Switched-mode AGC circuits with internally created reset module for burst-mode unbalanced data optical receiver

This paper presents an innovative switched-mode auto gain control （AGC） circuit with internally created reset module for DC-10Mb/s burst-mode unbalanced （BMU） optical data transmission. Conventional AGC circuit is inappropriate for BMU data transmission because it is based on average level detection and requires considerable time to settle on a predefined gain. Therefore, we adopt a fast switched-mode AGC based on peak level detection. After the gain is adjusted, the peak level detectors need to re-detect the peak level of the input signal. Thus, we develop an internally created reset module. This AGC with reset module exhibits a fast operation and achieves an adjusted stable gain within one-bit, avoiding any bit loss up to 10Mb/s data rate. During power-up, the peak level detectors possibly hold an uncertain level resulting in the bit-errors. We propose a power-up reset circuit to solve this problem. Designed in a 0.5μm CMOS technology, the circuit achieves an optical sensitivity of better than -30dBm and a wide dynamic range of over 30dB with a power dissipation of only 30 mW from a 5V supply.