Gain-boosted cascode

TODO 📅

Zero-Value Time Constant Analysis

TODO 📅

Transmission Gate

Equivalent Resistance is defined by large signal

[https://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~ramirtha/EEC116/F11/TGlecture.pdf]

Why Fifty Ohms?

TODO 📅

[https://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedias/why-fifty-ohms]

Device Current Components

image-20250101101419687

common gate amplifiers

No alt text provided for this image

[https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chembiyan-t-0b34b910_analog-analogdesign-rfdesign-activity-7126946716938878976-GeW6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop]

Shot Noise

Any dc current flowing through a diode generates the so-called "shot noise" due to the random nature of the hole and electron transitions across the pn junction

Shot noise is not relevant in CMOS devices since it is only present in bipolar transistors and junction diodes

Level Shifter

image-20241003224949171

TIA

image-20240824111517140

\[\begin{align} I_{in} &= \frac{V_i}{R_S} + \frac{V_i - V_o}{R_F} \\ \frac{V_i - V_o}{R_F} &= g_m V_i \end{align}\]

Then

\[\begin{align} V_o &= \frac{I_{in}R_F}{\frac{R_S+R_F}{R_S}\frac{1}{1-g_mR_F}- 1} \\ V_i &= \frac{I_{in}R_F}{\frac{R_F}{R_S}+g_mR_F} \end{align}\] If \(R_S \gg R_F\) \[\begin{align} V_o &= \frac{I_{in}}{g_m}(1-g_mR_F) \\ V_i &= \frac{I_{in}}{g_m} \end{align}\]

linearity

TIA stage allows for improved gain with better linearity, as mostly signal current passes through \(R_F\) TODO 📅 ??? Quantitative analysis

Switched-Capacitor Resistor

\[ R_{eq} = \frac{1}{f_sC} \]

image-20240905202145206

[https://youtu.be/SL3-9ZMwdJQ?si=m_FSjnFQH4wjbZKH&t=1339]

Channel-Length Modulation & Pinched off

  • \(\lambda \propto \frac{1}{L_g}\)
  • \(\lambda \propto \frac{1}{V_{DS}}\)

image-20241116080122184

  • If \(V_{DS}\) is slightly greater than \(V_{GS} - V_{TH}\), then the inversion layer stops at \(x \leq L\), and we say the channel is "pinched off"
  • Upon passing the pinchoff point, the electrons simply shoot through the depletion region near the drain junction and arrive at the drain terminal

\(L^{'}\) is the function of \(V_{DS}\)

with \(\frac{1}{L^{'}} = \frac{1}{L-\Delta L}=\frac{L+\Delta L}{L^2-\Delta L^2}\approx \frac{1}{L}\left(1+\frac{\Delta L}{L}\right)\), we have \[ I_D \approx \frac{1}{2}\mu_n C_{ox}\frac{W}{L}\left(1+\frac{\Delta L}{L}\right)(V_{GS}-V_{TH})^2 = \frac{1}{2}\mu_n C_{ox}\frac{W}{L}(V_{GS}-V_{TH})^2 (1+\lambda V_{DS}) \] assuming \(\frac{\Delta L}{L} = \lambda V_{DS}\)

\(\lambda\) represents the relative variation in length for a given increment in \(V_{DS}\). Thus, for longer channels, \(\lambda\) is smaller


In reality, however, \(r_O\) varies with \(V_{DS}\). As \(V_{DS}\) increases and the pinch-off point moves toward the source, the rate at which the depletion region around the source becomes wider decreases, resulting in a higher incremental output impedance.

image-20241116084353713

Early Voltage indicator

\[ g_m r_o = \frac{g_m}{I_D}I_D \cdot \frac{V_A}{I_D} = \frac{g_m}{I_D} \cdot V_A \]

$g_m r_o $ is the indicator of \(V_A\), if \(\frac{g_m}{I_D}\) is same

Resonator

image-20240826223955851

image-20240826224132736

image-20240826224317197


image-20240826224651954

image-20240826224823886

bandpass filter

Hossein Hashemi, RF Circuits, [https://youtu.be/0f3yZMvD2Jg?si=2c1Q4y6WJq8Jj8oN]

Cgd of Common-Source Stage

Miller effect of Cgd during layout

Nonlinearity of Differential Circuits

image-20240804173949430

\[ \cos^3\omega t = \frac{3\cos \omega t + \cos(3\omega t)}{4} \]

image-20240804174042088

Zero in differential pair with active current mirror

image-20240629103021286

Noting the circuit consists of a "slow path" (M1, M3, M4) in parallel with a "fast path" (M2)

  • "slow path" \[ H_\text{slow}(s) = \frac{A_0}{(1+s/\omega _{pE})(1+s/\omega _{pO})} \]

  • "fast path" \[ H_\text{fast}(s) = \frac{A_0}{1+s/\omega _{pO}} \]

Then \[\begin{align} \frac{V_\text{out}}{V_\text{in}} &= H_\text{slow}(s) + H_\text{fast}(s) \\ &= \frac{A_0}{1+s/\omega _{pO}}\left(\frac{1}{1+s/\omega _{pE}} + 1 \right) \\ &= \frac{A_0(1+s/2\omega _{pE})}{(1+s/\omega _{pO})(1+s/\omega _{pE})} \end{align}\]

That is, the system exhibits a zero at \(2\omega_{pE}\)


signals traveling through two paths within an amplifier may cancel each other at one frequency, creating a zero in the transfer function

image-20240629104408168

\[ \omega_z = \frac{(A_1+A_2)\omega_{p1}\omega_{p2}}{A_1\omega_{p1}+A_2\omega_{p2}} \] noting \(\omega_{p1}\lt \omega_z \lt \omega_{p2}\)

"Zero" by Inspection

a method to predict the existence of "zero" by inspection, based on the concept of "Analog Phase Interpolation"

TODO 📅

Debashis Dhar, How to Recognize "Zero" by Inspection (Utilizing Analog Phase Interpolation) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/debashis-dhar-12487024_how-to-recognize-zero-by-inspection-activity-7163364364329160704-9qOq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop]

Random offset

The dependence of offset voltage and current mismatches upon the overdrive voltage is similar to our observations for corresponding noise quantities

differential pair

image-20240624222306837

In reality, since mismatches are independent statistical variables

image-20240624222417564

Above shows that the input transistors must be designed for high gain (\(g_mr_o = \frac{2}{V_{OV}\lambda}\)), which means they must be designed for small \(V_{GS}-V_{TH}\).

It is desirable to minimize \(V_{GS}-V_{TH}\) by lowering the tail current or increasing the transistor widths


For \(\frac{\Delta K}{K}\)

\[\begin{align} v_{os} g_m &= \Delta K \frac{W}{L}(V_{GS}-V_{TH})^2 \\ v_{os} 2K\frac{W}{L}(V_{GS}-V_{TH}) &= \Delta K \frac{W}{L}(V_{GS}-V_{TH})^2 \\ v_{os} &= \frac{V_{GS}-V_{TH}}{2} \frac{\Delta K}{K} \end{align}\]

The derivation for \(\frac{\Delta W/L}{W/L}\) is same with \(\frac{\Delta K}{K}\)


alternative derivation

\[\begin{align} \Delta V_\beta \cdot g_m &= \frac{\partial I_D}{\partial \beta} \Delta \beta \\ &= I_D \frac{\Delta \beta}{\beta} \end{align}\]

That is \(\Delta V_\beta = \frac{I_D}{g_m}\frac{\Delta \beta}{\beta}\)

\[ \Delta V_R \cdot g_m R = I_D \cdot \Delta R \]

That is \(\Delta V_R = \frac{I_D}{ g_m} \cdot \frac{\Delta R}{R}\)

[https://electronicengineering.phd.upc.edu/en/courses-and-seminars/courses-materials/2008-2009/slides-makinwa-1]


current mirror

image-20240624224944377

image-20240624225010443

To minimize current mismatch, the overdrive voltage must be maximized, a trend opposite to that in differential pair.

This is because as \(V_{GS}-V_{TH}\) increases, threshold mismatch has a lesser effect on the device currents

\(\Delta I_D= g_m \Delta V_{TH} = \frac{2I_D}{V_{OV}}\Delta V_{TH}\)

Effect of Feedback on Noise

Feedback does not improve the noise performance of circuits.

image-20240508205903213

The input-referred noise voltage and current remain the same if the feedback network introduces no noise.

RC charge & discharge

  • charge: \[ V_o(t) = V_{X}(1-e^{-\frac{t}{\tau}}) + V_{o,0}\cdot e^{-\frac{-t}{\tau}} \]

  • discharge: \[ V_o(t) = V_{o,0}\cdot e^{-\frac{t}{\tau}} + V_{o,\infty}\cdot(1-e^{-\frac{t}{\tau}}) \]

  1. \(e^{-\frac{t}{\tau}}\) item determine the initial state
  2. \((1-e^{-\frac{t}{\tau}})\) item determine the final state

image-20231104231640290

image-20231104232000036

AC coupling

\(V_m=\frac{1}{4},\space \frac{3}{4}\) and its common voltage \(\frac{1}{2}\)

\(V_o=-\frac{1}{4},\space \frac{1}{4}\) and its common voltage \(0\)

image-20231121224940814

image-20231121225358509


\[ \tau = 200 \text{nF} \times (50+50)\text{ohm} = 20 \mu s \]

high level envelope:

image-20231121230155083

image-20231121230225895

Current mirror with source degeneration

image-20231103213308081

image-20231103213327501

degeneration

Razavi 2nd, problem 14.15

Monitored Analog Critical Parameters

monitor_parameters.drawio

Parameter Definition:

\[\begin{align} I_{\text{D,lin}} &= I_D \mid _{V_G=V_{DD},V_D=0.05V} \\ I_{\text{D,sat}} &= I_D \mid _{V_G=V_D=V_{DD}} \\ V_{\text{t,lin}} &= V_G \mid _{I_D=I_{\text{thx}}\cdot \frac{W}{L}@\{V_D=0.05V\}} \end{align}\]

\(I_{\text{thx}}\) could be different for technologies. (For N16, \(I_{\text{thx}}=10\)nA)


Constant Current Threshold Voltage

Extraction of constant current threshold voltage

gm-Maximum Method

Extraction of threshold voltage

[Inspect 4. Extracting Standard Parameters]

STB and PSTB in Spectre/RF

All credits to my colleague, Zhang Wenpian. > F. Wiedmann, "Loop gain simulation," Online:[https://sites.google.com/site/frankwiedmann/loopgain]

STB analysis

Spectre stb's "loopgain" is negative of "T" in paper[1] \[ T = \frac{2(AD-BC) - A + D}{2(AD-BC)-A+D-1} \]

AC simulation testbench, shown as below,

stb_pstb.drawio

  1. \(I_{inj}\) = 0, \(V_{inj}\) = 1

    B = if, D = ve

  2. \(I_{inj}\) = 1, \(V_{inj}\) = 0

    A = if, C = ve

PSTB analysis

Spectre pstb is similar to stb, just set pac as 1 instead of ac in current source and voltage source.

This analysis just use harmonic 0 transfer function in pac analysis, which has limitation.

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuits

戴维南定理

image-20231021084850078

等效电阻的计算方法

image-20231021085151943

使用外加电源法时, 全部独立电源需要置零

诺顿定理

image-20231021090448282

Lemma of Razavi

\[ A_V = -G_m R_{out} \]

image-20231021092407849

Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits, Second Edition - Behzad Razavi

Miller's Approximation: right-half-plane zero

image-20231021101204165

A quick inspection of this circuit reveals that a zero lies at a frequency where the current through \(C_{12}\) becomes equal to \(g_2V_1\).

When this occurs, the current through the parallel combination of \(C_2\) and \(R_2\) becomes zero, creating a zero in the transfer function.

In other words, we can write

\[\begin{align} g_2V_1 &= V_1sC_{12} \\ s &= \frac{g_2}{C_{12}} \end{align}\]

Nonoverlapping clock

Classical

image-20241016212042812

DWC

C2PHIa is important to ensure nonoverlapping and DelayA2B is due to level shifter

image-20241016212100040

Single ended Amplifier Offset Voltage

unity gain buffer

image-20220917115231508

\[\begin{align} V_o &= V_{o,dc}+A(V_p-V_m) \\ V_o' &= V_{o,dc}+A(V_p+V_{os}-V_m') \end{align}\]

Then, we get \[ V_{os}=\frac{V_o'-V_o}{A}+(V_m'-V_m) \] Due to \(V_o=V_m\) and \(V_o'=V_m'\) \[ V_{os}=(1/A+1)\Delta{V_m} \] or \[ V_{os}=(1/A+1)\Delta{V_o} \] if \(A \gg 1\) \[ V_{os}=\Delta{V_o} \]

non-inverting amplifier

image-20220917115308699 \[\begin{align} V_o &= V_{o,dc}+A(V_p-V_m) \\ V_o' &= V_{o,dc}+A(V_p+V_{os}-V_m') \\ V_m &= \beta V_o \\ V_m' &= \beta V_o' \end{align}\]

we get \[ V_{os}=\frac{V_o'-V_o}{A}+(V_m'-V_m) \] or \[ V_{os}=\frac{\Delta V_o}{A}+\beta \Delta V_o \] if \(A \gg 1\) \[ V_{os}=\beta \Delta V_o \] or \[ V_{os}=\Delta V_m \]


Lecture 22 Variability and Mismatch of Dr. Hesham A. Omran's Analog IC Design

image-20221022010448797

URL: https://www.master-micro.com/professional-courses/analog-ic-design/course-resources

Gotcha MOS ron

There is discrepancy between model operating point and \(V_{ds}/I_{ds}\)

I believe that the equation \(V_{ds}/I_{ds}\) is more appropriate where mos is used as switch, though \(V_{ds}=0\) is an outlier.

image-20230104230757729

image-20230104230837829

image-20230104230851475

Schmitt Inverter

image-20231021232912529

gm/ID Intuition

image-20230103220933081

small gm/ID for High ro, or high Early voltage \(V_A\)

Transit Frequency \(f_T\)

Defined as the frequency at which the small-signal current gain of a device is unity

image-20231213234524075


image-20240116233951006


image-20250701230019148

mag(Ids@ft) = Ig(1mA)

Aditya Varma Muppala. MMIC 08: High Frequency Device Characterization in Cadence - Fmax, Ft, NFmin vs Jd [https://youtu.be/kgEypIA8eus?si=sd4581x2hOuhsJ3P]

MOSFET ZTC Condition Analysis

zero temperature coefficient (ZTC)

image-20231212195536754

MOM cap of wo_mx

Monte Carlo model:

  • \(C_{pa}=C_{pa1}\), \(C_{pb}=C_{pb1}\) for each iteration during Process Variation
  • different variation is applied to \(C_{ab}\) and \(C_{a1b1}\) each iteration during Mismatch Variation, though \(C_{pa}\), \(C_{pb}\), \(C_{pa1}\) and \(C_{pb1}\) remain constant

image-20230220230434891

image-20230220230331505

Active Inductor

activeInd

\[\begin{align} A &= \frac{g_mR_L}{1+(g_\text{m\_dio}+ g_\text{ds\_tot})R_L}\cdot \frac{1+R_pC_Ps}{1+\frac{(1+g_\text{ds\_tot}R_L)R_PC_P+C_PR_L+R_LC_L}{1+(g_\text{m\_dio}+g_\text{ds\_tot})R_L}s + \frac{R_LC_LR_PC_P}{1+(g_\text{m\_dio}+g_\text{ds\_tot})R_L}s^2} \\ &= \frac{g_mR_L}{1+(g_\text{m\_dio}+ g_\text{ds\_tot})R_L}\cdot \frac{R_PC_P}{ \frac{R_LC_LR_PC_P}{1+(g_\text{m\_dio}+g_\text{ds\_tot})R_L}}\cdot \frac{1/(R_PC_P)+s}{s^2 + \frac{(1+g_\text{ds\_tot}R_L)R_PC_P+C_PR_L+R_LC_L}{R_PC_P}s + \frac{1+(g_\text{m\_dio}+g_\text{ds\_tot})R_L}{R_LC_LR_PC_P}} \\ &= A_0 \cdot A(s) \end{align}\]

That is

\[\begin{align} \omega_z &= \frac{1}{R_PC_P} \tag{1} \\ \omega_n &= \sqrt{\frac{1+(g_\text{m\_dio}+g_\text{ds\_tot})R_L}{R_LC_LR_PC_P}} = \sqrt{\omega_{p0}\omega_z} \\ \zeta & = \frac{(1+g_\text{ds\_tot}R_L)R_PC_P+C_PR_L+R_LC_L}{R_PC_P} \frac{1}{2 \omega_n} \end{align}\]

Where \[\begin{align} \omega_{p0} &= \frac{1}{(R_L||\frac{1}{g_\text{m\_dio}}||\frac{1}{g_\text{ds\_tot}})C_L} \tag{2} \end{align}\]

Here, relate \(\omega_{p0}\) and \(\omega_z\) by coefficient \(\alpha\) \[ \omega_{p0} = \alpha \cdot \omega_z \tag{3} \] This way \[ \omega_n= \sqrt{\alpha}\cdot \omega_z \]

\[ \zeta = \frac{1}{2}(K\sqrt{\alpha}+\frac{1+C_P/C_L}{\sqrt{\alpha}}) \tag{4} \] where \[ K = \frac{R_L||\frac{1}{g_\text{m\_dio}}||\frac{1}{g_\text{ds\_tot}}}{R_L||g_\text{ds\_tot}} \]

And \(A(s)\) can be expressed as \[ A(s) = \frac{\frac{s}{\omega_z}+1}{\frac{s^2}{\omega_n^2}+2\frac{\zeta}{\omega_n}s+1} \] It magnitude in dB \[ A_\text{dB} = 10\log\frac{1+(\omega/\omega_z)^2}{1+(\omega/\omega_n)^4+2\omega^2(2\zeta^2-1)/\omega_n^2} \] Substitute \(\omega_n\) with Eq (2), followed is obtained \[ A_\text{dB} = 10\log{\frac{\alpha^2(\omega_z^4 + \omega_z^2\omega^2)}{\alpha^2\omega_z^4+\omega^4+2\alpha\omega_z^2(2\zeta^2-1)\omega^2}} \] peaking frequency \[ \omega_\text{peak} = \omega_z\cdot \sqrt{\sqrt{(\alpha+1)^2 - 4\alpha \zeta^2}-1} \] If \(\zeta=1\) \[\begin{align} \omega_{A_\text{dB = 0dB} }&= \sqrt{1-2/\alpha}\cdot \omega_{p0} \\ \omega_\text{peak} &= \omega_z\sqrt{\alpha-2} \\ A_\text{dB,peak} &= 10\log\frac{\alpha^2}{4(\alpha-1)} \end{align}\]

Miller multiplication of Capacitor

Positive Cap

image-20231220225508580

image-20231220225450481

Negative Cap

image-20231220225910283

image-20231220230015868


gain has limited bandwidth

image-20231224212914366

image-20231224212541383

image-20231224212625409

\(V_o = V_i |A|e^{j\theta}\), and \(A_r = |A|\cos\theta\), \(A_i = |A|\sin\theta\)

Then \(I_i = (V_i - V_o)sC_f= V_i(1-|A|e^{j\theta})sC_f\), impedance is shown as below

\[\begin{align} Z &= \frac{V_i}{I_i} \\ &= \frac{1}{(1-|A|e^{j\theta})j\omega C_f} \\ &= -\frac{j}{\omega C_f\frac{1+|A|^2-2|A|\cos\theta}{1-|A|\cos\theta}} + \frac{|A|\sin\theta}{\omega C_f (1+|A|^2-2|A|\cos\theta)} \\ \end{align}\]

\(C_\text{eq}\) and \(R_\text{eq}\) are obtained \[\begin{align} C_\text{eq} &= \frac{1+|A|^2-2A_r}{1-A_r}\cdot C_f \\ R_\text{eq} &= \frac{A_i}{1+|A|^2-2A_r}\cdot \frac{1}{\omega C_f} \end{align}\]

D/S small signal model

image-20240106161059584

The Drain and Source of MOS are determined in DC operating point, i.e. large signal.

That is, top of \(M_2\) is drain and bottom is source, \[\begin{align} R_\text{eq2} &= \frac{r_\text{o2}+R_L}{1+g_\text{m2}r_\text{o2}} \\ & \simeq \frac{1}{g_\text{m2}} \end{align}\]

PMOS small signal model polarity

The small-signal models of NMOS and PMOS transistors are identical

A negative \(\Delta V_\text{GS}\) leads to a negative \(\Delta I_D\).

Recall that \(I_D\), in the direction shown here, is negative because the actual current of holes flows from the source to the drain.

image-20240106170315177

Conversely, a positive \(\Delta V_\text{GS}\) produces a positive \(\Delta I_D\), as is the case for an NMOS device.

image-20240106164923917

Leakage in MOS

image-20241109195527005

  • Subthreshold leakage
    • Drain-Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL)
  • Reverse-bias Source/Drain junction leakages
  • Gate leakage
  • two other leakage mechanisms
    • Gate Induced Drain Leakage (GIDL)
    • Punchthrough

image-20241110001311117

W. M. Elgharbawy and M. A. Bayoumi, "Leakage sources and possible solutions in nanometer CMOS technologies," in IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 6-17, Fourth Quarter 2005, doi: 10.1109/MCAS.2005.1550165.

X. Qi et al., "Efficient subthreshold leakage current optimization - Leakage current optimization and layout migration for 90- and 65- nm ASIC libraries," in IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 39-47, Sept.-Oct. 2006, doi: 10.1109/MCD.2006.272999.

P. Monsurró, S. Pennisi, G. Scotti and A. Trifiletti, "Exploiting the Body of MOS Devices for High Performance Analog Design," in IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 8-23, Fourthquarter 2011, doi: 10.1109/MCAS.2011.942751.

Andrea Baschirotto, ISSCC2015 "ADC Design in Scaled Technologies"

Joachim Assenmacher Infineon Technologies, "BSIM4 Modeling and Parameter Extraction" [https://ewh.ieee.org/r5/denver/sscs/References/2003_03_Assenmacher.pdf]

Stefan Rusu, Intel ISSCC 2008 Tutorial: "Leakage Reduction Techniques" [https://www.nishanchettri.com/isscc-slides/2008%20ISSCC/Tutorials/T06_Pres.pdf]

Drain-Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL)

As a result of DIBL, threshold voltage is reduced with shorter channel lengths and, consequently, the subthreshold leakage current is increased

image-20240901231532412

impact on output impedance

The principal impact of DIBL on circuit design is the degraded output impedance.

In short-channel devices, as \(V_{DS}\) increases further, drain-induced barrier lowering becomes significant, reducing the threshold voltage and increasing the drain current

image-20240901232709711

Impact Ionization and GIDL are different, however both increase drain current, which flowing from the drain into the substrate

image-20241120210915254

Gate induced drain leakage (GIDL)

image-20241110001118250

Figure 4.3

The large current flows from the drain to bulk and this drain leakage current is named gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) since it is due to a gate-induced high electric field present in the gate-to-drain overlap region

gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) increases exponentially due to the reduced gate oxide thickness

image-20240902000820459

Chauhan, Yogesh Singh, et al. FinFET modeling for IC simulation and design: using the BSIM-CMG standard. Academic Press, 2015.


image-20240901225754731

\[ \frac{g_m}{I_D} = \frac{2}{V_{GS}-V_{TH}} \] Decrease of gm/Id results from decrease in VT.

GIDL (Gate induced drain leakage) as at weak inversion may results in a weak lateral electric field causing leakage current between drain and bulk, which degrade the efficiency of the transistor (gm/ID).

[https://www.linkedin.com/posts/master-micro_mastermicro-mastermicro-adt-activity-7214549962833989632-ZoV_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop]

Voltage Dependence

image-20241111224955193

Temperature Dependence

image-20241111225025277


In advanced node, gate leakage is also a strong function of temperature

image-20241111230519009

signal detection circuit

sc_sigdet.drawio

phase I

\[\begin{align} Q_a &= (V_{a0} - 0.5*(V_{ip} + V_{im}))*C + (V_{a0} - V_{th})*C \\ Q_b &= (V_{b0} - 0.5*(V_{ip} + V_{im}))*C + V_{b0}*C \end{align}\]

Phase II

\[\begin{align} Q_a &= (V_{a} - V_{ip})*C + (V_{a} - V_{b})*0.5C \\ Q_b &= (V_{b} - V_{im})*C + (V_{b} - V_{a})*0.5C \end{align}\]

With the law of charge conservation, we get

\[\begin{equation} V_a - V_b = (V_{a0} - V_{b0}) + 0.5*(V_{ip} - V_{im} - V_{th}) \end{equation}\]

REF: D. A. Yokoyama-Martin et al., "A Multi-Standard Low Power 1.5-3.125 Gb/s Serial Transceiver in 90nm CMOS," IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference 2006, 2006, pp. 401-404, doi: 10.1109/CICC.2006.320970.

Power/Ground and I/O Pins

Power / Ground Pin Information

In both digital and analog I/O, power and ground pins appear at the sub-circuit definiton, allowing user to use the I/O in voltage islands. They follow certain naming conventions.

  1. digital I/O sub-circuit
  • VDD: pre-driver core voltage (supplied by PVDD1CDGM)
  • VSS: pre-driver ground and also global ground (supplied by PVDD1CDGM)
  • VDDPST: I/O post-driver voltage, i.e. 1.8V (supplied by PVDD2CDGM or PVDD2POCM)
  • VSSPOST: I/O post-driver ground (supplied by PVDD2CDGM or PVDD2POCM)
  • POCCTRL: POCCTRL signal (supplied by PVDD2POCM)
  1. analog I/O placed in a core voltage domain, the convention is
  • TACVDD: analog core voltage (supplied by PVDD3ACM)
  • TACVSS: analog core ground (supplied by PVDD3ACM)
  • VSS: global core ground
  1. analog I/O placed in an I/O voltage domain, the convention is:
  • TAVDD: analog I/O voltage, i.e. 1.8V (supplied by PVDD3AM)
  • TAVSS: analog I/O ground (supplied by PVDD3AM)
  • VSS: global core ground

Power/Ground Combo Cells

power/ground combo pad cell pins to be connected to bump to core side pin name
PVDD1CDGM VDD VSS VDD VSS
PVDD2CDGM PVDD2POCM VDDPST VSSPST N/A
PVDD3AM TAVDD TAVSS AVDD AVSS
PVDD3ACM TACVDD TACVSS AVDD AVSS

Note for the retention mode

  1. At initial state, IRTE must be 0 when VDD is off.
  2. IRTE must be kept >= 10us after VDD turns on again (from the retention mode to the normal operation mode).
  3. IRTE can be switched only when both VDD and VDDPST are on.

rention_seq.drawio

When the rention function is needed, IRTE signal must come from an "always-on" core power domain. If you don't need the rention function, it is required to tie IRTE to ground. In other words, no matter the rention feature is needed or not, it is required to have PCBRTE in each domain.

PCBRTE_in_digital_domain.drawio

Note: PCBRTE does not need PAD connection.

Internal Pins

There are 3 internal global pins, i.e. ESD, POCCTRL, RTE, in all digital domain cells.

In real application,

  • ESD pin is an internal signal and active in ESD event happening
  • POCCTRL is an internal signal and active in Power-on-control event.

However, these special events (i.e. ESD event and Power-on-control event) are not modeled in NLDM kit (.lib), only normal function is covered, so ESD and POCCTRL pins are simply defined as ground in NLDM kit (.lib).

These 3 global pins will be connected automatically after cell-to-cell abutting in physical layout.

Power-Up sequence in Digital Domain

Power up the I/O power (VDDPST) first, then the core power (VDD)

pocctrl_seq.drawio

  1. PVDDD2POCM cell would generate Power-On-Control signal (POCCTRL) to have the post-driver NMOS and PMOS off, so that the crowbar current would not occur in the post-driver fingers when the I/O voltage is on while the core voltage remains off. As such, I/O cell would be in the Hi-Z state. when POCCTRL is on, the pll-up/down resistor is disabled and C is 0.
  2. The POCCTRL signal is transmitted to I/O cells through cell abutment. There is no need to have routing for POCCTTRL nor give a control signal to the POCCTRL pin any of I/O cells. Note that the POCCTRL signal would be cut if inserting a power-cut (PRCUT) cell.

power-on-control-ciruit.drawio

Power-Down sequence in Digital Domain

It's the reverse of power-up sequence.

Use model in Innovus

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set init_gnd_net "vss_core vss DUMMY_ESD DUMMY_POCCTRL"

addInst -moduleBased u_io -ori R270 -physical -status fixed -loc 135 994 -inst u_io/VDDIO_1 -cell PVDD2CDGM_H

addNet u_io_RTE
attachTerm FILLER_6 RTE u_io_RTE
attachTerm VDDIO_1 RTE u_right_RTE
setAttribute -skip_routing true -net u_io_RTE

clearGlobalNets
globalNetConnect DUMMY_POCCTRL -type pgpin -pin POCCTRL -singleInstance u_io/VDDDIO_1 -override
globalNetConnect DUMMY_ESD -type pgpin -pin ESD -singleInstance u_io/VDDDIO_1 -override
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set pins [get_object_name [get_ports *]]
foreach pin $pins {
set netPtr [dbGetNetByName $pin]
if { $netPtr == "0x0" } {
puts "INFO: can't find the port: $pin"
} else {
setAttribute -net $pin -skip_routing true
}
}

foreach net [get_object_name [get_nets -of_objects [get_pins */RTE -hierarchical]]] {
setAttribute -net $net -skip_routing true
dbSet [dbGetNetByName $net].dontTouch true
}

Slewing of Folded-Cascode Op Amps

image-20240817161915989

In practice, we choose \(I_P \simeq I_{SS}\)


image-20240817162418938

image-20240817162127452


image-20240816175038971

Avoid zero current in cascodes

  • left circuit

    \(I_b \gt I_a\)

  • right circuit

    \(I_b \gt 2I_a\)

reference

M. Tian, V. Visvanathan, J. Hantgan and K. Kundert, "Striving for small-signal stability," in IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 31-41, Jan. 2001, doi: 10.1109/101.900125.

Open loop gain analysis and "STB" method [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/open-loop-gain-analysis-stb-method-jean-francois-debroux]

The Analog Designer's Toolbox (ADT) | Invited Talk by IEEE Santa Clara Valley Section CAS Society, https://youtu.be/FT6kKC5OdE0

ESSCIRC2023 Circuit Insights Ali Sheikholeslami [https://youtu.be/2xFIZM5_FPw?si=XWwSzDgKWZGB0rX1]

Ali Sheikholeslami, Circuit Intuitions: Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuits, Part 3 IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp. 7-8, Fall 2018.

—, Circuit Intuitions: Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuits, Part 2 IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 3, pp. 7-8, Summer 2018.

—, Circuit Intuitions: Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuits, Part 1 IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 2, pp. 7-8, Spring 2018.

—, Circuit Intuitions: Miller's Approximation IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine, Vol. 7, Issue 4, pp. 7-8, Fall 2015.

—, Circuit Intuitions: Miller's Theorem IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine, Vol. 7, Issue 3, pp. 8-10, Summer 2015.

Shanthi Pavan, "Demystifying Linear Time Varying Circuits"

ecircuitcenter. Switched-Capacitor Resistor [http://www.ecircuitcenter.com/Circuits/SWCap/SWCap.htm]

Jørgen Andreas Michaelsen. INF4420 Switched-Capacitor Circuits. [https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/matnat/ifi/INF4420/v13/undervisningsmateriale/inf4420_v13_07_switchedcapacitor_print.pdf]

chembiyan T. OC Lecture 10: A very basic introduction to switched capacitor circuits [https://youtu.be/SaYtemYp4rQ?si=q2qovTKJrLy65pnu

Robert Bogdan Staszewski, Poras T. Balsara. "All‐Digital Frequency Synthesizer in Deep‐Submicron CMOS"

Mayank Parasrampuria, Sandeep Jain, Burn-in 101 [link]


Kevin Zheng. Circuit Artists [https://circuit-artists.com/posts/]

Mismatch between the pole and zero frequencies leads to the “doublet problem”. If the pole and the zero do not exactly coincide, we say that they constitute a doublet

Problem 10.19 in Razavi 2nd book

Suppose the open-loop transfer function of a two-stage op amp is expressed as \[ H_{open}(s)=\frac{A_0(1+\frac{s}{\omega_z})}{\left( 1+ \frac{s}{\omega_{p1}}\right)\left( 1+ \frac{s}{\omega_{p2}}\right)} \] Ideally, \(\omega_z=\omega_2\) and the feedback circuit exhibits a first-order behavior, i.e., its step response contains a single time constant and no overshoot.

Then the transfer function of the amplifier in a unity-gain feedback loop is given by \[\begin{align} H_{closed}(s) &=\frac{A_0\left(1+\frac{s}{\omega_z}\right)}{\frac{s^2}{\omega_{p1}\omega_{p2}}+\left( \frac{1}{\omega_{p1}} + \frac{1}{\omega_{p2}}+\frac{A_0}{\omega_{z}}\right)s+A_0+1} \\ &=\frac{\frac{A_0}{A_0+1}(1+\frac{s}{\omega_z})}{\frac{s^2}{\omega_{p1}\omega_{p2}(A_0+1)}+\left( \frac{1}{\omega_{p1}} + \frac{1}{\omega_{p2}}+\frac{A_0}{\omega_{z}}\right)\frac{s}{A_0+1}+1} \end{align}\]


The denominator part of \(H_{closed}(s)\) is \[ D(s) = \frac{s^2}{\omega_{p1}\omega_{p2}}+\left( \frac{1}{\omega_{p1}} + \frac{1}{\omega_{p2}}+\frac{A_0}{\omega_{z}}\right)s+A_0+1 \]

Assuming two poles (\(\omega_{pA} \ll\omega_{pB}\)) of \(H_{closed}(s)\) are widely spaced, \[\begin{align} D(s) &= \left( 1+ \frac{s}{\omega_{pA}}\right)\left( 1+ \frac{s}{\omega_{pB}}\right)\\ &\cong \frac{s^2}{\omega_{pA}\omega_{pB}}+\frac{s}{\omega_{pA}} + 1 \end{align}\]

Thus, the two poles of the closed-loop transfer function of system are \[\begin{align} \omega_{pA} &= \frac{A_0+1}{\frac{1}{\omega_{p1}} + \frac{1}{\omega_{p2}}+\frac{A_0}{\omega_{z}}} \\ &= \frac{(A_0+1)\omega_{p1} \omega_{p2}}{\omega_{p1} + \omega_{p2} + \frac{A_0}{\omega_z}\omega_{p1} \omega_{p2}} \\ \omega_{pB} &= \omega_{p1} + \omega_{p2} + \frac{A_0}{\omega_z}\omega_{p1} \omega_{p2} \end{align}\]


Assuming \(\omega_z \simeq \omega_{p2}\) and \(\omega_{p2}\ll (1+A_0)\omega_{p1}\) \[ \omega_{pA} = \omega_{p2} \] and \[ \omega_{pB} = (1+A_0)\omega_{p1} \] The closed-loop transfer function is \[ H_{closed}(s) = \frac{\frac{A_0}{A_0+1}\left(1+\frac{s}{\omega_z}\right)}{\left(1+\frac{s}{(1+A_0)\omega_{p1}}\right)\left( 1+\frac{s}{\omega_{p2}} \right)} \]


The step response of the closed-loop amplifier

Consider the Laplace transform function of step response, \(X(s)=\frac{1}{s}\) \[ Y(s)=\frac{1}{s}\times H_{closed}(s) \] Thus, the small-signal step response of the closed-loop amplifier is \[ y(t)=\frac{A_0}{A_0+1}\left[1-e^{-(A_0+1)\omega_{p1}t}-\left(1-\frac{\omega_{p2}}{\omega_z}\right)e^{-\omega_{p2}t} \right]u(t) \] Since, \(\omega_{p2}\ll (1+A_0)\omega_{p1}\). Therefore, rewrite the \(y(t)\) \[ y(t)\cong \frac{A_0}{A_0+1}\left[1-\left(1-\frac{\omega_{p2}}{\omega_z}\right)e^{-\omega_{p2}t} \right]u(t) \] The step response contains an exponential term of the form \(\left(1-\frac{\omega_{p2}}{\omega_z}\right)e^{-\omega_{p2}t}\). This is an important result, indicating that if the zero does not exactly cancel the pole, the step response exhibits an exponential with an amplitude proportional to \(\left(1-\frac{\omega_{p2}}{\omega_z}\right)\), which depends on the mismatch between \(\omega_z\) and \(\omega_{p2}\) and a time constant \(\tau\) of \(\frac{1}{\omega_{p2}}\) or \(\frac{1}{\omega_{z}}\)

perfect pole-zero cancellation

\[\begin{align} y(t) &=\frac{A_0}{A_0+1}\left[1-e^{-(A_0+1)\omega_{p1}t}-\left(1-\frac{\omega_{p2}}{\omega_z}\right)e^{-\omega_{p2}t} \right]u(t) \\ &= \frac{A_0}{A_0+1}\left[1-e^{-(A_0+1)\omega_{p1}t}\right]u(t) \end{align}\]


image-20230108233523345

image-20230108234123707

The zero comes from the mirror node

Thanks to unity gain buffer, zero is alleviated for \(C_c\)

reference

Elad Alon, Lecture 10: Settling-Limited Amplifier Design Methodology, EE 240B – Spring 2018, Advanced Analog Integrated Circuits https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ee240b/sp18/lectures/Lecture10_Settling_Design_2up.pdf

Eric Chang, Prof. Elad Alon EE240B HW3 https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ee240b/sp18/homeworks/hw3.pdf and https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ee240b/sp18/homeworks/hw3_soln.pdf

Prof. Tai-Haur Kuo, Analog IC Design ( 類比積體電路設計 ), Operational Amplifiers http://msic.ee.ncku.edu.tw/course/aic/201809/chapter5.pdf

SERGIO FRANCO, Demystifying pole-zero doublets URL:https://www.edn.com/demystifying-pole-zero-doublets/


B. Y. T. Kamath, R. G. Meyer and P. R. Gray, "Relationship between frequency response and settling time of operational amplifiers," in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 347-352, Dec. 1974, [https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/JSSC.1974.1050527]

P. R. Gray and R. G. Meyer, "MOS operational amplifier design-a tutorial overview," in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 969-982, Dec. 1982, [https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/JSSC.1982.1051851]

—. 2024. Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits, 6th Edition. Wiley Publishing

image-20250730172648857


image-20231106232135180

Terminology

The most accurate method to calculate the degradation of transistors is the SPICE-level simulation of the whole netlist with application programming interface (API) and industry-standard stress process models

MOSRA: MOSFET reliability analysis Synopsys

RelXpert: Cadence

TMI: TSMC Model Interface, TSMC

OMI: Open Model Interface, Si2 standard,

The Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) Compact Model Coalition has released the Open Model Interface, an Si2 standard, C-language application programming interface that supports SPICE compact model extensions.OMI allows circuit designers to simulate and analyze such important physical effects as self-heating and aging, and perform extended design optimizations. It is based on TMI2, the TSMC Model Interface, which was donated to Si2 by TSMC in 2014.

  • TDDB: Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown
  • HCI: Hot Carrier injection
  • BTI: Bias Temperature Instability
    • NBTI: Negative Bias Temperature Instability
    • PBTI: Positive Bias Temperature Instability
  • SHE: Self-Heating Effect

4645.reliability.png

Aging & SHE in FinFET

image-20230513215602865

SHE

image-20221214001912093

image-20230513110032603

image-20221214001940656

Self-Heating & EM

image-20230513220047241

Heat Sink (HS)

  1. guard ring

    closer OD help reduce dT

  2. extended gate

  3. source/drain metal stack

Bias Temperature Instability (BTI)

image-20250105132044116


img

BTI occurs predominantly in PMOS (or p-type or p channel) transistors and causes an increase in the transistor's absolute threshold voltage.

Stress in the case of NBTI means that the PMOS transistor is in inversion; that means that its gate to body potential is substantially below 0 V for analogue circuits or at VGB = −VDD for digital circuits

Higher voltages and higher temperatures both have an exponential impact onto the degradation, induced by NBTI.

NBTI will be accelaerated with thinner gate oxide, at a high temperature and at a high electric field across the oxide region.

During recovery phase where the gate voltage of pMOS is high and stress is removed, the H atoms in the gate oxiede diffuse back to Si-SiO2 interface and the recombination of Si-H bonds reduces the threshold voltage of pMOS.

image-20230513111525657

image-20230513111657285

The net result is an increase in the magnitude of the device threshold voltage |Vt|, and a degradation of the channel carrier mobility.

Caution: The aging model provided by fab may NOT contain recovry effect

image-20230513104621962

image-20230513104654501

PBTI

image-20250730180359480

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Hot Carrier Degradation (HCI)

Short-channel MOSFETs may exprience high lateral electric fields if the drain-source voltage is large. while the average velocity of carriers saturate at high fields, the instantaneous velocity and hence the kinetic energy of the carriers continue to increase, especially as they accelerate toward the drain. These are called hot carriers.

In nanometer technologies, hot carrier effects have subsided. This is because the energy required to create an electron-hole pair, \(E_g \simeq 1.12 eV\), is simply not available if the supply voltage is around 1V.

\[ F_E= E \cdot q \]

\[\begin{align} E_k &= F_E \cdot s \\ &= E \cdot q \cdot s \end{align}\]

Electrons and holes gaining high kinetic energies in the electric field (hot carriers) may be injected into the gate oxide and cause permanent changes in the oxide-interface charge distribution, degrading the current-voltage characteristics of the MOSFET.

The channel hot-electron (CHE) effect is caused by electons flowing in the channel region, from the source to the drain. This effect is more pronounced at large drain-to-source voltage, at which the lateral electric field in the drain end of the channel accelerates the electrons.

Four different hot carrier injectoin mechanisms can be distinguished: - channel hot electron (CHE) injection - drain avalanche hot carrier (DAHC) injection - secondary generated hot electron (SGHE) injection - substrate hot electron (SHE) injection

HCI is more of a drain-localized mechanism, and is primarily a carrier mobility degradation (and a Vt degradation if the device is operated bi-directionally).

image-20230512213236023

For smaller transistor dimensions, CHE dominates the hot carrier degradation effect

The hot-carrier induced damage in nMOS transistors has been found to result in either trapping of carriers on defect sites in the oxide or the creation of interface states at the silicon-oxide interface, or both.

The damage caused by hot-carrier injection affects the transistor characteristics by causing a degradation in transconductance, a shift in the threshold voltage, and a general decrease in the drain current capability.

HCI seems to have just a weak temperature dependency. Unlike BTI, it seems to be no or just little recovery. As holes are much "cooler" (i.e. heavier) than electrons, the channel hot carrier effect in nMOS devices is shown to be more significant than in pMOS devices.

image-20231106224938502

Degradation saturation effect

HCI model can reproduce the saturation effect if stress time is long enough

image-20230513112108262

Gate Oxide Integrity (GOI)

image-20250730180005931

Time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB)

image-20250730175415143

Scaling drive more concerns in TDDB

image-20250730175201502


img

M. A. Alam, ECE 695A Reliability Physics of Nanotransistors [link], [https://nanohub.org/resources/17208/download/2013.03.01-ECE695A-L21.pdf]

K. Yang, R. Zhang, T. Liu, D. -H. Kim and L. Milor, "Optimal Accelerated Test Regions for Time- Dependent Dielectric Breakdown Lifetime Parameters Estimation in FinFET Technology," 2018 Conference on Design of Circuits and Integrated Systems (DCIS), Lyon, France, 2018 [https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10104486]

waveform-dependent nature

The figure below illustrates the waveform-dependent nature of these mechanisms – as described earlier, BTI and HCI depend upon the region of active device operation. The slew rate of the circuit inputs and output will have a significant impact upon these mechanisms, especially HCI.

  • Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI). This is caused by constant electric fields degrading the dielectric, which in turn causes the threshold voltage of the transistor to degrade. That leads to lower switching speeds. This effect depends on the activity level of the circuits, with heavier impact on parts of the design that don’t switch as often, such as gated clocks, control logic, and reset, programming and test circuitry.
  • Hot carrier injection (HCI). This is caused by fast-moving electrons inserting themselves into the gate and degrading performance. It primarily occurs on higher-voltage modes and fast switching signals.

image-20230513110202915

  • longer channel length help both BTI and HCI
  • larger \(V_{ds}\) help BTI, but hurt HCI
  • lower temperature help BTI of core device, but hurt that of IO device for 7nm FinFET

MOSRA

MOSRA is a 2-step simulation: 1) Age computation, 2) Post-age analysis

TMI

BTI recovery effect NOT included for N7

Stochastic Nature of Reliability Mechanisms

A fraction of devices will fail

img

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Circuit Simulations

image-20231106230145351

image-20231106230226203

Heat transfer, thermal resistance

image-20241120222920258


image-20241120221254833

image-20241120221405337

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Burn-in & High-temperature operating life (HTOL)

  • HTOL:
    • characterization test
    • characterize the life expectancy
  • Burn-in:
    • production test
    • weed out defective products

HTOL and Burn-in Testing capture the two ends of the reliability characterization graph known as the "bathtub curve"

importance-of-htol-figure-1

[https://arworld.us/the-importance-of-htol-and-burn-in-testing-methods/]

reference

Phillip Allen. Reliability of Analog Circuits [https://aicdesign.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Reliability_Theory210224-1.pdf]

M. A. Alam. ECE 695A Reliability Physics of Nanotransistors [https://nanohub.org/groups/ece695alam]


Tanya Nigam and Andreas Kerber. Global Foundaries. CICC2014 Session 15 - Challenges for Analog Nanoscale Technologies: Reliability challenges and modeling of HK MG Technologies

Spectre Tech Tips: Device Aging? Yes, even Silicon wears out - Analog/Custom Design (Analog/Custom design) - Cadence Blogs - Cadence Community https://shar.es/afd31p

S. Liao, C. Huang, and A. C. J. X. T. Guo, "New Generation Reliability Model," Dec 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.mos-ak.org/berkeley_2016/publications/T11_Xie_MOS-AK_Berkeley_2016.pdf. [Accessed Aug 2018]

Tianlei Guo, Jushan Xie, "A Complete Reliability Solution: Reliability Modeling, Applications, and Integration in Analog Design Environment" [https://mos-ak.org/beijing_2018/presentations/Tianlei_Guo_MOS-AK_Beijing_2018.pdf]

FinFET Reliability Analysis with Device Self-Heating via @DanielNenni https://semiwiki.com/eda/synopsys/5085-finfet-reliability-analysis-with-device-self-heating/

Chris Changze Liu 刘长泽,Hisilicon, Huawei, "Reliability Challenges in Advanced Technology Node" https://www.tek.com.cn/sites/default/files/2018-09/reliability-challenges-in-advanced-technology-node.pdf

Ben Kaczer, imec. FEOL reliability: from essentials to advanced and emerging devices and circuits. 2016 IRPS Tutorial

Ben Kaczer, imec. Present and Future of FEOL Reliability—from Dielectric Trap Properties to Reliable Circuit Operation. 2016 IEDM 2016 [link]

Kang, Sung-Mo Steve, Yusuf Leblebici and Chulwoo Kim. “CMOS Digital Integrated Circuits: Analysis & Design, 4th Edition.” (2014).

Behzad Razavi. "Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits" (2016)

Basel Halak. Ageing of Integrated Circuits : Causes, Effects and Mitigation Techniques. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2020. ‌

Elie Maricau, and Georges Gielen. Analog IC Reliability in Nanometer CMOS. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. ‌

Transistor Aging Intensifies At 10/7nm And Below https://semiengineering.com/transistor-aging-intensifies-10nm/

Modeling Effects of Dynamic BTI Degradation on Analog and Mixed-Signal CMOS Circuits. MOS-AK/GSA Workshop, April 11-12, 2013, Munich https://www.mos-ak.org/munich_2013/presentations/05_Leonhard_Heiss_MOS-AK_Munich_2013.pdf

Challenges and Solutions in Modeling and Simulation of Device Self-heating, Reliability Aging and Statistical Variability Effects https://www.mos-ak.org/beijing_2018/presentations/Dehuang_Wu_MOS-AK_Beijing_2018.pdf

New Generation Reliability Model https://www.mos-ak.org/berkeley_2016/publications/T11_Xie_MOS-AK_Berkeley_2016.pdf

FinFET SPICE Modeling: Synopsys Solutions to Simulation Challenges of Advanced Technology Nodes https://www.mos-ak.org/washington_dc_2015/presentations/T03_Joddy_Wang_MOS-AK_Washington_DC_2015.pdf

A. Zhang et al., "Reliability variability simulation methodology for IC design: An EDA perspective," 2015 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), Washington, DC, USA, 2015, pp. 11.5.1-11.5.4, doi: 10.1109/IEDM.2015.7409677.

W. -K. Lee et al., "Unifying self-heating and aging simulations with TMI2," 2014 International Conference on Simulation of Semiconductor Processes and Devices (SISPAD), Yokohama, Japan, 2014, pp. 333-336, doi: 10.1109/SISPAD.2014.6931631.

Aging and Self-Heating in FinFETs - Breakfast Bytes - Cadence Blogs - Cadence Community https://community.cadence.com/cadence_blogs_8/b/breakfast-bytes/posts/aging-and-self-heating

Article (20482350) Title: Measure the Impact of Aging in Spectre Technology URL: https://support.cadence.com/apex/ArticleAttachmentPortal?id=a1O0V000009ESBFUA4

Karimi, Naghmeh, Thorben Moos and Amir Moradi. “Exploring the Effect of Device Aging on Static Power Analysis Attacks.” IACR Trans. Cryptogr. Hardw. Embed. Syst. 2019 (2019): 233-256.[link]

Self-Heating Issues Spread https://semiengineering.com/self-heating-issues-spread/

Y. Zhao and Y. Qu, "Impact of Self-Heating Effect on Transistor Characterization and Reliability Issues in Sub-10 nm Technology Nodes," in IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society, vol. 7, pp. 829-836, 2019, doi: 10.1109/JEDS.2019.2911085.

timing_aocv_derate_mode

1
timing_aocv_derate_mode{aocv_multiplicative | aocv_additive}

Default: aocv_multiplicative

Controls the AOCV derating mode.

When set to aocv_multiplicative, the derating factor will be calculated as AOCV derating * OCV derating, which is set using the set_timing_derate command.

When set to aocv_additive, the derating factor will be calculated as AOCV derating + OCV derating values.

When you use this global variable, the report_timing command shows the total_derate column in the timing report output, which allows you to view and cross-check the calculated total derate factor.

To set this global variable, use the set_global command.

image-20221210143256639

reference

Genus Attribute Reference 22.1

Innovus Text Command Reference 22.10

Article (20416394) Title: Analysis with Advanced On-chip Variation (AOCV) derating in EDI system and ETS URL: https://support.cadence.com/apex/ArticleAttachmentPortal?id=a1Od000000050NxEAI

Wafer Acceptance Test (WAT)

Wafer acceptance testing (WAT) also known as Process Control Monitoring (PCM)

image-20250802091601281


image-20250802101539555

温德通. 集成电路制造工艺与工程应用. 机械工业出版社 2018

Short Lg Stackgate

TSMC. VLSI2025 JFS2-1: Analog Cells DTCO (Design and Technology Co-Optimization) and Their Impact on Advanced Node CMOS Analog/MixedSignal Circuits

image-20250719221634273

smaller W*L*M, X*Y for same mismatch with short Lg stackgate


image-20250719221918689

N7/N5 4-fin Grid Rule

Same Fin1/Fin3 or Fin2/Fin4 Fin Position


image-20250719222047276

image-20250719222146669

note W/L is different \(12/(135*2) \lt 6/(8*8)\)

Current Density (EM)

image-20250712144939547

image-20250712145414052

Interconnect Resistance Evolution

image-20250703232709089

White Paper: Microelectronics/Semiconductor Research Community Virtual Workshop 2022 [https://nnci.net/sites/default/files/inline-files/Microelectronics%202022%20Workshop%20Report%20with%20Slides.pdf]

Copper Pillar Bump vs Solder bump

Cu-pillar bumping is a next-generation flip chip interconnection between chip & packages, especially for fine pitch applications

img

img

  • On the wafer end, comparing to solder bump, cu-pillar bump provides the advantage of fine pitch; the die size can be reduced about 5~10%.

  • On the package end, the substrate layer can be reduced from 6 layers to 4 layers by fine pitch and bump on trace process and using simplified substrate process.

image-20250613233806417

Why Your Symmetric Layouts Are Showing Mismatches in SPICE Simulations

[https://www.ansys.com/blog/symmetric-layouts-showing-mismatches-spice-simulations]

figure-2

The root cause of the delay mismatch is related to how parasitic extraction tools distribute coupling capacitances over the nodes of the resistive networks

The most likely reason for such asymmetry is the anisotropy of computational geometry algorithms used by extraction tools.

figure-4

STRAP

A "strap" refers to a low-impedance connection

image-20230518001007350

NWDMY = NWDMY1, NWDMY2

STRAP = NWSTRAP or PWSTRAP

NWSTRAP = {NP & OD} & {NW not {NW INTERACT NWDMY}}

PWSTRAP = {PP & OD} not NW

cell  pin PLUS MINUS
N diode PWSTRAP \
P diode \ NWSTRAP

Calibre Rule::NOT

image-20230518005758993

Calibre Rule::INTERACT

image-20230518010124496

image-20230518010758342

Antenna Effect

The antenna effect is a common name for the effects of charge accumulation in isolated nodes of an integrated circuit during its processing

This effect is also sometimes called "Plasma Induced Damage", "Process Induced Damage" (PID) or "charging effect"

This accumulation of charge is usually, and misleadingly, called the antenna effect.

antenna ratio

During manufacture, if part of the metal wiring is connected to the gate, but not a diffusion contact, this "floating" metal collects charge from the plasma.

Manufacturing rules for the antenna effect are usually expressed as the ratio of the area of floating metal (i.e. charge collection area) to the area of the gate.

image-20250714203610809

To prevent the antenna effect from destroying your circuit you need to reduce the floating metal/gate area ratio or give the charge a safe way to dissipate to the ground before it can build up and cause damage

metal jumping (bridging, metal hopping)

Long metal can be taken to higher metal routing layer, which is known as metal jumping.

This metal jumping is usually done near the gate, which will mean that there is a full connection to the diffusion contact before the area of floating metal becomes too large

The jumper is constructed so that the long track is only connected to the gate once it has also been connected to a diffusion contact, which then allows the charge to dissipate through diffusion to the substrate

Diode Insertion

Diode helps dissipate charges accumulated on metal. Diode should be placed as near as possible to the gate of device on low level of metal.

image-20250714204033328

main-qimg-c3fe57dfac5fd5e5b5616ddf4f89f08a-pjlq

In the reverse bias region, the reverse saturation current of Si and Ge diodes doubles for every \(10 ^oC\) rise in temperature

image-20250719083520735


pulsic.com, Analog layout – Stop the antenna effect from destroying your circuit [link]

Prof. Adam Teman, Digital VLSI Design. Lecture-10-The-Manufacturing-Process [pdf]

Zongjian Chen, Processing and Reliability Issues That Impact Design Practice. [https://web.stanford.edu/class/archive/ee/ee371/ee371.1066/lectures/Old/lect_15_2up.pdf]

Shallow Trench Isolation (STI)

image-20241121211242335

image-20241121211348053

drain and source sharing

Planar process vs. FinFet process

local_Interconnect.drawio

Standard Cell Tapcell

tapcell.drawio

Guard Ring in Custom block

Place well tie and substrate tie where they are needed. Redundant guard ring consume area and increase the routing of critical signal net.

guardring_stypes.drawio

Continuous OD

Performance & Matching

image-20220219223723289

current mirror

split diffusion with dummy transistors

mirror_continuous_OD_split_with_dummy.drawio

cascode structure

off transistor split diffusion

cascode_continuous_OD_split_with_dummy.drawio

sharing source & drain

sharing_SD.drawio

Stacked MOSFETs

Matching

  1. Common Centroid

    The common centroid technique describes that if there are n blocks which are to be matched then the blocks are arranged symmetrically around the common centre at equal distances from the centre. This technique offers best matching for devices as it helps in avoiding cross-chip gradients

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  2. Inter-digitation

    Interdigitation reduces the device mismatch as it suffers equally from process variations in X dimension. This technique was used to layout current mirrors and resistors in PTAT and BGR circuits. In the Figure-15 below each brown stick represents a PFET of uniform length. This representation is termed as an inter-digitated layout.

    HTML5 Icon

Design with FinFETs

image-20221210165644336

image-20221210165916985

Mark Williams. Stacked MOSFETs in Analog Layout [https://community.cadence.com/cadence_blogs_8/b/cic/posts/stacked-mosfets-in-analog-layout]

Modeling Consideration

image-20221217152830191

image-20221210170042233

mos_pro \[\begin{align} R_{d1} &\propto \frac{1}{N_{fins}} \\ R_{s1} &\propto \frac{1}{N_{fins}} \\ R_{g1} &\propto N_{fins} \\ C_{gd} &\propto N_{fins} \cdot N_{fingers} \cdot N_{multipler} \\ C_{gs} &= Cgd \\ C_{g1d} &\propto N_{fins} \\ C_{g1s} &= C_{g1d} \\ C_{g1d1} &\propto N_{fins} \\ C_{g1s1} &= C_{g1d1} \\ C_{g1d1} &\simeq 2\times C_{g1d} \end{align}\]

image-20230708221056420

PODE & CPODE

The PODE devices is extracted as parasitic devices in post-layout netlist

image-20220213172653116

DDB is the PODE (Poly on OD/Diffusion Edge) in TSMC 16FFC process.

SDB is the CPODE (Common Poly on Diffusion Edge) in TSMC 16FFC process.

PO on OD edge (PODE) is a must and to define GATE that abuts OD vertical edge

CPODE is used to connect two PODE cells together. It will isolate OD to save 1 poly pitch, via STI; Additional mask (12N) is required for manufacture

PODE CPODE
Pro's simple density
Con's density LDE (LOD/OSE)
edge device 3T PODE(with single side OD): NO ERC
4T M-PODE (with S/D): ERC (gate tied to power/ground)
won't form device;
NO ERC;
OD under CPODE is cut off

image-20221210145232826

image-20221210150847737

image-20240509205506112


Leading Edge Logic Comparison March 9, 2018 [https://semiwiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Leading-Edge-Logic.pdf]

What is CPODE, and why do we use it in VLSI layout? [https://semiconwiki.com/what-is-cpode-and-why-do-we-use-it-in-vlsi-layout/]


3T PODE device

image-20250708001318109

US9053283B2: Methods for layout verification for polysilicon cell edge structures in finFET standard cells using filters [https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/36/2c/ff/ad3d4c232ecc8d/US9053283.pdf]

US8943455B2: Methods for layout verification for polysilicon cell edge structures in FinFET standard cells [https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/19/12/64/f2badfdc09a4a4/US8943455.pdf]

CNOD

continuous oxide diffusion (CNOD) design

img

In CNOD, the diffusion is not broken at all. The fabrication process continues normally, but when standard cells need to be separated, the gate between them is designated as a dummy gate. This dummy gate is then connected to a Gate Tie-Down Via to the power rail

This dummy gate tie-down method of CNOD achieves the same horizontal width savings as SDB, and has the advantage of keeping the transistor diffusion unbroken and thus can achieve more uniform strain and performance characteristics

The TRUTH of TSMC 5nm [https://www.angstronomics.com/p/the-truth-of-tsmc-5nm]

S. Badel et al., "Chip Variability Mitigation through Continuous Diffusion Enabled by EUV and Self-Aligned Gate Contact," 2018 14th IEEE International Conference on Solid-State and Integrated Circuit Technology (ICSICT), Qingdao, China, 2018 [https://sci-hub.st/10.1109/ICSICT.2018.8565694]


image-20250707210444362


4T MPODE (with source/drain) may be formed in CNOD design layout

potential leakage: channel leakage (S to D); junction leakage (S/D to bulk)

image-20250708001207301


CNOD (MPODE) is same with primitive MOS model; PODE is the primitive MOS, just S/D shorted together

image-20250725215821959

Contacted-Poly-Pitch (CPP)

Wider Contacted-Poly-Pitch allows wider MD and VD size, which help reduce MEOL IRdrop

Schematic representation of a logic standard cell layout (CPP = contacted poly pitch, FP = fin pitch, MP = metal pitch; cell height = number of metal lines per cell x MP).

Naoto Horiguchi. Entering the Nanosheet Transistor Era [link]

SAC & SAGC

self-aligned diffusion contacts (SACs)

As shown in Fig. 35 in older planar technology nodes, gate pitch is so relaxed such that S/D contacts and gate contacts can easily be placed next to each other without causing any shorting risk (see Fig. 35(a)).

As the gate pitch scales, there’s no room to put gate contacts next to S/D contacts, and gatecontacts have been pushed away from the active region and are only placed on the STI region.

image-20230708221916716

In addition, at tight gate pitch, even forming S/D contact without shorting to gate metal becomes very challenging.

The idea of self-aligned contacts (SAC) has been introduced to mitigate the issue of S/D contact to gate shorts.

As shown in Fig. 35(b), the gate metal is fully encapsulated by a dielectric spacer and gate cap, which protects the gate from shorting to the S/D contact.

image-20230708230238362

A dielectric cap is added on top of the gate so that if the contact overlaps the gate, no short occurs.

MD layer represent SACs in PDK

image-20230709005334372

self-aligned gate contacts (SAGCs)

Self-aligned gate contacts (SAGCs) have also been implemented and Denser standard cells can be achieved by eliminating the need to land contacts on the gate outside the active area.

SAGCs require the source/drain contacts to be capped with an insulator that is different from both contact and gate cap dielectrics to protect the source/drain contacts against a misaligned gate contact etch.

image-20230708233009568

image-20230708232429240

According to the DRC of T foundary, poly extension > 0 um and space between MP and OD > 0 um., which demonstrate self-aligned gate contact is not introduced.

Gate Resistance

image-20230709000326683

image-20230709004432013

image-20230709000637817

image-20230709003917922

Native NMOS Blocked Implant (NT_N)

Principles of VLSI Design CMOS Processing CMPE 413 [https://redirect.cs.umbc.edu/~cpatel2/links/315/lectures/chap3_lect09_processing2.pdf]

CMOS processing [http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~athomsen/cmos_processing.pdf]

The Fabrication Process of CMOS Transistor [https://www.elprocus.com/the-fabrication-process-of-cmos-transistor/#:~:text=latch%2Dup%20susceptibility.-,N%2D%20well%2F%20P%2D%20well%20Technology,well%20it%20is%20vice%2D%20verse.]

CMOS Processing Technology [link1, link2]

A native layer (NT_N) is usually added under inductors or transformers in the nanoscale CMOS to define the non-doped high-resistance region of substrate, which decreases eddy currents in the substrate thus maintaining high Q of the coils.

For T* PDK offered inductor, a native substrate region is created under the inductor coil to minimize eddy currents

image-20230810000702597

OD inside NT_N only can be used for NT_N potential pickup purpose, such as the guarding-ring of MOM and inductor

Derived Geometries

Term Definition
PW {NOT NW}
N+OD {NP AND OD}
P+OD {PP AND OD}
GATE {PO AND OD}
TrGATE {GATE NOT PODE_GATE}

NP: N+ Source/Drain Ion Implantation

PP: P+ Source/Drain Ion Implantation

OD: Gate Oxide and Diffustion

NW: N-WELL

PW: P-WELL

CMOS Processing Technology

Four main CMOS technologies:

  • n-well process
  • p-well process
  • twin-tub process
  • silicon on insulator

Triple well, Deep N-Well (optional):

  • NWell: NMOS svt, lvt, ulvt ...
  • PWell: PMOS svt, lvt, ulvt ...
  • DNW: For isolating P-Well from the substrate

The NT_N drawn layer adds no process cost and no extra mask

The N-well / P-well technology, where n-type diffusion is done over a p-type substrate or p-type diffusion is done over n-type substrate respectively.

The Twin well technology, where NMOS and PMOS transistor are developed over the wafer by simultaneous diffusion over an epitaxial growth base, rather than a substrate.

Deep N-well

Chew, K.W., Zhang, J., Shao, K., Loh, W., & Chu, S.F. (2002). Impact of Deep N-well Implantation on Substrate Noise Coupling and RF Transistor Performance for Systems-on-a-Chip Integration. 32nd European Solid-State Device Research Conference, 251-254. URL:[slides, paper]

Mark Waller, Analog layout: Why wells, taps, and guard rings are crucial

KEITH SABINE Using Deep N Wells in Analog Design

Faricelli, J. (2010). Layout-dependent proximity effects in deep nanoscale CMOS. IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference 2010, 1-8.

cmos_processing, URL:http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~athomsen/cmos_processing.pdf

Kuo-Tsai LiPaul ChangAndy Chang, TSMC, US20120053923A1, "Methods of designing integrated circuits and systems thereof"

Substrate noise

A variety of techniques can be used to minimize this noise, for example by keeping analog devices surrounded by guard rings, or using a separate supply for the substrate/well taps.

However guard rings alone cannot prevent noise coupling deep in the substrate, only surface currents.

PMOS are less noisy than NMOS since PMOS has its nwell which isolates the substrate noise, but such is not valid for NMOS .

DNW

The N-channel devices built directly into the P-type substrate are not as effectively isolated as P-channel devices in their N-wells. This is because despite creating a P+ guard ring around the devices, there remains an electrical path below the guard ring for charge to flow.

To overcome this issue, a deep N-well can be used to more effectively isolate these N-channel devices.

image-20230529001556060

image-20230529010836003

BM_SS_Together at Last_Fig1

pwdnw: PW/DNW diode

dnwpsub: DNW/PSUB diode

Together At Last – Combining Netlist and Layout Data for Power-Aware Verification

image-20240708221831791

image-20240708222327376

image-20230529002733114

  • the P-well is separated, allowing the voltage to be controlled
  • because the circuit within the deep N-well is separated from the p-substrate in this structure, there is the benefit that this circuitry is less susceptible to noise that propagates through the p-substrate.

Decap

img


img

Kevin Zheng. The Unsung Heroes – Dummies, Decaps, and More [https://circuit-artists.com/the-unsung-heroes-dummies-decaps-and-more/]

The Difference Between MOM, MIM, and MOS Capacitors [https://www.ansys.com/blog/difference-between-mom-mim-mos-capacitor]

MIM/MOM capacitor extraction boosts analog and RF designs [https://www.eeworldonline.com/mim-mom-capacitor-extraction-boosts-analog-and-rf-designs/]

Metal Resistors In Wire Management

img

img

Kevin Zheng. Metal Resistors – Your Unexpected Friend In Wire Management [https://circuit-artists.com/metal-resistors-your-unexpected-friend-in-wire-management/]

reference

Mikael Sahrling, Layout Techniques for Integrated Circuit Designers 1st Edition , Artech House 2022

LAYOUT, EE6350 VLSI Design Lab SMART TEMPERATURE SENSOR URL: https://www.ee.columbia.edu/~kinget/EE6350_S16/06_TEMPSENS_Sukanya_Vani/layout.html

Stacked MOSFETs in analog layout https://pulsic.com/stacked-mosfets-in-analog-layout/

JED Hurwitz, ISSCC2011 "T4: Layout: The other half of Nanometer CMOS Analog Design" [slides, transcript]

Tom Quan, TSMC, Bob Lefferts, Fred Sendig, Synopsys, Custom Design with FinFETs - Best practices designing mixed-signal IP

Jacob, Ajey & Xie, Ruilong & Sung, Min & Liebmann, Lars & Lee, Rinus & Taylor, Bill. (2017). Scaling Challenges for Advanced CMOS Devices. International Journal of High Speed Electronics and Systems. 26. 1740001. 10.1142/S0129156417400018.

Joddy Wang, Synopsys "FinFET SPICE Modeling" Modeling of Systems and Parameter Extraction Working Group 8th International MOS-AK Workshop (co-located with the IEDM Conference and CMC Meeting) Washington DC, December 9 2015

A. L. S. Loke et al., "Analog/mixed-signal design challenges in 7-nm CMOS and beyond," 2018 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC), San Diego, CA, USA, 2018, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1109/CICC.2018.8357060.[slides]

Prof. Adam Teman, Advanced Process Technologies, [pdf]

Luke Collins. FinFET variability issues challenge advantages of new process [link]

Loke, Alvin. (2020). FinFET technology considerations for circuit design (invited short course). BCICTS 2020 Monterey, CA

Alvin Leng Sun Loke, TSMC. Device and Physical Design Considerations for Circuits in FinFET Technology", ISSCC 2020

A. L. S. Loke, C. K. Lee and B. M. Leary, "Nanoscale CMOS Implications on Analog/Mixed-Signal Design," 2019 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC), Austin, TX, USA, 2019, pp. 1-57, doi: 10.1109/CICC.2019.8780267.

A. L. S. Loke, Migrating Analog/Mixed-Signal Designs to FinFET Alvin Loke / Qualcomm. 2016 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits

Lattice Semiconductor, 16FFC Process Technology Introduction December 9th, 2021[pdf]

image-20250729004456566


Subthreshold Conduction

By square-law, the Eq \(g_m = \sqrt{2\mu C_{ox}\frac{W}{L}I_D}\), it is possible to obtain a higer transconductance by increasing \(W\) while maintaining \(I_D\) constant. However, if \(W\) increases while \(I_D\) remains constant, then \(V_{GS} \to V_{TH}\) and device enters the subthreshold region. \[ I_D = I_0\exp \frac{V_{GS}}{\xi V_T} \]

where \(I_0\) is proportional to \(W/L\), \(\xi \gt 1\) is a nonideality factor, and \(V_T = kT/q\)

As a result, the transconductance in subthreshold region is \[ g_m = \frac{I_D}{\xi V_T} \]

which is \(g_m \propto I_D\)

image-20240627230726326

image-20240627230744044

PTAT with subthreshold MOS

MOS working in the weak inversion region ("subthreshold conduction") have the similar characteristics to BJTs and diodes, since the effect of diffusion current becomes more significant than that of drift current

image-20240803193343915

image-20240803195500321

image-20240803200129592

Hongprasit, Saweth, Worawat Sa-ngiamvibool and Apinan Aurasopon. "Design of Bandgap Core and Startup Circuits for All CMOS Bandgap Voltage Reference." Przegląd Elektrotechniczny (2012): 277-280.

Curvature Compensation

VBE

image-20250728233542026

In advanced node, N4P, \(V_{BE}\) is about -1.45mV/K

Assuming \(I_C\) is constant

image-20250728233112550

image-20250728233350355

image-20250728233839563

Assuming \(I_C\) is PTAT, \(I_C = (V_T \ln n) / R_3\)

image-20250728233317599

image-20250729002704253

The first-order linear temperature dependence term of \(V_{BE}\) can be eliminated with IPTAT. \(V_T(\eta - \theta)\ln)T/T_r\) is the high-order nonlinear temperature-dependent term of \(V_{BE}\), which requires high-order curvature compensation

G. Zhu, Y. Yang and Q. Zhang, "A 4.6-ppm/°C High-Order Curvature Compensated Bandgap Reference for BMIC," in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs, vol. 66, no. 9, pp. 1492-1496, Sept. 2019 [https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/TCSII.2018.2889808]

X. Fu, D. M. Colombo, Y. Yin and K. El-Sankary, "Low Noise, High PSRR, High-Order Piecewise Curvature Compensated CMOS Bandgap Reference," in IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 110970-110982, 2022 [https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9923910]


image-20240903234720200


image-20250728225624247

Tutorials | 08012023 | 1.2.1 Bandgap Voltage Regular [https://youtu.be/dz067SOX0XQ&t=6362]

temperature coefficient

The parameter that shows the dependence of the reference voltage on temperature variation is called the temperature coefficient and is defined as: \[ TC_F=\frac{1}{V_{\text{REF}}}\left[ \frac{V_{\text{max}}-V_{\text{min}}}{T_{\text{max}}-T_{\text{min}}} \right]\times10^6\;ppm/^oC \]

Choice of n

image-20221117002714125

classic bandgap reference

bg.drawio

\[ V_{bg} = \frac{\Delta V_{be}}{R_1} (R_1+R_2) + V_{be2} = \frac{\Delta V_{be}}{R_1} R_2 + V_{be1} \]

\[ V_{bg} = \left(\frac{\Delta V_{be}}{R_1} + \frac{V_{be1}}{R_2}\right)R_3 = \left(\frac{\Delta V_{be}}{R_1} R_2 + V_{be1}\right)\frac{R_3}{R_2} \]

OTA offset effect

bg_ota_vos.drawio

\[\begin{align} V_{be1} &= \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{ss}}) \\ V_{be2} &= \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e2}}{nI_{ss}}) \end{align}\]

Here, we assume \(I_e = I_c\)

Hence,

\[\begin{align} \Delta V_{be} &= \frac{kT}{q}\ln(n\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}}) \\ &= \frac{kT}{q}\ln(n) + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}}) \\ &= \Delta V_{be,0} + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}}) \end{align}\]

Therefore,

\[\begin{align} V_{bg} &= \frac{\Delta V_{be}+V_{os}}{R_2}(R_1+R_2) + V_{be2} \\ &= \alpha \Delta V_{be,0} + \alpha \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}}) + \alpha V_{os} + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e2}}{nI_{ss}}) \\ &= \alpha \Delta V_{be,0} + \alpha \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}}) + \alpha V_{os} + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e2,0}}{nI_{ss}})+\frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e2}}{I_{e2,0}}) \end{align}\]

We omit the last part \[\begin{align} V_{bg} &\approx \alpha \Delta V_{be,0} + \alpha \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}}) + \alpha V_{os} + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e2,0}}{nI_{ss}}) \\ &= \alpha \Delta V_{be,0} + V_{be2,0} + \alpha \left(V_{os} + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}})\right) \\ &= V_{bg,0} + \alpha \left(V_{os} + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}})\right) \end{align}\]

i.e. the bg variation due to OTA offset \[ \Delta V_{bg} \approx \alpha \left(V_{os} + \frac{kT}{q}\ln(\frac{I_{e1}}{I_{e2}})\right) \]

  • \(V_{os} \gt 0\)

    \(I_{e1} \gt I_{e2}\): \(\Delta V_{bg} \gt \alpha V_{os}\)

  • \(V_{os} \lt 0\)

    \(I_{e1} \lt I_{e2}\): \(\Delta V_{bg} \lt \alpha V_{os}\)

OTA with chopper

bg_chop.drawio

bg_chop_shift.drawio

\(I_{e1}\), \(I_{e2}\)

\[\begin{align} V_{ip} &= V_{im} + V_{os} \\ \frac{V_{bg}-V_{ip}}{R_2} &= I_{e2} \\ \frac{V_{bg}-V_{im}}{R_2} &= I_{e1} \\ V_{ip} &= I_{e2}R_1 + V_T\frac{I_{e2}}{nI_S} \\ V_{im} &= V_T\frac{I_{e1}}{I_S} \end{align}\] where \(V_T = \frac{kT}{q}\)

we obtain \[ I_{e1} = \frac{V_T\ln n}{R_1} + V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right) - \frac{1}{R_1}\cdot V_T\ln\left(1- \frac{V_{os}}{R_2I_{e1}} \right) \]

we omit the last part \[\begin{align} I_{e1} &= I_{e0} + V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right) \\ I_{e2} &= I_{e1} - \frac{V_{os}}{R_2} = I_{e0} + \frac{V_{os}}{R_1} \end{align}\] where \(I_{e0} = \frac{\Delta V_{be}}{R_1}\), \(\Delta V_{be}=V_T\ln n\)

That is, both \(I_{e1}\) and \(I_{e2}\) are proportional to \(V_{os}\)

\(I_{e1}\) and \(I_{e2}\) can be expressed as \[\begin{align} I_{e1} &= I_{e0} + V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{2R_2} \right) + \frac{V_{os}}{2R_2} \\ I_{e2} &= I_{e0} + V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{2R_2} \right) - \frac{V_{os}}{2R_2} \end{align}\] i.e., \(\Delta I_{e,cm} = V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{2R_2} \right)\) and \(\Delta I_{e,dif} =\frac{V_{os}}{2R_2}\)

bandgap output voltage is

\[\begin{align} V_{bg} &= V_T \ln \frac{I_{e1}}{I_s} + I_{e1}R_2 \\ &= V_T \ln \frac{I_{e0} + V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right)}{I_s} + I_{e1}R_2 \\ &= V_T \ln \frac{I_{e0} + V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right)}{I_s} + I_{e0}R_2 + V_{os}\frac{R_1+R_2}{R_1} \\ &= I_{e0}R_2 + V_T \ln \frac{I_{e0}}{I_s} + V_T\ln\left(1+\frac{V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right)}{I_{e0}} \right) + V_{os}\frac{R_1+R_2}{R_1} \\ &= V_{bg0} + V_T\ln\left(1+\frac{V_{os}\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right)}{I_{e0}} \right) + V_{os}\frac{R_1+R_2}{R_1} \end{align}\]

Therefore, the averaged output of bandgap

\[ V_{bg,avg} = V_{bg0} +\frac{1}{2}V_T\ln\left(1-\frac{V_{os}^2\left(\frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right)^2}{I_{e0}^2} \right) \lt V_{bg0} \]

\(V_{bg,avg} \lt V_{bg0}\) due to nonlinearity of BJT

reference

ECEN 607 (ESS) Bandgap Reference: Basics URL:https://people.engr.tamu.edu/s-sanchez/607%20Lect%204%20Bandgap-2009.pdf

CICC 2023 Session 12: Forum: Recent Progress in LDOs and Voltage, Current, and Timing References

  • Jae-Yoon Sim, POSTECH. 12-2: Design of Ultra-low-power Bandgap Reference Circuits
  • Inhee Lee, University of Pittsburgh. 12-3: Sub-μW Non-Bandgap Voltage References

image-20241120201536599


MOS capacitances

  • oxide capacitance (aka gate-channel capacitance) between the gate and the channel \(C_1=WLC_{ox}\)
    • divided between \(C_{GS}\) and \(C_{GD}\)
  • depletion capacitance between the channel and the substrate \(C_2\)
  • overlap capacitance: direct overlap and fringing field
  • junction capacitance between the source/drain areas and the substrate
    • The value of \(C_{SB}\) and \(C_{DB}\) is a function of the source and drain voltages with respect to the substrate

image-20240727134110758

image-20240727134150216

The gate-bulk capacitance is usually neglected in the triode and saturation regions because the inversion layer acts as a "shield" between the gate and the bulk.


classification with Intrinsic and Extrinsic MOS capacitor

[Circuit Insights - 11-CI: Fundamentals 4 Tsinghua Nan Sun]

image-20241120201251573

image-20241120201118276

image-20241120201127218

image-20241120201309635

image-20250621113254648

image-20250621122921814

image-20241120201603222

FinFET Parasitic Fringing Capacitance

image-20241120201725441

image-20241120201739690

Temperature Dependence of Junction Diode CV

image-20240901234200243

where TCJ and TCJSW are positive

https://cmosedu.com/cmos1/BSIM4_manual.pdf

image-20240901235359149

image-20240901235425992

image-20240901235543033

varactor

D=S=B varactor

image-20220924003223575

image-20250622205317309

Inversion-mode (I-MOS)

image-20220924003314979


image-20250622211213169

Accumulation-mode (A-MOS)

image-20250622211513994

image-20250622212138953

NMOS in NWELL, aka NMOS in N-Well varactor

Notice: S/D and NWELL are connected togethor in layout

image-20230504221234639

image-20230504221313785

image-20220924004206116

PDK varactor

nmoscap: NMOS in N-Well varactor

image-20240703224101060

  • Base Band MOSCAP model (nmoscap) is built without effective series resistance (ESR) and effective series inductance (ESL) calibrations, which is for capacitance simulation only
  • LC-Tank MOSCAP model (moscap_rf) is for frequency-dependent Q factor and capacitance simulations

MOS Device as Capacitor

image-20240115225644183

image-20240115225928617

image-20240115225853721


Voltage dependence

image-20240115230113523

image-20231103213004806

  • capacitance of MOS gate varies nonmonotonically with \(V_{GS}\)

  • "accumulation-mode" varactor varies monotonically with \(V_{GS}\)

reference

Aditya Varma Muppala. MOS Varactors | Oscillators 15 | MMIC 27 [https://youtu.be/LYCLZPQvIz0?si=yoSBZSD2j_wEx0zZ]

R. L. Bunch and S. Raman, "Large-signal analysis of MOS varactors in CMOS -G/sub m/ LC VCOs," in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 1325-1332, Aug. 2003, doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2003.814416.

T. Soorapanth, C. P. Yue, D. K. Shaeffer, T. I. Lee and S. S. Wong, "Analysis and optimization of accumulation-mode varactor for RF ICs," 1998 Symposium on VLSI Circuits. Digest of Technical Papers (Cat. No.98CH36215), 1998, pp. 32-33, doi: 10.1109/VLSIC.1998.687993. URL: http://www-smirc.stanford.edu/papers/VLSI98s-chet.pdf

R. Jacob Baker, 6.1 MOSFET Capacitance Overview/Review, CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation, Fourth Edition

B. Razavi, Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits 2nd

Bing Sheu, TSMC. "Circuit Design using FinFETs" [https://www.nishanchettri.com/isscc-slides/2013%20ISSCC/TUTORIALS/ISSCC2013Visuals-T4.pdf]

Due to the fact that long-term drift of temperature sensors and bandgap references caused by package-induced stress is lower with PNP BJTs than with NPN BJTs, PNP BJTs have been used traditionally for temperature sensor design in CMOS

Calibration

TODO 📅

[https://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/Appnotes/Atmel-8108-Calibration-of-the-AVRs-Internal-Temperature-Reference_ApplicationNote_AVR122.pdf]

\(V_{BE}\) curvature

curvature results in results in non-linearity

Though it is assumed that \(V_{BE}\) is a linear function of temperature for first oder analysis.

In practice, \(V_{BE}\) is slightly nonlinear, the magnitude of this nonlinearity is referred to as curvature.

curvature depends on the temperature dependency of the saturation current (\(I_s\)), and on that of the collector current (\(I_c\)), it can be written as \[ V_{curv}(T)=\frac{k}{q}(\eta-\delta)(T-T_r-T\cdot \ln(\frac{T}{T_r})) \] where \(\eta\) = a constant depending on the doping level, CMOS substrate pnp transistors have a typically value of \(\eta \cong 4\)

\(\delta\) = order of the temperature dependence of collector current (\(I_c\))

PTAT \(I_c\) help reduce \(V_{curv}(T)\), \(\delta=1\)

Although the temperature dependence of the bias current \(I_b\) doesn’t impact the accuracy of \(V_{BE}\), it does impact the systematic nonlinearity or curvature of \(V_{BE}\), and hence the sensor's systematic error. The curvature in \(V_{BE}\) can be reduced by using a PTAT bias current.

image-20221106010909644

PTAT bias current

image-20221023150817411 \[ I_{bias} = \frac{0.7}{\beta \cdot R^2} \] in which \(\beta=\frac{\mu_{n}\cdot C_{ox}\cdot W}{L}\), where:

\(\mu_n\)=mobility,

\(C_{ox}\) = oxide capacitance density,

\(\frac{W}{L}\) = dimension ratio of unit NMOS used for \(M_1\) and \(M_2\)

\(\mu_n\) is complementary to the absolute temperature and resitor R is implemented using high-R flow in FinFET which has a low temperature dependency, the net temperature dependency of \(I_{bias}\) is proportional to the absolute temperature \[ I_{bias}\propto T \]

Kamath, Umanath Ramachandra. "BJT Based Precision Voltage Reference in FinFET Technology." (2021).

Errors due to V-I Finite Gain

Finite gain introduces errors both in the V-I converters, finite loop gain results in errors in the closed-loop transconductances.

image-20221106153613505 \[\begin{align} (V_{i1} - V_{o1})\cdot A_{OL1} &= V_{o1} \\ V_{o1} &= \frac{A_{OL1}}{1+A_{OL1}}V_{i1} \\ I_{o1} &= \frac{A_{OL1}}{1+A_{OL1}}\frac{1}{R_1}V_{i1} \end{align}\] similarly, \[ I_{o2} = \frac{A_{OL2}}{1+A_{OL2}}\frac{1}{R_2}V_{i2} \]

Then, \(\alpha\) is obtained \[ \alpha = \frac{(1+A_{OL2})A_{OL1}}{A_{OL2}(1+A_{OL1})}\cdot\frac{R_2}{R_1} \] Since the loop gains in the two V-I converters cannot be expected to match, the resulting errors in both converters should be reduced to negligible levels.

First, assume \(A_{OL2}=\infty\) \[\begin{align} \Delta \alpha &= (1-\frac{A_{OL1}}{1+A_{OL1}})\cdot\frac{R_2}{R_1}\\ &=\frac{1}{1+A_{OL1}}\cdot\frac{R_2}{R_1}\\ &\cong \frac{1}{A_{OL1}}\cdot\frac{R_2}{R_1} \end{align}\]

We get \[ \frac{\Delta \alpha}{\alpha}=\frac{1}{A_{OL1}} \] Follow the same procedure, assume \(A_{OL1}=\infty\) \[ \frac{\Delta \alpha}{\alpha}=\frac{1}{A_{OL2}} \] The finite gain introduces an error inversely proportional to the loop gain \(A_{OL1}\),\(A_{OL2}\), the resulting errors in both converters should be reduced to negligible levels

Why is it named as "bandgap reference"

Let us write the output voltage as \[ V_{REF} = V_{BE} + V_T\cdot \ln n \] and hence \[ \frac{\partial V_{REF}}{\partial T} = \frac{\partial V_{BE}}{\partial T} + \frac{V_T}{T}\ln n \] Setting this to zero and substituting for \(\frac{\partial V_{BE}}{\partial T}\), we have \[ \frac{V_{BE}-(4+m)V_T-E_g/q}{T}=-\frac{V_T}{T}\ln n \] If \(V_T\ln n\) is found from this equation and inserted in \(V_{REF}\), we obtain \[ V_{REF}=\frac{E_g}{q} + (4+m)V_T \]

The term bandgap is used here because as \(T\to 0\), \(V_{REF} \to E_g/q\)

sinking PTAT-current generator without current mirrors

image-20240824110909314

why without current mirror?

image-20240824110641427

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Bakker, Anton. (2000). High-Accuracy CMOS Smart Temperature Sensors. 10.1007/978-1-4757-3190-3. [https://repository.tudelft.nl/record/uuid:fd398056-48dd-4d84-8ae8-27a1b011d2c3]

Readout Circuit

ADC dynamic range

Take \(V_{PTAT}=\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}\) as input and \(V_{REF}\) as reference. The output \(\mu\) of the ADC will then be \[ \mu =\frac{V_{PTAT}}{V_{VREF}}=\frac{\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}}{V_{BE}+\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}} \] A final digital output \(D_{out}\) in degrees Celsius can be obtained by linear scaling: \[ D_{out}=A\cdot \mu + B \] where \(A\simeq 600K\) and \(B\simeq -273K\)

While the transfer is simple, it only uses about 30% of the of the ADC (the extremes of the operating range correspond to \(\mu \simeq 1/3\) and \(\mu \simeq 2/3\)). The ratio results in a rather inefficient use of the modulator's dynamic range.

For a first-order \(\Sigma\Delta\) modulator, this means that about 1.5 bits of resolution are lost

A more efficient transfer is \[ \mu '=\frac{2\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}-V_{BE}}{V_{BE}+\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}} \] With this more efficient combination, 90% of the dynamic range is used rather than 30%. Thus, the required resolution of the ADC is reduced by a factor of three.

image-20230204220522392

Integrator Output Swing

\[ \mu =\frac{\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}}{V_{BE}+\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}} \]

image-20230207002324363

\[ \mu '=\frac{2\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}-V_{BE}}{V_{BE}+\alpha \cdot \Delta V_{BE}} \]

image-20230206230202755

In advanced process, like Finfet 16nm, 7nm, high resistance resistor has +/-15% variation and MOM capacitor has +/-30% variation.

Then, \(R_1\) and \(R_2\) not only determine the \(\alpha\) but also the integrator's output swing, so do \(V_{BE}\) and \(\Delta V_{BE}\), \(C_{int}\).

The integrator's output change per period

image-20230206231010121

example

image-20230430112230224

integrator, comparator offset

integrator offset

image-20230430114429118

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comparator offset

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integrator design

application in sensor

image-20221106142157115

Offset Errors

The offset of opamp \(A_3\) is much less critical:

  1. It affects the integrated currents via the finite output impedances \(R_{out1,2}\) of the V-I converters, and is therefore attenuated by a factor \(R_{out1}/R_1\) when referred back to the input of the sinking V-I converter,

  2. or by a factor \(R_{out2}/R_2\) when referred back to the input of the sourcing V-I converter.

Therefore, no special offset cancellation is needed for opamp \(A_3\).

The current change due to offset of \(A_3\): \[\begin{align} \frac{V_{BE,os}}{R_1} &= \frac{V_{ota,os}}{R_{out1}} \\ \frac{\Delta V_{BE,os}}{R_2} &= \frac{V_{ota,os}}{R_{out2}} \end{align}\] Then, the input referenced offset is: \[\begin{align} V_{BE,os} &=\frac{ V_{ota,os}}{R_{out1}/R_1} \\ \Delta V_{BE,os} &= \frac{ V_{ota,os}}{R_{out2}/R_2} \end{align}\]

Errors due to Finite Gain

Finite gain of opamp \(A_3\) results in a non-zero overdrive voltage at its input, which modulates the current Iint due to the finite output impedances of the V-I converters.

Assuming the opamp is implemented as a transconductance amplifier, there are two main causes of this non-zero overdrive voltage

  1. The finite transconductance \(g_{m3}\) of the opamp, , which implies that an overdrive voltage is required to provide the feedback current

​ The change in the integrated current

\[\begin{align} ​ \Delta I_{int} &= \frac{V_{i,ota}}{R_{out}}\\ ​ &= \frac{I_{int}}{g_{m3}}\cdot \frac{1}{R_{out}} ​ \end{align}\]

  1. The finite DC gain \(A_{0,3}\), which implies that an overdrive voltage is required to produce the output voltage \(V_{int}\)

reference

Micheal, A., P., Pertijs., Johan, H., Huijsing., Pertijs., Johan, H., Huijsing. (2006). Precision Temperature Sensors in CMOS Technology.

C. -H. Chang, J. -J. Horng, A. Kundu, C. -C. Chang and Y. -C. Peng, "An ultra-compact, untrimmed CMOS bandgap reference with 3σ inaccuracy of +0.64% in 16nm FinFET," 2014 IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference (A-SSCC), 2014, pp. 165-168, doi: 10.1109/ASSCC.2014.7008886.

EE247 - Analog Digital Interface Integrated Circuits - Fall 2009 Lecture 24- Oversampled ADCs

Hecht, Bruce. (2010). SSCS DL Kofi Makinwa Talks About Smart Sensor Design at SSCS-Boston [People]. Solid-State Circuits Magazine, IEEE. 2. 54 - 56. 10.1109/MSSC.2009.935278.

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@(posedge clk iff(vld));
do_something;

is equivalent to

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forever begin
@(posedge clk);
if(vld) break;
end
do_something;

iff is more efficient than if because the expression is recalculated when vld transition rather than clk.

One example, detecting the negative edge of rtr_io.cb.frameo_n[da]

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wait(rtr_io.cb.frameo_n[da] !== 0);
@(rtr_io.cb iff(rtr_io.cb.frameo_n[da] === 0 ));
$display("[DEBUG HGUO] %0t, rtr_io.cb.frameo_n[da] negedge", $realtime);

image-20220621182019927

[DEBUG HGUO] 6887250.0ns, rtr_io.cb.frameo_n[da] negedge

reference

system verilog中的iff, URL: https://www.francisz.cn/2019/07/18/sv-iff/

image-20241109171759694

Linear Time-varying System Theory

We define the ISF of the sampler as the sensitivity of its final output voltage to the impulse arriving at its input at different times, the ISF essentially describes the aperture of the sampler.

An ideal sampler would have the perfect aperture, i.e. sampling the input voltage at exactly one point in time; thus, its ISF would be a Dirac delta function, \(\delta(t-t_s)\) where \(t_s\) is when sampling occurs.

A realistic sampler would rather capture a weighted-average of the input voltage over a certain time window. This weighting function is called the sampling aperture and is equivalent to the ISF

image-20220610235211500

A time-varying impulse response \(h(t, \tau)\) is defined as the circuit response at time \(t\) responding to an impulse arriving at time \(\tau\).

In general, the ISF can be regarded as the time-varying impulse response evaluated at one particular observation time \(t=t_0\).

The system output \(y(t)\) is related to the input \(x(t)\) as: \[ y(t) = \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t, \tau)\cdot x(\tau)d\tau \] Note that in a linear time-invariant (LTI) system, \(h(t,\tau)=h(t-\tau)\) and the above equation reduces to a convolution.

If \(X(j\omega)\) is the Fourier transform of the input signal \(x(t)\), i.e. \[ x(t) = \frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}X(j\omega)\cdot e^{j\omega t}d\omega \] Then \[\begin{align} y(t) &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)\left[\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}X(j\omega)\cdot e^{j\omega\tau }d\omega \right]\cdot d\tau \\ &=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}X(j\omega)\left[\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)\cdot e^{j\omega\tau}d\tau\right]\cdot d\omega \\ &=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}X(j\omega)\left[\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t-\tau)}d\tau\right]\cdot e^{j\omega t}\cdot d\omega \\ &=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}X(j\omega)\cdot H(j\omega;t)\cdot e^{j\omega t}\cdot d\omega \end{align}\]

where \(H(j\omega;t)\) is time-varying transfer function, defined as the Fourier transform of the time-varying impulse response. \[ H(j\omega;t)=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t-\tau)}d\tau \] And it follows that: \[ Y(j\omega)=H(j\omega;t)\cdot X(j\omega) \] And

\[\begin{align} x(\tau) & \overset{FT}{\longrightarrow} X(j\omega) \\ h(t,\tau) & \overset{FT}{\longrightarrow} H(j\omega;t) \end{align}\]

For linear, periodically time-varying (LPTV) systems, \(h(t, \tau) = h(t+T, \tau+T)\) and \(H(j\omega; t) = H(j\omega; t+T)\) where \(T\) is the period of the time-varying dynamics of the system.

We prove \(H(j\omega; t) = H(j\omega; t+T)\):

\[\begin{align} \because H(j\omega;t)&=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t-\tau)}d\tau \\ \therefore H(j\omega;t+T) &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t+T,\tau)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t+T-\tau)}d\tau \\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t+T,\tau+T)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t+T-(\tau+T))}d(\tau+T) \\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t+T,\tau+T)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t-\tau)}d\tau \\ &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t-\tau)}d\tau \\ &= H(j\omega;t) \end{align}\]

PSS + PAC Method

Since \(H(j\omega;t)\) is periodic in \(T\), The time-varying transfer function \(H(j\omega;t)\) can be expressed in a Fourier series: \[ H(j\omega;t)=\sum_{m=-\infty}^{\infty}H_m(j\omega) \cdot e^{jm\omega_c t} \] where \(\omega_c\) is the fundamental frequency of the periodic system. \(H_m(j\omega)\) represent the frequency response of the system at the (m-th) harmonic output sideband to a unit \(j\omega\) sinusoid.

The above equation link time-varying transfer function \(H(j\omega;t)\) with PAC simulation output

The response to a periodic impulse train, that is: \[ x(t)=\sum_{m=-\infty}^{\infty}\delta(t-\tau-nkT) \] The idea is that if the impulse response of the system settles to zero long before the next impulse arrives, then the system response to this impulse train would be approximately equal to the periodic repetition of the true impulse response, i.e.: \[ y(t) \cong \sum_{m=-\infty}^{\infty}h(t;\tau+nkT) \] and \(y(t)\) would be approximately equal to \(h(t;\tau)\) for \(\tau \leq t \le t+kT\)

yt.drawio

Without loss of generality and for computation convenience, we set \(k=1\) thereafter.

The Fourier transform \(X(j\omega)\) of the T-periodic impulse train is: \[ X(j\omega)=\omega_c\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}\delta(\omega-n\omega_c)\cdot e^{-j\omega\tau} \] Then the response \(y(t)\) is: \[ y(t)=\frac{1}{T}\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}H(jn\omega_c;t)\cdot e^{jn\omega_c\cdot(t-\tau)} \] The expression for the approximate time-varying impulse response: \[ h(t,\tau) = \left\{ \begin{array}{cl} \frac{1}{T}\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}\sum_{m=-\infty}^{\infty}H_m(jn\omega_c)\cdot e^{jm\omega_ct+jn\omega_c\cdot (t-\tau)} & : \ \tau \leq t \lt \tau+T \\ 0 & : \ \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \] Finally, the ISF \(\Gamma(\tau)\) is equal to \(h(t,\tau)\) when \(t=t_0\) and \(t_0 \gt \tau\) \[ \Gamma(\tau)\cong \frac{1}{T}\sum_{n=-\infty}^{\infty}\sum_{m=-\infty}^{\infty}H_m(jn\omega_c)\cdot e^{jm\omega_ct_0+jn\omega_c\cdot (t_0-\tau)} \] In practice, the summations are carried out over finite ranges of n and m, for example, -50~50.

For each combination of n and m, the PAC analysis needs to be performed to compute \(H_m(jn\omega_c)\), the m-th harmonic response to the excitation at \(n\omega_c\)

The detailed procedure for characterizing the ISF of this sampler is outlined as follows:

  • First, apply the proper input voltages that place the sampler in a metastable state and perform the periodic steady-state (PSS) analysis.

  • Second, perform the PAC analysis.

  • Third, based on the simulated PAC response, pick a time point \(t_0\) at which the ISF is to be computed and derive the ISF

One possible candidate for the ISF measurement point \(t_0\) is the time at which the output voltage is amplified to the largest value. PAC response of the sampler to a small signal DC input, that is, the time-varying transfer function evaluated at \(\omega=0\) \[ H(0;t)=\sum_{m=-\infty}^{\infty}H_m(0) \cdot e^{jm\omega_c t} \] image-20220614214446328


The total area under the ISF is the sampling gain, which is equal to the time-varying gain measured at \(t_0\) to a small signal DC input (\(\omega=0\))

Because we have \(H(j\omega;t)=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)\cdot e^{-j\omega(t-\tau)}d\tau\), i.e. Fourier transform \[ H(0;t)=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}h(t,\tau)d\tau = \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\Gamma(\tau)d\tau \]

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time-varying gain at t0 H(0;t0): 19.486305
The total area under the ISF: 19.990230

Align pss_td.pss with ISF

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****************************************************
Periodic Steady-State Analysis `pss': fund = 500 MHz
****************************************************
Trying `homotopy = gmin' for initial conditions.
DC simulation time: CPU = 4.237 ms, elapsed = 4.27389 ms.

===============================
`pss': time = (0 s -> 102.6 ns)
===============================

Opening the PSF file ../psf/pss.tran.pss ...
...
Important parameter values in tstab integration:
start = 0 s
outputstart = 0 s
stop = 102.6 ns
period = 2 ns
maxperiods = 20
step = 102.6 ps
...

tstab = 102.6 ns can be observed in pss simulation log

image-20220614214537033

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tstab = 102.6e-9;
tshift = mod(tstab, Tc);
tt_shift = tt - tshift;
tt_shift_start_indx = find(tt_shift>=0, 1);
isf_shift = circshift(isf_re, -tt_shift_start_indx);

Align pss_fd.pss with ISF

Since both are frequency originated, time-shift is NOT needed

image-20220614214613574

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function wv = wv_fd(fname,tt)
fd = csvread(fname, 1, 0);
DC = fd(1, 2);
w = 2*pi*fd(2:end, 1);
coef = fd(2:end, 2) + 1i*fd(2:end, 3);
exp_sup = 1i*w.*tt;
wv = sum(real(coef .* exp(exp_sup)), 1) + DC;
end

PSS + PAC Setup

  • clock frequency should be low enough to assure system response settle to zero.
  • Beat Frequency os PSS should be clock frequency
  • For PAC setup,
    • the Sweeptype is absolute
    • Input Frequency Sweep Range(Hz) should be large enough.
    • Sweep Type should be Linear and Step Size should equal PSS Beat Frequency(Hz)
    • SideBands should large enough, like 50 (i.e. 50*2 +1, positive, negative and 0)
    • Specialized Analyses should be None

one example: clock, i.e. beat frequency = 8G PAC: input frequency sweep from -400G to 400G and step is 8G, which is beat frequency, here K=1 Eq.(9) of paper

freqaxis=out: freqaxis of PAC not only affect "Direct Plot"'s output but also simuation data i.e. the phase shift(imaginary part).

matlab matrix nonconjugate transpose:

transpose, .' cf. https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/transpose.html

tstab in PSS

Using shooting PSS, the steady waveform starts from tstab+n*tperiod.

  • pss_td.pss is one period waveform starting from tstab+n*tperiod
  • pss_fd.pss is the complex fourier series coefficient of expanded to left and right pss_td.pss waveform (tstab+n*tperiod : tstab+(n+1)*tperiod)

We have to left-shift mod(tstab, tperiod) pss_fd.pss in order to align it with of pss_tb.pss

image-20220610222535614

simulation log

The below stop = 1.3 ns is actual tstab time, though Stop Time(tstab) field of pss form is filled with 0.3n

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**************************************************
Periodic Steady-State Analysis `pss': fund = 1 GHz
**************************************************
DC simulation time: CPU = 208 us, elapsed = 211.954 us.

=============================
`pss': time = (0 s -> 1.3 ns)
=============================

Opening the PSF file ../psf/pss.tran.pss ...

Output and IC/nodeset summary:
save 1 (current)
save 2 (voltage)

Important parameter values in tstab integration:
start = 0 s
outputstart = 0 s
stop = 1.3 ns
period = 1 ns
maxperiods = 20
step = 1.3 ps
maxstep = 40 ps
ic = all
useprevic = no
...

pss: time = 64.01 ps (4.92 %), step = 31.63 ps (2.43 %)
...
pss: time = 1.224 ns (94.2 %), step = 40 ps (3.08 %)
pss: time = 1.3 ns (100 %), step = 35.99 ps (2.77 %)
...

PSS simulation result

image-20220610224100135

Align pss_tb and pss_fd

image-20220610225310243

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clear;
clc;

freq = 1e9;
tstab = 1.3e-9;
Tp = 1e-9;

load('pss_td.matlab')
t = pss_td(:, 1);
ytd = pss_td(:, 2);
plot(t*1e9, ytd, 'k', 'LineWidth',6)
hold on;

% time domian from pss frequency domain information
coff_real = -0.155222;
coff_imag = -0.0247045;
wc = 2*pi*freq;
tfd = (0:1e-11:2e-9);
yfd = coff_real*cos(wc*tfd) - coff_imag*sin(wc*tfd);
plot(tfd*1e9, yfd, 'b')

% actual pss_td.pss one-period waveform
tfd_td = (tstab:1e-11:2e-9);
yfd_td = coff_real*cos(wc*tfd_td) - coff_imag*sin(wc*tfd_td);
plot(tfd_td*1e9, yfd_td, '--b', 'LineWidth', 4)

% align pss_fd with pss_tb by left shift mod(tstab, Tp) pss_fd
tshift = mod(tstab, Tp);
tfd_shift = tfd - tshift;
tfd_shift_start_indx = find(tfd_shift>=0, 1);
tfd_shift = tfd_shift(1, tfd_shift_start_indx:end);
yfd_shift = yfd(1, tfd_shift_start_indx:end);
plot(tfd_shift*1e9, yfd_shift, '-magenta', 'LineWidth', 2)
grid on;

xlabel('t (ps)');
ylabel('V(t)');
legend('Using pss\_td', 'Using pss\_fd', 'pss\_tb one period clip', 'Using pss\_fd with time shift', 'location', 'east');

Transient Method

TODO 📅

reference

J. Kim, B. S. Leibowitz and M. Jeeradit, "Impulse sensitivity function analysis of periodic circuits," 2008 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, 2008, pp. 386-391, doi: 10.1109/ICCAD.2008.4681602. [https://websrv.cecs.uci.edu/~papers/iccad08/PDFs/Papers/05C.2.pdf]

M. Jeeradit et al., "Characterizing sampling aperture of clocked comparators," 2008 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Honolulu, HI, USA, 2008, pp. 68-69 [https://people.engr.tamu.edu/spalermo/ecen689/sampling_aperature_comparators_vlsi_2008.pdf]

T. Toifl et al., "A 22-gb/s PAM-4 receiver in 90-nm CMOS SOI technology," in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 954-965, April 2006 [https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=4d1f0442be77425ed34b9dcfd48fbfff954a707b]

Sam Palermo, ECEN 720 High-Speed Links: Circuits and Systems [Lecture 6: RX Circuits], [Lab4 - Receiver Circuits]

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