An up-to-date, comprehensive guide for advanced electrical engineering studentsand electrical engineers working in the IC and optical industries This book covers the major transimpedance amplifier (TIA) topologies and their circuit implementations for optical receivers. This includes the shunt-feedback TIA, common-base TIA, common-gate TIA, regulated-cascode TIA, distributed-amplifier TIA, nonresistive feedback TIA, current-mode TIA, burst-mode TIA, and analog-receiver TIA. The noise, transimpedance, and other performance parameters of these circuits are analyzed and optimized. Topics of interest include post amplifiers, differential vs. single-ended TIAs, DC input current control, and adaptive transimpedance. The book features real-world examples of TIA circuits for a variety of receivers (direct detection, coherent, burst-mode, etc.) implemented in a broad array of technologies (HBT, BiCMOS, CMOS, etc.). The book begins with an introduction to optical communication systems, signals, and standards. It then moves on to discussions of optical fiber and photodetectors. This discussion includes p-i-n photodetectors; avalanche photodetectors (APD); optically preamplified detectors; integrated detectors, including detectors for silicon photonics; and detectors for phase-modulated signals, including coherent detectors. This is followed by coverage of the optical receiver at the system level: the relationship between noise, sensitivity, optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), and bit-error rate (BER) is explained; receiver impairments, such as intersymbol interference (ISI), are covered. In addition, the author presents TIA specifications and illustrates them with example values from recent product data sheets. The book also includes: Many numerical examples throughout that help make the material more concrete for readers Real-world product examples that show the performance of actual IC designs Chapter summaries that highlight the key points Problems and their solutions for readers who want to practice and deepen their understanding of the material Appendices that cover communication signals, eye diagrams, timing jitter, nonlinearity, adaptive equalizers, decision point control, forward error correction (FEC), and second-order low-pass transfer functions Analysis and Design of Transimpedance Amplifiers for Optical Receivers belongs on the reference shelves of every electrical engineer working in the IC and optical industries. It also can serve as a textbook for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students studying integrated circuit design and optical communication.

An up-to-date, comprehensive guide for advanced electrical engineering studentsand electrical engineers working in the IC and optical industries This book covers the major transimpedance amplifier (TIA) topologies and their circuit implementations for optical receivers. This includes the shunt-feedback TIA, common-base TIA, common-gate TIA, regulated-cascode TIA, distributed-amplifier TIA, nonresistive feedback TIA, current-mode TIA, burst-mode TIA, and analog-receiver TIA. The noise, transimpedance, and other performance parameters of these circuits are analyzed and optimized. Topics of interest include post amplifiers, differential vs. single-ended TIAs, DC input current control, and adaptive transimpedance. The book features real-world examples of TIA circuits for a variety of receivers (direct detection, coherent, burst-mode, etc.) implemented in a broad array of technologies (HBT, BiCMOS, CMOS, etc.). The book begins with an introduction to optical communication systems, signals, and standards. It then moves on to discussions of optical fiber and photodetectors. This discussion includes p-i-n photodetectors; avalanche photodetectors (APD); optically preamplified detectors; integrated detectors, including detectors for silicon photonics; and detectors for phase-modulated signals, including coherent detectors. This is followed by coverage of the optical receiver at the system level: the relationship between noise, sensitivity, optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), and bit-error rate (BER) is explained; receiver impairments, such as intersymbol interference (ISI), are covered. In addition, the author presents TIA specifications and illustrates them with example values from recent product data sheets. The book also includes: Many numerical examples throughout that help make the material more concrete for readers Real-world product examples that show the performance of actual IC designs Chapter summaries that highlight the key points Problems and their solutions for readers who want to practice and deepen their understanding of the material Appendices that cover communication signals, eye diagrams, timing jitter, nonlinearity, adaptive equalizers, decision point control, forward error correction (FEC), and second-order low-pass transfer functions Analysis and Design of Transimpedance Amplifiers for Optical Receivers belongs on the reference shelves of every electrical engineer working in the IC and optical industries. It also can serve as a textbook for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students studying integrated circuit design and optical communication.

New requirements on optical receivers are being driven by the rapid expansion of optical communications beyond traditional fiber-optic links. This thesis discusses the design of transimpedance amplifiers that are used in the preamplifier stage of optical receivers. The three specific requirements that are addressed here are a wide dynamic range, ambient light rejection, and low-voltage operation. To achieve a wide dynamic range, we present a fully-differential, variable-gain CMOS transimpedance amplifier. The proposed topology is simpler than previous designs and has improved stability. The implemented design consumes 8mW at 3V, and provides 70 MHz bandwidth with a dynamic range of 77dB, a maximum transimpedance gain of 19k[Omega] and a gain range of 32dB. To reject ambient light, we place an active feedback loop around the transimpedance amplifier. This topology eliminates the need for large passive components and improves the regulation of the photodiode bias voltage. However, the lower-frequency limit of this topology is dependent on the ambient light level. We experimentally verify this technique, and analyze the stability requirements of the feedback loop. To achieve low-voltage operation, we develop a CMOS transimpedance amplifier capable of IV operation without the use of low-threshold MOS transistors. The design has a wide output swing and maximizes the available bias voltage for the photodiode. The biasing of the MOS feedback resistor is performed using a charge pump to generate a stable gate voltage--a technique called dynamic gate biasing (DGB). The proposed design was implemented as part of an optical receiver front-end which also included two post amplifiers. The resulting front-end consumes 1mW from a 1V supply and provides 210k[Omega] transimpedance gain over a 50MHz bandwidth. Also included in this thesis is the development and application of a graphical circuit analysis technique called DPI/SFG analysis that is based on driving-point impedances (DPI) and signal-flow graphs (SFG). We develop a general formulation of the technique, illustrate its use on a number of circuit examples, and apply it to the design and optimization of the low-voltage transimpedance amplifier.

"High-speed optical systems are becoming increasingly important due to the progress of multimedia communications, which requires ever increasing data-transmission capacity. SONET based systems at 10 Gb/s are under commercial development, and it is likely that systems based on higher SONET hierarchies will soon be required for further broadband communications networks." --

Optical receivers have many different uses covering simple infrared receivers, high speed fiber optic communication and light based instrumentation. All of them have an optical receiver that converts photons to current followed by a transimpedance amplifier to convert the current to a useful voltage. Different systems create different requirements for each receiver. High speed digital communication require high throughput with enough sensitivity to keep the bit error rate low. Instrumentation receivers have a lower bandwidth, but higher gain and sensitivity requirements. In this thesis an optical receiver for use in instrumentation in presented. It is an entirely monolithic design with the photodiodes on the same substrate as the CMOS circuitry. This allows for it to be built into a focal-plane array, but it places some restriction on the area. It is also designed for in-situ testing and must be able to cancel any low frequency noise caused by ambient light. The area restrictions prohibit the use of a DC blocking capacitor to reject the low frequency noise. In place a servo loop was wrapped around the system to reject any DC offset. A modified Cherry-Hooper architecture was used for the transimpedance amplifier. This provides the flexibility to create an amplifier with high gain and wide bandwidth that is independent of the input capacitance. The downside is the increased complexity of the design makes stability paramount to the design. Another drawback is the high noise associated with low input impedance that decouples the input capacitance from the bandwidth. This problem is compounded by the servo loop feed which leaves the output noise of some amplifiers directly referred to the input. An in depth analysis of each circuit block's noise contribution is presented.

This book opens with the basics of the design of opto-electronic interface circuits. The text continues with an in-depth analysis of the photodiode, transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and limiting amplifier (LA). To thoroughly describe light detection mechanisms in silicon, first a one-dimensional and second a two-dimensional model is developed. All material is experimentally verified with several CMOS implementations, with ultimately a fully integrated Gbit/s optical receiver front-end including photodiode, TIA and LA.