Photonic aided vector millimeter-wave signal generation without digital-to-analog converter

A novel scheme of photonic aided vector millimeter-wave(mm-wave)signal generation without a digital-to-analog converter(DAC)is proposed.Based on our scheme,a 20 Gb/s 4-ary quadrature amplitude modulation(4-QAM)mm-wave signal is generated without using a DAC.The experiment results demonstrate that the bit error rate(BER)of 20 Gb/s 4-QAM mmwave signal can reach below the hard-decision forward-error-correction threshold after a delivery over 1 m wireless distance.Because the DAC is not required,it can reduce the system cost.Besides,by using photonic technology,the system is easily integrated to create large-scale production and application in high-speed optical communication.

Total ionizing dose effects on 12-bit CBCMOS digital-to-analog converters

A digital-to-analog converter （DAC） in CBCMOS technology was irradiated by 60Co F-rays at various dose rates and biases for investigating the ionizing radiation response of the DAC. The radiation responses show that the function curve and the key electrical parameters of the DAC in CBCMOS technology are sensitive to total dose and dose rates. Under different bias conditions, the radiation failure levels were different, and the radiation damage under operation bias conditions was more severe. Finally, test results were preliminarily analyzed by relating the failure mode to DAC architecture and process technology.

Design of a reliable PUF circuit based on R–2R ladder digital-to-analog convertor

A novel physical unclonable functions （PUF） circuit is proposed, which relies on non-linear characteristic of analog voltage generated by R-2R ladder DAC. After amplifying the deviation signal, the robustness of the DAC-PUF circuit has increased significantly. The DAC-PUF circuit is designed in TSMC 65 nm CMOS technology and the layout occupies 86.06 × 63.56μm^2. Monte Carlo simulation results show that the reliability of the DAC-PUF circuit is above 98% over a comprehensive range of environmental variation, such as temperature and supply voltage.

A 16 b 2 GHz digital-to-analog converter in 0.18 μm CMOS with digital calibration technology

This paper presents a 16-bit 2 GSPS digital-to-analog converter （DAC） in 0.18/zm CMOS technology. This DAC is implemented using time division multiplex access system architecture in the digital domain. The input data is received with a two-channel LVDS interface. The DLL technology is introduced to meet the timing requirements between phases of the LVDS data and the data sampling clock. A FIFO is designed to absorb the phase difference between the data clock and DAC system clock. A delay controller is integrated to adjust the phase relationship between the high speed digital clock and analog clock, obtaining a sampling rate of 2 GSPS. The current source mismatch at higher bits is calibrated in the digital domain. Test results show that the DAC achieves 74.02 dBC SFDR at analog output of 36 MHz, and DNL less than ±2.1 LSB ＆ INL less than ±4.3 LSB after the chip is calibrated.

Design and Implementation of a Novel Area-Efficient Interpolator

This paper presents the design considerations and implementation of an area-efficient interpolator suitable for a delta-sigma D/A converter. In an effort to reduce the area and design complexity, a method for designing an FIR filter as a tapped cascaded interconnection of identical subfilters is modified. The proposed subfilter structure further minimizes the arithmetic number. Experimental results show that the proposed interpolator achieves the design specification,exhibiting high performance and hardware efficiency,and also has good noise rejection capability. The interpolation filter can be applied to a delta-sigma DAC and is fully functional.

An in situ Digital Background Calibration Algorithm for Multi-Channel R-βR Ladder DACs

The R-2R resistor ladder is one of the best topologies for implementing compact-sized digital-to-analog converter(DAC)arrays in implantable neuro-stimulators.However,it has a limited resolution and considerable inter-channel variation due to component mismatches.To avoid losing analog information,we present sub-radix-2 DAC implemented by the R-βR resistor ladder in this paper.The digital successive approximation register(DSAR)algorithm corrects the transfer function of DACs based on their actual bit weights.Furthermore,a low-cost in situ adaptive bit-weight calibration(ABC)algorithm drives the analog output error between two DACs to zero by adjusting their bit weights automatically.The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can calibrate the non-linear transfer function of each DAC and the gain error among multiple channels in the background.

Analog-to-digital conversion of information in the retina

We considered the physiological mechanisms of functioning of the retina’s neural network. It is marked that the primary function of a neural network is an analog-to-digital conversion of the receptor potential of photoreceptor into the pulse-to-digital signal to ganglion cells. We showed the role of different types of neurons in the work of analog-to-digital converter. We gave the equivalent circuit of this converter. We researched the mechanism of the numeric coding of the receptor potential of the photoreceptor.

Design and verification of a 10-bit 1.2-V 100-MSPS D/A IP core based on a 0.13-μm low power CMOS process

Based on a low supply voltage curvature-compensated bandgap reference and central symmetry Q;random walk NMOS current source layout routing method,a 1.2-V 10-bit 100-MSPS CMOS current-steering digital-to-analog converter is implemented in a SMIC 0.13-μm CMOS process.The total consumption is only 10 mW from a single 1.2-V power supply,and the integral and differential nonlinearity are measured to be less than 1 LSB and 0.5 LSB, respectively.When the output signal frequency is 1-5 MHz at 100-MSPS sampling rate,the SFDR is measured to be 70 dB.The die area is about 0.2 mm;.

24-bit Low-Power Low-Cost Digital Audio Sigma-Delta DAC

This paper describes a low-power low-cost 24-bit ∑-△ digital-to-analog converter （DAC） for portable digital-audio applications. The interpolation filter uses a no-multiplier scheme to implement the arithmetic units and reading-writing common storage scheme for the delay-line to significantly reduce the die area. A 15-level quantizer, third-order, single-stage ∑-△ modulator is employed to reduce the passband quantization noise, relax the out-of-band filtering requirements, and enhance immunity to clock jitter. A data weighted averaging algorithm is used to mitigate the nonlinearity caused by capacitor mismatch. A direct charge transfer switched-capacitor low-pass filter （DCT-SC LPF） is used to reconstruct the analog signal to reduce the kTIC noise and capacitor mismatch effect with a small increase of the power dissipation. The chip was fabricated in the SMIC 0.13 μm 1P5M CMOS process. The cell area of the digital part is 0.056 mm^2 and the total area of the analog part is 0.34 mm^2. The supply voltage is 1.2 V for the digital circuit and 3.3 V for the analog circuit. The power consumption of the analog part is 3.5 mW. The audio DAC achieves a 100 dB dynamic range and an 84 dB peak signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio over a 20 kHz passband. The results show that these performances are good enough for high quality portable audio applications.

A 12-bit compact column-parallel SAR ADC with dynamic power control technique for high-speed CMOS image sensors

This paper presents a 12-bit column-parallel successive approximation register analog-to-digital con- verter （SAR ADC） for high-speed CMOS image sensors. A segmented binary-weighted switched capacitor digital- to-analog converter （CDAC） and a staggered structure MOM unit capacitor is used to reduce the ADC area and to make its layout fit double pixel pitches. An electrical field shielding layout method is proposed to eliminate the parasitic capacitance on the top plate of the unit capacitor. A dynamic power control technique is proposed to reduce the power consumption of a single channel during readout. An off-chip foreground digital calibration is adopted to compensate for the nonlinearity due to the mismatch of unit capacitors among the CDAC. The prototype SAR ADC is fabricated in a 0.18 μm 1P5M CIS process. A single SAR ADC occupies 20 × 2020μm2. Sampling at 833 kS/s, the measured differential nonlinearity, integral nonlinearity and effective number of bits of SAR ADC with calibration are 0.9/-1 LSB, 1/-1.1 LSB and 11.24 bits, respectively; the power consumption is only 0.26 mW under a 1.8-W supply and decreases linearly as the frame rate decreases.

A low-power triple-mode sigma-delta DAC for reconfigurable(WCDMA/TD-SCDMA/GSM) transmitters

A sigma-delta （∑A） DAC with channel filtering for multi-standard wireless transmitters used in the software-defined-radio （SDR） system is presented. The conversion frequency, transfer function of the digital filter and the ∑A modulator, word-length of the IDAC and cut-off frequency of the analog reconstruction filter can be digitally programmed to satisfy specifications of WCDMA, TD-SCDMA and GSM standards. The ∑A DAC fabricated in SMIC 0.13μm CMOS process occupies a die area of 0.72 mm2, while consuming 5.52/4.82/3.04 mW in WCDMA/TD-SCDMA/GSM mode from a single 1.2-V supply voltage. The measured SFDR is 62.8/60.1/ 75.5 dB for WCDMA/TD-SCDMA/GSM mode, respectively.

A programmable gain amplifier with digitally assisted DC offset calibration for a direct-conversion WLAN receiver

This paper presents a programmable gain amplifier（PGA） circuit with a digitally assisted DC offset cancellation（DCOC） scheme for a direct conversion WLAN receiver.Implemented in a standard 0.13-μm CMOS process,the PGA occupies 0.39 mm2 die area and dissipates 6.5 mW power from a 1.2 V power supply.By using a single loop single digital-to-analog converter（DAC） mixed signal DC offset cancellation topology,the minimum DCOC settling time achieved is as short as 1.6μs with the PGA gain ranging from -8 to 54 dB in a 2 dB step.The DCOC loop utilizes a segmented DAC structure to lower the design complexity without sacrificing accuracy and a digital control algorithm to dynamically set the DCOC loop to fast or normal response mode,making the PGA circuit in compliance with the targeted WLAN specifications.

An I/Q DAC with gain matching circuit for a wireless transmitter

This paper presents a two-channel 12-bit current-steering digital-to-analog converter（DAC） for I and Q signal paths in a wireless transmitter.The proposed DAC has a full-scale output current with an adjusting range of 2 to 10 mA.A gain matching circuit is proposed to reduce gain mismatch between the I and Q channels.The tuning range is±24%of full scale and the minimum resolution is 1/16 LSB.To further improve its dynamic performance, the switch driver and current cell are optimized to minimize glitch energy.The chip has been processed in a standard 0.13μm CMOS technology.Gain mismatch between a 1-channel DAC and a Q-channel DAC is measured to be approximately 0.13%.At 120-MSPS sample rate for 1 MHz sinusoidal signal,the spurious free dynamic range （SFDR） is 75 dB.The total power dissipation is 62 mW and has an active area of 1.08 mm^2.

Robust design of a 500-MS/s 10-bit triple-channel current-steering DAC in 40 nm CMOS

A 500-MS/s 10-bit triple-channel current-steering DAC in 40 nm 1P8M CMOS advanced technology is proposed. The central symmetry random walk scheme is applied for current source arrays to avoid mismatching effects in nano-CMOS design. The high-speed latch drivers can be self-adaptively connected to switches in different voltage domains. The experimental data shows that the maximum DNL and INL are 0.42 LSB and 0.58 LSB. The measured SFDR at 1.7 MHz output signal is 58.91 dB, 58.53 dB and 56.98 dB for R/G/B channels, respectively. The DAC has good static and dynamic performance despite the single-ended output. The average rising time and falling time of three channels are 0.674 ns and 0.807 ns. The analog/digital power supply is 3.3 V/1.1 V. This triple-channel DAC occupies 0.5656 mm^2.

A 4 GHz 32 bit direct digital frequency synthesizer based on a novel architecture

This paper presents a novel direct digital frequency synthesizer （DDFS） architecture based on nonlinear DAC coarse quantization and the ROM-based piecewise approximation method, which has the advantages of high speed, low power and low hardware resources. By subdividing the sinusoid into a collection of phase segments, the same initial value of each segment is realized by a nonlinear DAC. The ROM is decomposed with a coarse ROM and fine ROM using the piecewise approximation method. Then, the coarse ROM stores the offsets between the initial value of the common segment and the initial value of each line in the same segment. Meanwhile, the fine ROM stores the differences between the line values and the initial value of each line. A ROM compression ratio of 32 can be achieved in the case of 11 bit phase and 9 bit amplitude. Based on the above method, a prototype chip was fabricated using 1.4 #m GaAs HBT technology. The measurement shows an average spurious-free dynamic range （SFDR） of 45 dBc, with the worst SFDR only 40.07 dBc at a 4.0 GHz clock. The chip area is 4.6 × 3.7 mm2 and it consumes 7 W from a --4.9 V power supply.

An 18-bit high performance audio ∑-△D/A converter

A multi-bit quantized high performance sigma-delta（Σ-Δ） audio DAC is presented.Compared to its singlebit counterpart,the multi-bit quantization offers many advantages,such as simplerΣ-Δmodulator circuit,lower clock frequency and smaller spurious tones.With the data weighted average（DWA） mismatch shaping algorithm,element mismatch errors induced by multi-bit quantization can be pushed out of the signal band,hence the noise floor inside the signal band is greatly lowered.To cope with the crosstalk between digital and analog circuits,every analog component is surrounded by a guard ring,which is an innovative attempt.The 18-bit DAC with the above techniques,which is implemented in a 0.18μm mixed-signal CMOS process,occupies a core area of 1.86 mm^2.The measured dynamic range（DR） and peak SNDR are 96 dB and 88 dB,respectively.

A 400-MS/s 12-bit current-steering D/A converter

This paper presents a 400-MS/s 12-bit CMOS current-steering digital-to-analog converter （DAC）. The proposed DAC adapts 6＋2＋4 segmented architecture and a modified switching scheme to improve dynamic and static performance. The measured spurious-free dynamic range is up to 77.18 dB at 400 MS/s with a 10 MHz input signal. The full-scale output current is 20 mA with a 1.8 V single power supply. The core area occupies 0.6 mm2 in a standard 1P-6M 0.18-μm CMOS process.

A capacitive DAC with custom 3-D 1-fF MOM unit capacitors optimized for fastsettling routing in high speed SAR ADCs

Asynchronous successive approximation register （SAR） analog-to-digital converters （ADC） feature high energy efficiency but medium performance. From the point of view of speed, the key bottleneck is the unit ca- pacitor size. In this paper, a small size three-dimensional （3-D） metal-oxide-metal （MOM） capacitor is proposed. The unit capacitor has a capacitance of 1-fF. It shapes as an umbrella, which is designed for fast settling consideration. A comparison among the proposed capacitor with other 3-D MOM capacitors is also given in the paper. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the MOM capacitor, a 6-b capacitive DAC is implemented in TSMC 1P9M 65 nm LP CMOS technology. The DAC consumes a power dissipation of 0.16 mW at the rate of 100 MS/s, excluding a source-follower based output buffer. Static measurement result shows that 1NL is less than -4-1 LSB and DNL is less than ＋0.5 LSB. In addition, a 100 MS/s 9-bit SAR ADC with the proposed 3-D capacitor is simulated.