Introduction

Introductory Remarks

Applications classes:
Digital communication, wireless receivers, disk drive electronics, sensors, optical receivers, digital cameras, neural networks and, believe it or not, microprocessors and memories todays microprocessors and memories draw upon a great deal of analog design expertise.

Why CMOS for digital?

CMOS dissipates power only during switching and requires only a few devices. It also scaled down more easily than the other types of technologies. Also, lower fabrication costs.

Why CMOS for analog also?

The principal force has been the scaling-down because it has the dual benefit: improved speed of MOSFETs and simultaneously reduction of chip size. The intrinsic speed of MOS transistors has increased by more than 1000 in the past 30 years. Multi-GHz analog circuits are now in production.
Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014 1

Introduction Some Example Applications

Digital Cameras (CMOS Cameras, or APS)

0.5 n+ p-well

poly 0.25m n+ 0.12m p-well n+ n+

2m

p p+ p-substrate

10m

Photo diode
Note: most of the dimensions shown above are now out of date

Transfer Gate

Reset Transistor
Reset(R)

VDD

SF FD

(SF: Source Follower)

Circuit description

Transfer Gate (TG)

Row Select Vout

h Photodiode Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014

Introduction Some Example Applications

Digital Cameras (CMOS Cameras, or APS)

Question: What is the most important device/component in a digital camera? Answer: The question is somewhat unfair, but even so one answer would be the photodiode , which is reverse-biased. Note also that if the camera has 10M pixels, then it would have 10M photodiodes.

Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014

Introduction
Applications: consumer, business, industry, scientific, medicine

Endoscopy
showing an abnormal growth

yellowrosespersonalservices.blogspot.com

http://www.paritymed ical.com/displaysurgical-endoscopybarco-widescreen.htm
http://groups.csail.mit.edu/vision/medicalvision/virtualendoscopy/Presentations/masterworks.ppt

Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014

Introduction

Highly simplified figure showing the photodiode and the reset switch
VD VD
p-transistor Reset

VDD

p Substrate p substrate

Source n Well

In the interest of simplicity, Metal-2 is not shown which provides the window/aperture for the light to impinge on the photodiode. Also, a pMOS switch is shown which has the advantage of providing VD = VDD upon reset but incurs extra area cost due to the nwell needed. So, an nMOS switch is more popular even though it only provides a max VD = VDD - Vt upon reset.
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Introduction

Mixer (LNC)

I
Cos c1t Sin c1t IF1

Wireless Communications
Band-select filter 1

Cos c 2 t
Multiband antenna (that resonates at the desired frequencies) (possibly a monopole antenna)
LNA Band-select filter 2

IF2

Sin c 2 t

. . .
Band-select filter N

Wideband LNA Wideband LNA

. . .
Cos cN t Sin cN t IFN

Multiple RF bands Multiple Standards Exist

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Introduction Wireless Communications

CMOS LNA

Simplified schematic of a fully integrated LNA

Microphotograph of a CMOS LNA Size: 0.93 mm 0.93 mm

Source unknown

Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014

Introduction

Multi-slice Spiral CT System

High voltage generator Tube control

X-ray tube
y

Gantry rotation

or t

Scan control Scan parameters: tube current, rotation time, collimated slice width, table feed, etc.

Slice collimation

x z axis into the paper

X-ray fan

Scan protocol Image reconstruction parameters: convolution filter, reconstructed slice width, image orientation, matrix and pixel size, etc.

Analog

Read-out Pre-amplification A/D conversion Projection acquisition Physical data correction Image reconstruction

Image analysis

The X-ray tube and detector rows arc are mounted on a rotating gantry. The longitudinal coordinate of the data is determined by the patient tables translation. The dashed lines indicate the user (technician) defined parameters.

Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014

Introduction

Power Grid Sensor Chip

frontendb

PGS4 (fabricated in CMOS technology, 2010): Overall layout of power transmission line sensing and analysis VLSI chip (the sensing coil, on metal-2 (purple), and the driver coil on metal-1 (blue))
Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014 9

Introduction

Schematic of the frontend: differential amplifier and a very-low output impedance source follower
VDD
M3
Driver coil or TX line Sense coil

M4
To analog MUX
10

M7

Vin1 Vin2
M1

Vout P

M2

Vb3

M5

M6

Analog CMOS/VLSI Design, Spring 2014

Introduction

frontend (one of three types on the chip)

This is only a part of the layout on the chip.

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Introduction

As mentioned PGS4 chips were received in Dec. 2010 and were tested in 2011. PGS5, is the next advanced version; the chips were fabricated and tested. It carries out Power Transmission Line fault distance estimation, based on real (as opposed to complex valued) computations. PGS6: carries out Power Transmission Line fault distance estimation, based on complex valued computations. Theory requires such computations, although our simulations indicate that real arithmetic may be adequate for some practical situations. Also PGS6 incorporates non-contact voltage sensors. Further on the horizon is our plan for a 3-D chip in the future.

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Introduction

PGS5 Chip:
It estimates the fault distance based on a simplified formula (which uses real computations, as opposed to complex). Three versions of the frontend, FE1, FE2 and FE3 are clearly visible. Selected through a multiplexer, one of these three amplifies the signal which is then digitized by a (switched capacitors based) successive approximation ADC. The digital signal goes to the FSA for Fourier series analysis, and the fault distance is then calculated by the fault distance analyzer, FDA.

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Introduction

Some application areas (a very incomplete list)

Biomedical systems Sensors including bio-sensors Optical systems, including digital cameras Wireless communications MEMS systems Power systems, power grid electronics Security systems System on a chip

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Introduction

Even though on the previous few viewgraphs we have emphasized power systems applications, the course will address principles of design which target frequencies ranging from low to extremelyextremely high frequencies. We have already seen examples that range from power frequencies to (wireless) cell phone frequencies to visible light frequencies to X-ray frequencies This should become more clear on the next viewgraph.

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Introduction

Electromagnetic Spectrum
1550 nm

100Km 10Km

1Km 100m

10m

1m

10cm

1cm

1mm

100

10

100 nm

10nm

1nm

100pm

10pm

1pm

Hz 3k 30 300 3M 30 300 3G 30 300 3T 30 300 3P 30 300 3E 30 300

3 3 3

Co-ax cable

Optics

1018 1019 10 20 Hz

kHz, MHz, GHz, TeraHz, PetaHz (PHz), ExaHz (EHz)

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Introduction

What about rays. Yes, they are used in the so called Anger Camera for SPECT imaging. The rays emanate from the patients body after he/she has been administered trace amount of appropriate radionuclide. Scintillation crystals are used to detect and, in fact, multiply each ray photon to visible band photons. Each ray photon can yield up to 40,000 visible band photons. What then follows immediately, generally, is analog circuitry: APS Preamplifier Signal conditioning A/D conversion etc.
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Introduction

A general (and rather vague) question: What are the frequencies that the human body deals with, or is involved/concerned with? Answer: Sub-Hz to 1014 Hz and higher A Few Examples (all data given below are somewhat simplistic): (1) Human locomotion: Sub-Hz to a few Hz (2) Heart rhythm (or cardiac rhythm): ~1Hz (3) ECG: ~ 250 Hz (although some researchers have used up to 1 kHz) (4) Speech: up to about 15 kHz (the telephone system has largely LP filtered it at ~4 kHz and used it successfully) (5) Vision: > 1014 Hz

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