management is therefore one important software development process whose principal aim is to ensure that the software produced reaches the required quality standard before it is shipped into the market place. In this paper, we report on the results of research conducted to develop a predictive model of the efficacy of one important defect management technique, that of unit testing. We have taken an empirical approach. We commence with a number of assumptions that led to a theoretical model which describes the relationship between effort expended and the number of defects remaining in a software code module tested (the latter measure being termed correctness). This model is general enough to capture the possibility that debugging of a software defect is not perfect and could lead to new defects being injected. The Model is examined empirically against actual data and validated as a good predictive model under specific conditions. The work has been done in such a way that models are derived not only for the case of overall correctness but also for specific types of correctness such as correctness arising from the removal of defects contributing to shortcoming in reliability (R-type), functionality (F-type), usability (U-type) and maintainability (M-type) aspects of the program subject to defect management.     

Cascadable Current-Mode Biquad Filter and Quadrature Oscillator Using DO-CCCIIs and OTA

This article introduces a circuit which can function both as a quadrature oscillator and as a universal biquad filter (lowpass, highpass, bandpass). When the circuit functions as a universal biquad filter, the quality factor and pole frequency can be tuned orthogonally via the input bias currents. When it functions as a quadrature oscillator, the oscillation condition and oscillation frequency can be adjusted independently by the input bias currents. The proposed circuit can work as either a quadrature oscillator or a biquad filter without changing the circuit topology. The amplitude of the proposed oscillator can be independently controlled via the input bias currents. The proposed oscillator can be applied to provide amplitude modulated/amplitude shift keyed signals with the above-mentioned major advantages. The circuit is very simple, consisting of four dual-output second generation current controlled current conveyors (DO-CCCIIs), one operational transconductance amplifier (OTA), and two grounded capacitors. Without any external resistors and using only grounded elements, this circuit is therefore suitable for IC architecture. PSPICE simulation results are depicted here, and the given results agree well with the theoretical analysis. The power consumption is approximately 7.32 mW at ±2.5 V supply voltages.     

Realization of electronically tunable voltage-mode/current-mode quadrature sinusoidal oscillator using ZC-CG-CDBA

This paper presents a first of its kind canonic realization of active RC (ARC) sinusoidal oscillator with non-interactive/independent tuning laws, which simultaneously provides buffered quadrature voltage outputs and explicit quadrature current outputs. The proposed circuit is created using a new active building block, namely the Z-copy controlled-gain current differencing buffered amplifier (ZC-CG-CDBA). The circuit uses three resistors and two grounded capacitors, and provides independent/non-interactive control of the condition of oscillation (CO) and the frequency of oscillation (FO) by means of different resistors. Other advantageous features of the circuit are the inherent electronic tunability of the FO via controlling current gains of the active elements and the suitability to be employed as a low-frequency oscillator. A non-ideal analysis of the circuit is carried out and experimental results verifying the workability of the proposed circuit are included.     

Electronically tunable voltage-mode quadrature oscillator based on high performance CCCDBA

This paper presents a new electronically tunable voltage-mode quadrature oscillator using two high performance current controlled current differencing buffered amplifiers (CCCDBA), two capacitors and single resistor, all of them are grounded which is advantageous for monolithic integration. The condition of oscillation and the frequency of oscillation are independent and can be controlled by two separate bias currents. The output voltages are obtained at the terminals with almost zero internal impedances, thus there is no need to use any buffering devices. The MOS structure of the CCCDBA presented in this paper is of a high performance and ensures precision, large dynamic range, wide bandwidth and has the capability to drive a load with very low resistance. Non-ideal analysis of the proposed oscillator is provided and PSpice simulation results using the 0.18 μm n-well CMOS technology from TSMC are included to verify the correct functionality of the proposed circuit.     

Voltage-mode quadrature sinusoidal oscillator with current tunable properties

This letter presents a realization of voltage-mode quadrature sinusoidal oscillator with independent current tunable frequency of oscillation. The circuit uses a single differential voltage current conveyor transconductance amplifier (DVCCTA) as the active building block and four all grounded passive elements. PSPICE simulation results have been included to verify the theoretical results.     

CMOS current-controlled current differencing transconductance amplifier and applications to analog signal processing

This article presents design of a basic current-mode building block for analog signal processing, named as current-controlled current differencing transconductance amplifier (CCCDTA). Its parasitic resistances at two current input ports can be controlled by an input bias current. Owing to working in current-mode of all terminals, it is very suitable to use in a current-mode signal processing, which is continually more popular than a voltage one. The proposed element is realized in a CMOS technology and is examined the performance through PSPICE simulations. They display usability of the new active element, where the maximum bandwidth is 311 MHz. The CMOS CCCDTA performs low power consumption and tuning over a wide current range. In addition, some examples as a current-mode universal biquad filter, floating inductance simulator and quadrature oscillator are included. They occupy only single CCCDTA.