This document discusses rail-to-rail input and output amplifiers. It begins by explaining why rail-to-rail operation is important for low supply voltages to maximize dynamic range. It then describes three techniques for implementing rail-to-rail amplifiers: using a 3x current mirror to equalize transconductances; using Zener diodes; and using a current regulator. Performance results are provided for amplifiers using these techniques, including ones operating down to 1.3V and 1.5V supply voltages.
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Rail-To-Rail Input and Output Amplifiers
This document discusses rail-to-rail input and output amplifiers. It begins by explaining why rail-to-rail operation is important for low supply voltages to maximize dynamic range. It then describes three techniques for implementing rail-to-rail amplifiers: using a 3x current mirror to equalize transconductances; using Zener diodes; and using a current regulator. Performance results are provided for amplifiers using these techniques, including ones operating down to 1.3V and 1.5V supply voltages.
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Willy Sansen 10-05 111
Rail-to-rail input and output
amplifiers Willy Sansen KULeuven, ESAT-MICAS Leuven, Belgium willy.sansen@esat.kuleuven.be Willy Sansen 10-05 112 Table of contents Why rail-to-rail ? 3 x Current mirror rtr amplifiers Zener diode rtr amplifiers Current regulator rtr amplifier on 1.5 V Supply regulating rtr amplifier on 1.3 V Other rtr amplifiers and comparison Willy Sansen 10-05 113 For low supply voltages : use full range for maximum dynamic range Fully differential signal processing Rail-to-rail output is always required But not necessarily rail-to-rail-input ! Why rail-to-rail amplifiers ? Willy Sansen 10-05 114 Symmetrical CMOS OTA 1 2 3 4 5 V DD V SS v OUT C L M1 M2 M3 M4 M8 M6 M7 + - M5 M9 1 : B B : 1 Rail-to-rail output swing ! Symmetrical OTA 1 : : 1 Willy Sansen 10-05 115 When rail-to-rail input ? + - v OUT R 2 R 1 v IN + - v OUT R 2 R 1 v IN + - v OUT v IN No ! No ! Yes ! + - + - + - Willy Sansen 10-05 116 Rail-to-rail input for CMFB A v ind + - + - + - + C L v outd C L A d A c v inc CMFB For a rail-to-rail output swing in fully-differential amplifiers A CMFB amplifier is required With rail-to-rail input capability ! Willy Sansen 10-05 117 Table of contents Why rail-to-rail ? 3 x Current mirror rtr amplifiers Zener diode rtr amplifiers Current regulator rtr amplifier on 1.5 V Supply regulating rtr amplifier on 1.3 V Other rail-to-rail amplifiers Willy Sansen 10-05 118 Problem ? V DD V SS = 0 V GSn V DSsatn V GSp V DSsatp V INCM > 1.1 V V INCM < V DD - 1.1 V V GS 0.9 V & V DSsat 0.2 V >>> V GSDS = 1.1 V + = V GSDS + = V GSDS Willy Sansen 10-05 119 Problem : limited input CM range V DD V SS = 0 I B I B + - i out + i out - i out + i out - To be operational : V INCM > 1.1 V V INCM < V DD - 1.1 V g mn g mp V DDmin = 2.2 V Willy Sansen 10-05 1110 Problem: unequal g mtot nMOST on : V INCM > 1.1 V V INCM V SS = 0 V DD /2 V DD g m pMOST on : V INCM < V DD - 1.1 V nMOST pMOST g mtot 1.1 V V DD -1.1 V g mn g mp Willy Sansen 10-05 1111 Solution : g m equalization nMOST on : V INCM > 1.1 V V INCM V SS = 0 V DD /2 V DD g m pMOST on : V INCM < V DD - 1.1 V nMOST pMOST g mtot 1.1 V V DD -1.1 V Increase g m : g mn + g mp = ct g mn g mp Willy Sansen 10-05 1112 Equalize g mtot in strong inversion g mn + g mp = ct1 2 K n I Bn + 2 K p I Bp = ct1 K n I Bn + K p I Bp = ct2 W n L n W p L p I Bn + I Bp = ct3 3 x Current mirror : 1 + 1 = 0 + 4 > 4 - 1 = 3 Willy Sansen 10-05 1113 3x Current mirror for nMOSTs V DD V SS = 0 I B I B + - i out + i out - i out + i out - g mn g mp 1 : 3 V rn I B x 4 M rn Willy Sansen 10-05 1114 V DD V SS = 0 I B I B + - g mn g mp 1 : 3 V rn I B x 4 3 : 1 V rp I B x 4 3x Current mirror for all MOSTs M rn M rp Willy Sansen 10-05 1115 3x Current mirror : performance V INCM V SS = 0 V DD /2 V DD g m nMOST pMOST g mtot 1.1 V V DD -1.1 V g mn g mp g m /g m = 15% g mtot ~ (4 - 3x) I B + x I B g m /g m = 15% (x=1/3) Willy Sansen 10-05 1116 Ref.Hogervorst, JSSC Dec.1994, 1505-1512 6.4 MHz / 10 pF 6.4 V/s 31 nV/ Hz 3.3 V 0.18 mA 3 mApk 1: 3 1: 3 Rail-to-rail opamp Willy Sansen 10-05 1117 Table of contents Why rail-to-rail ? 3 x Current mirror rtr amplifiers Zener diode rtr amplifiers Current regulator rtr amplifier on 1.5 V Supply regulating rtr amplifier on 1.3 V Other rail-to-rail amplifiers Willy Sansen 10-05 1118 Zener diodes V Z I DS V GS V T 0 V Z I D V D V BEon 0.7 V 0 V Z Electronic Zener Willy Sansen 10-05 1119 V DD V SS = 0 8I B 8I B + - g mn g mp Rail-to-rail amplifier with Zener diode 1 : 6 1 : 6 6 : 1 6 : 1 V Z V Z = V GSn +V GSp I B I B Willy Sansen 10-05 1120 V DD V SS = 0 8I B + - g mn Rail-to-rail amplifier with Zener diode 1 : 6 1 : 6 6 : 1 6 : 1 V<V Z V Z = V GSn +V GSp 4I B 4I B Willy Sansen 10-05 1121 V DD V SS = 0 8I B 8I B + - g mn g mp Rtr amp. with electronic Zener I B I B V Z Willy Sansen 10-05 1122 Rail-to-rail amp. with Zener : performance V INCM V SS = 0 V DD /2 V DD g m nMOST pMOST g mtot 1.1 V V DD -1.1 V g mn g mp Zener: g m /g m = 25% Electronic Zener: g m /g m = 6% High current High SR ! Ref.Hogervorst, JSSC July 1996, 1035-1040 Willy Sansen 10-05 1123 Table of contents Why rail-to-rail ? 3 x Current mirror rtr amplifiers Zener diode rtr amplifiers Current regulator rtr amplifier on 1.5 V Supply regulating rtr amplifier on 1.3 V Other rail-to-rail amplifiers Willy Sansen 10-05 1124 Equalize g mtot in weak inversion g mn + g mp = ct + = ct I Bn 2 n n kT/q I Bp 2 n p kT/q I Bn + I Bp = ct n p n n n = 1 + C ox C D (V BS ) Willy Sansen 10-05 1125 V DD V SS = 0 4I B + - g mn g mp 1 : V ref Rail-to-rail amplifier with current switch n p n n I-switch I B I B I B I B 2I B M r Willy Sansen 10-05 1126 Rtr amp. with I-switch : performance V INCM V SS = 0 V DD /2 V DD g m nMOST pMOST g mtot 1.1 V V DD -1.1 V g mn g mp Current switch : V ref very critical ! V ref = 0.5 V V ref = 0.3 V V ref = 0.4 V Willy Sansen 10-05 1127 Ref. : Wu etal, JSSC Jan.1994, pp.63-66 14 MHz / 11pF 5.6 MHz / 100pF 4 V/s 36 nV/ Hz 5 V 0.4 mA g m1 v in g m3 v in Willy Sansen 10-05 1128 I DS x 2 g m x 2 Biasing : Ref. : Wu etal, JSSC Jan.1994, pp.63-66 Willy Sansen 10-05 1129 Input rail-to-rail stage V DD 2 V DD = 5V 0V V DD 20 20 5 5 5 5 10 10 10 10 20 20 20 0 0 20 5V 1.5V 1.5V pMOSTs off ! V +- high : nMOSTs : I DS1 x 2 g m1 x 2 Willy Sansen 10-05 1130 V DD V SS = 0 2I Bp 2I Bn + - g mn g mp Current regulator FB loop 180 o C c I Bp I Bn 4I B n p n n S Willy Sansen 10-05 1131 2I Bp 2I Bn g mn g mp Current regulator FB loop : replica biasing 2I Bp 2I Bn g mn g mp in+ in- in+ in- Willy Sansen 10-05 1132 Replica biasing with one transistor + - R L R L R S v IN v OUT V REF Willy Sansen 10-05 1133 Replica biasing with differential pair g mn in+ in- 2I Bn g mn in+ in- 180 o 2I Bn I REF Willy Sansen 10-05 1134 4I B C c + - V DD Current regulator rail-to-rail amplifier + - V SS 2I Bp 2I Bn n p n n 1 : Replica biasing block Input stage S Willy Sansen 10-05 1135 I-regulator rtr amplifier E.Peeters etal, CICC 1997 Willy Sansen 10-05 1136 Total amplifier schematic E.Peeters etal, CICC 1997 Willy Sansen 10-05 1137 Output stage Willy Sansen 10-05 1138 V INCM V SS = 0 V DD /2 V DD 3 V g m nMOST pMOST g mtot V DD - 1.1 V 1.1 V g mn g mp n - mismatch : g m /g m 4% Current-regulator rtr amp. : performance Willy Sansen 10-05 1139 V INCM V SS = 0 V DD 1.5 V g m nMOST pMOST g mtot V DD - 1.1 V 1.1 V g mn g mp n - mismatch : g m /g m 4% Current-regulator rtr amp. : towards 1.5 V 0 Willy Sansen 10-05 1140 GBW error 4 % Willy Sansen 10-05 1141 Input offset voltage Willy Sansen 10-05 1142 Rail-to-rail Opamp with Current regulator V DD = 1.5 V I TOT = 0.2 mA g m /g m = 4 % GBW = 4.3 MHz C L = 15 pF E.Peeters etal, CICC 1997 Willy Sansen 10-05 1143 Table of contents Why rail-to-rail ? 3 x Current mirror rtr amplifiers Zener diode rtr amplifiers Current regulator rtr amplifier on 1.5 V Supply regulating rtr amplifier on 1.3 V Other rail-to-rail amplifiers Willy Sansen 10-05 1144 V INCM V SS = 0 V DD 1.3 V g m nMOST pMOST g mtot g mn g mp n - mismatch and g mtot dip : g m /g m 15 % Internal V DD Regulator I Bn + I Bp = ct n p n n Weak inversion : V DD /2 g mtot /2 Minimum V DD ? Minimum V GS +V DSsat ? Independent of V T s ! 0 Willy Sansen 10-05 1145 V DD 1.3 V V SS = 0 I Bp ? I Bn ? + - i out + i out - i out + i out - g mn g mp Regulating V DD : total schematic V DDext C c V OUT Willy Sansen 10-05 1146 I B V DD Replica biasing block V SS I Bp I Bn V DD V DD V SS V DDext V SS S Ferri, .. JSSC Oct.97, 1563-1567 Willy Sansen 10-05 1147 V DD Internal V DD regulator V SS I Bp I Bn V DDext 2 : 1 2 : 1 V GSn V GSp V DSsatn V DSsatp M R M P M A Willy Sansen 10-05 1148 Total amplifier schematic Vext Ferri, .. JSSC Oct.97, 1563-1567 Willy Sansen 10-05 1149 Internal supply voltage V V Willy Sansen 10-05 1150 GBW error V IN,CM (V) GBW (MHz) Willy Sansen 10-05 1151 Rail-to-rail amp. with V DD regulator : Specs V DDmin = 1.3 V GBW = 1.3 MHz in C L = 15 pF g m1 = 200 S I DSn1 = 10 A W/L in = 830 I TOT = 354 A V in,eq = 25 nV RMS /Hz V in,offset = 0.8 mV (3 = 0.2 mV) Ferri, .. JSSC Oct.97, 1563-1567 Willy Sansen 10-05 1152 Rtr Opamp with V DD -regulator Willy Sansen 10-05 1153 Rail-to-rail with V DD regulator : min V DD V DDmin = 2 (V GS + V DSsat ) = 2 (V GS - V T + V T + V GS - V T ) = 2 [V T + 2(V GS - V T )] = 2 [0.6 + 2(0.15)] = 1.8 V = 2 [0.3 + 2(0.10)] = 1.0 V !!!! Willy Sansen 10-05 1154 Table of contents Why rail-to-rail ? 3 x Current mirror rtr amplifiers Zener diode rtr amplifiers Current regulator rtr amplifier on 1.5 V Supply regulating rtr amplifier on 1.3 V Other rail-to-rail amplifiers Willy Sansen 10-05 1155 Rail-to-rail opamp with current summation Redman-White, JSSC May 97, 701-712 3.3 V 2.3 mW (2.2 V min.) Gm 10% THD : -55 dB 40 MHz 9 mW 0.5 m CMOS Willy Sansen 10-05 1156 Duisters, .., JSSC July 98,pp.947-955 Opamp with voltage multiplier Vddx - Vdd 1 V = Vdd/2 1.8 - 3.3 V 0.75 mA 6.5 MHz On 3 V : 2.8 V ptpt THD : -90 dB /10k -81 dB/32 0.5 m CMOS Willy Sansen 10-05 1157 Rail-to-rail opamp with differential signal proc. Ref.Lin, AICSP 1999, 153-162 Idsn Idsp Willy Sansen 10-05 1158 Maximum-current selecting circuits Ref.Lin, AICSP 1999, 153-162 Idsn Idsp Willy Sansen 10-05 1159 Maximum-current selecting circuit V DD + - V SS Input stage Willy Sansen 10-05 1160 Transconductance equalizer circuit Ref.Lin, AICSP 1999, 153-162 V GS3 + V GS2 = V GS1 + V GS4 K p I pbias = K n I nbias g mp = g mn Willy Sansen 10-05 1161 Rail-to-rail opamp with max.-current selector Ref.Lin, AICSP 1999, 153-162 1.9 MHz 20 pF 3 V/ 0.26 mA max.curr.selector max.curr.selector g m equalizer Willy Sansen 10-05 1162 Rail-to-rail opamp with max.-current selector max.curr.selector g m equalizer Ref.Lin, AICSP 1999, 153-162 1.9 MHz 20 pF 3 V/ 0.26 mA Willy Sansen 10-05 1163 Rail-to-rail opamp on 1 Volt Supply Ref.Duque-Carrillo, JSSC Jan.2000, 33-43 V IN V DD = 1 V 0 V V IN I DS 0 0.5 1 V I DSp I DSn Willy Sansen 10-05 1164 Rail-to-rail opamp on 1 Volt Ref.Duque-Carrillo, JSSC Jan.2000, 33-43 R R I B I B V IN V IN V DD = 1 V V DD = 1 V 0 V 0 V Willy Sansen 10-05 1165 Rail-to-Rail opamp on 1 Volt Ref.Duque-Carrillo, JSSC Jan.2000, 33-43 R R I B I B V IN V DD = 1 V 0 V I B 0 0.5 1 V V INn V INp V IN 0 0.5 1 V V IN V INn V INp I Bmax V INp RI Bmax V INn 1 V 0 0.5 Willy Sansen 10-05 1166 Ref.Duque-Carrillo, JSSC Jan.2000, 33-43 2 MHz 15 pF 1 V 0.4 mA I offset < 1 A R I offset noise RtR opamp : full opamp schematic Willy Sansen 10-05 1167 Ref.Duque-Carrillo, JSSC Jan.2000, 33-43 RtR opamp : current generator I B current summer Willy Sansen 10-05 1168 Comparison rail-to-rail input amplifiers Type Ref. g m /g m GBW I TOT V DDmin % MHzpF/mW A V 3x Curr.mirr. JSSC-12-94 15 110 150 3 Electr. Zener JSSC-7-96 6 70 215 2.7 Curr.switch AICSP-5-94 8 1.1 500 3.3 Curr.regulat. CICC 97 4 210 200 1.5 Regulat. VDD JSSC-10-97 6 43 350 1.3 MOST translin. AICSP-6-94 8 4.2 800 2.5 Improv.CMRR JSSC-2-95 9 3 1400 5 Max. current AICSP-1-99 10 77 260 3 Resistive input JSSC-1-00 x 75 400 1 Willy Sansen 10-05 1169 Table of contents Why rail-to-rail ? 3 x Current mirror rtr amplifiers Zener diode rtr amplifiers Current regulator rtr amplifier on 1.5 V Supply regulating rtr amplifier on 1.3 V Other rail-to-rail amplifiers Willy Sansen 10-05 1170 References T. Duisters, etal, A -90 dB THD rail-to-rail input opamp using a new local charge pump in CMOS", IEEE Journal Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-33, pp. 947-955, July 1998. R. Duque-Carillo, etal, "A 1 V rail-to-rail operational amplifier in standard CMOS technology", IEEE Journal Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-35, pp. 33-43, Jan. 2000. G.Ferri, W.Sansen, A rail-to-rail constant-gm low-voltage CMOS operational transconductance amplifier", IEEE Journal Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-32, pp. 1563-1567, Oct.1997. R. Hogervorst, etal, "A compact power-efficient 3V CMOS rail-to-rail input/output operational amplifier for VLSI cell libraries", IEEE Journal Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-29, pp. 1504-1512, Dec.1994. R. Hogervorst, etal, Compact CMOS constant-gm rail-to-rail input stage with gm-control by an electronic Zener diode", IEEE Journal Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-31, pp. 1035-1040, July 1996. R. Lin, etal, "A compact power-efficient 3V CMOS rail-to-rail input/output operational amplifier for VLSI cell libraries", Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, Kluwer Ac., pp. 153-162, Jan.1999. Willy Sansen 10-05 1171 References E. Peeters, etal, "A compact power-efficient 3V CMOS rail-to-rail input/output operational amplifier for VLSI cell libraries", CICC 1997. W. Wu, etal, Digital-compatible high-performance operational amplifier with rail-to-rail input and output stages", IEEE Journal Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-29, pp. 63-66, Jan 1994.