Design of Low-Voltage, Low-Power CMOS Operational Amplifier Cells describes the theory and design of the circuit elements that are required to realize a low-voltage, low-power operational amplifier. These elements include constant-gm rail-to-rail input stages, class-AB rail-to-rail output stages and frequency compensation methods. Several examples of each of these circuit elements are investigated. Furthermore, the book illustrates several silicon realizations, giving their measurement results. The text focuses on compact low-voltage low-power operational amplifiers with good performance. Six simple high-performance class-AB amplifiers are realized using a very compact topology making them particularly suitable for use as VLSI library cells. All of the designs can use a supply voltage as low as 3V. One of the amplifier designs dissipates only 50μW with a unity gain frequency of 1.5 MHz. A second set of amplifiers run on a supply voltage slightly above 1V. The amplifiers combine a low power consumption with a gain of 120 dB. In addition, the design of three fully differential operational amplifiers is addressed. Design of Low-Voltage, Low-Power CMOS Operational Amplifier Cells is intended for professional designers of analog circuits. It is also suitable for use as a text book for an advanced course in CMOS operational amplifier design.

Design of Low-Voltage Bipolar Operational Amplifiers discusses the sub-circuits necessary to build a low-voltage operational amplifier. These include rail-to-rail input stages, rail-to-rail output stages, intermediate stages, protection circuitry and frequency compensation techniques. Of each of these, various implementations are examined. Furthermore, the book discusses realizations in silicon of the amplifiers. The design and implementation of low-voltage bipolar Operational Amplifiers (OpAmps) is fully presented. A low supply voltage is necessary because the tendency towards chip components of smaller dimensions lowers the breakdown voltage of these components. Further, a low supply voltage is favorable because it enables operation of the OpAmp from just one single battery cell. The bipolar technology is chosen, because it is more suited for operation at low-voltages than the MOS technology. The common-mode input voltage of the OpAmp must be able to have any value that fits within the supply voltage range. Input stages are discussed which are able to realize this at supply voltages down to 1.8 V, as well as down to 1 V. The output voltage of the OpAmp must be able to have any value within the supply voltage range. One of the 1 V output stages that is discussed, the multi-path driven output stage, also has a high bandwidth with a high gain. In addition to the input and output stage, the OpAmp comprises an intermediate stage, between the input stage and the output stage, to boost the overall gain of the OpAmp, and a class AB current control. A frequency compensation technique is used to split apart the pole frequencies in the transfer function. A disadvantage of this nested Miller compensation, is that the resulting bandwidth is reduced by a factor of two. A new method, multi-path-driven Miller compensation, which does not have this drawback, is therefore introduced. Several realizations are evaluated and a figure of merit is defined for the performance comparison of the OpAmps. One of the OpAmps operates at a 1 V supply, has a 3.4 MHz bandwidth with a 100 pF load and has a 700 &mgr;A supply current. The book is an excellent reference for professional designers of amplifiers and may be used as a text for advanced courses on the subject.

The operational amplifier ("op amp") is the most versatile and widely used type of analog IC, used in audio and voltage amplifiers, signal conditioners, signal converters, oscillators, and analog computing systems. Almost every electronic device uses at least one op amp. This book is Texas Instruments' complete professional-level tutorial and reference to operational amplifier theory and applications. Among the topics covered are basic op amp physics (including reviews of current and voltage division, Thevenin's theorem, and transistor models), idealized op amp operation and configuration, feedback theory and methods, single and dual supply operation, understanding op amp parameters, minimizing noise in op amp circuits, and practical applications such as instrumentation amplifiers, signal conditioning, oscillators, active filters, load and level conversions, and analog computing. There is also extensive coverage of circuit construction techniques, including circuit board design, grounding, input and output isolation, using decoupling capacitors, and frequency characteristics of passive components. The material in this book is applicable to all op amp ICs from all manufacturers, not just TI. Unlike textbook treatments of op amp theory that tend to focus on idealized op amp models and configuration, this title uses idealized models only when necessary to explain op amp theory. The bulk of this book is on real-world op amps and their applications; considerations such as thermal effects, circuit noise, circuit buffering, selection of appropriate op amps for a given application, and unexpected effects in passive components are all discussed in detail. *Published in conjunction with Texas Instruments *A single volume, professional-level guide to op amp theory and applications *Covers circuit board layout techniques for manufacturing op amp circuits.

Oversampling techniques based on sigma-delta modulation are widely used to implement the analog/digital interfaces in CMOS VLSI technologies. This approach is relatively insensitive to imperfections in the manufacturing process and offers numerous advantages for the realization of high-resolution analog-to-digital (A/D) converters in the low-voltage environment that is increasingly demanded by advanced VLSI technologies and by portable electronic systems. In The Design of Low-Voltage, Low-Power Sigma-Delta Modulators, an analysis of power dissipation in sigma-delta modulators is presented, and a low-voltage implementation of a digital-audio performance A/D converter based on the results of this analysis is described. Although significant power savings can typically be achieved in digital circuits by reducing the power supply voltage, the power dissipation in analog circuits actually tends to increase with decreasing supply voltages. Oversampling architectures are a potentially power-efficient means of implementing high-resolution A/D converters because they reduce the number and complexity of the analog circuits in comparison with Nyquist-rate converters. In fact, it is shown that the power dissipation of a sigma-delta modulator can approach that of a single integrator with the resolution and bandwidth required for a given application. In this research the influence of various parameters on the power dissipation of the modulator has been evaluated and strategies for the design of a power-efficient implementation have been identified. The Design of Low-Voltage, Low-Power Sigma-Delta Modulators begins with an overview of A/D conversion, emphasizing sigma-delta modulators. It includes a detailed analysis of noise in sigma-delta modulators, analyzes power dissipation in integrator circuits, and addresses practical issues in the circuit design and testing of a high-resolution modulator. The Design of Low-Voltage, Low-Power Sigma-Delta Modulators will be of interest to practicing engineers and researchers in the areas of mixed-signal and analog integrated circuit design.

Low-Voltage CMOS Operational Amplifiers: Theory, Design and Implementation discusses both single and two-stage architectures. Opamps with constant-gm input stage are designed and their excellent performance over the rail-to-rail input common mode range is demonstrated. The first set of CMOS constant-gm input stages was introduced by a group from Technische Universiteit, Delft and Universiteit Twente, the Netherlands. These earlier versions of circuits are discussed, along with new circuits developed at the Ohio State University. The design, fabrication (MOSIS Tiny Chips), and characterization of the new circuits are now complete. Basic analog integrated circuit design concepts should be understood in order to fully appreciate the work presented. However, the topics are presented in a logical order and the circuits are explained in great detail, so that Low-Voltage CMOS Operational Amplifiers can be read and enjoyed by those without much experience in analog circuit design. It is an invaluable reference book, and may be used as a text for advanced courses on the subject.