6.

776
High Speed Communication Circuits and Systems
Lecture 9
Enhancement Techniques for Broadband Amplifiers,
Narrowband Amplifiers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
March 3, 2005
Copyright 2005 by Hae-Seung Lee and Michael H.
Perrott

Shunt-Series Peaking

Series inductors isolate load capacitance from M1:

delays charging of load capacitance
Trades delay for bandwidth
L1, L2, L3 can be implemented by 2 coupled inductors
with coupling coefficient of k

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

T-Coil Bandwidth Enhancement

Vdd
RL

Vdd
RL

L2
CB

L1
L3

vin
Vbias

M1

Id L2

vout
Cfixed

L1
vout

vin
M2

Vbias

M1

Cfixed

M2

Uses coupled inductors to realize T inductor network

is much less than

the capacitance being driven at the output load
CB provides parallel resonance to improve bandwidth further
See Chap. 9 (Ch. 8, 1st ed.) of Tom Lees book pp 279-282 (187191)

- Works best if capacitance at drain of M

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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T-Coil Continued

The self inductance L (with the other winding opencircuited) must be

The bridging capacitance

Coupling coefficient
k=1/3 for Butterworth response
k=1/2 for maximally flat delay (linear phase)
Bandwidth extension: approximately 2.8 (Butterworth)
- See S. Galal, B. Ravazi, 10 Gb/s Limiting Amplifier and Laser/Modulator
Driver in 0.18u CMOS, ISSCC 2003, pp 188-189 and Broadband ESD
Protection , pp. 182-183
- Also see "Circuit Techniques for a 40 Gb/s Transmitter in 0.13um CMOS",
J. Kim, et. al. ISSCC 2005, Paper 8.1
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott
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Bandwidth Enhancement With ft Doublers

I1 I2
M1

2Ibias

A MOS transistor has ft calculated as

ft doubler amplifiers attempt to

increase the ratio of
transconductance to capacitance

M2

vin
Vbias

We can make the argument that differential amplifiers

are ft doublers

- Capacitance seen by V
- Difference in current:

in

for single-ended input:

Transconductance to Cap ratio is doubled:

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Creating a Single-Ended Output

Io

I1 I2
M1

M2

vin

M1

vin

Vbias

2Ibias

M2

Vbias

Ibias

Ibias

Input voltage is again dropped across two transistors

- Ratio given by voltage divider in capacitance

Ideally is of input voltage on Cgs of each device

Input voltage source sees the series combination of

the capacitances of each device

- Ideally sees of the C

gs

of M1

Currents of each device add to ideally yield ratio:

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Creating the Bias for M2

M1

M2

vin
Vbias

M1

M1

vin
2Ibias

Io

Io

I1 I2

M2

Vbias

Ibias

Ibias

vin
Vbias

M2
M3

Ibias

Use current mirror for bias (Battjes ft doubler)

- Inspired by bipolar circuits (see Tom Lees book, pp288290 (197-199))

Need to set Vbias such that current through M1 has the

desired current of Ibias

- The current through M

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

will ideally match that of M1

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Problems of ft Doubler in Modern CMOS RF Circuits

Problems:
Works if Cgs dominates capacitance , but in modern
CMOS, this is not the case (for example, Cgd=0.45Cgs in
0.18 CMOS)
achievable bias voltage across M1 (and M2) is severely
reducedby 2x!) (thereby reducing effective ft of device)
Input capacitance degrades due to Cgs, Cdb of M3: at most
1.5x improvement in transconductance/capacitance ratio

Assuming zero Cdb:

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Increasing Gain-Bandwidth Product Through Cascading

vin

Amp

Amp
Cfixed

vin

A
1 + s/wo

Amp

vout

Cfixed

A
1 + s/wo

vout
A
1 + s/wo

We can significantly increase the gain of an amplifier

by cascading n stages

- Issue bandwidth degrades, but by how much?

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Analytical Derivation of Overall Bandwidth

The overall 3-db bandwidth of the amplifier is where

- w is the overall bandwidth

- A and w are the gain and bandwidth of each section
1

- Bandwidth decreases much slower than gain increases

Overall gain bandwidth product of amp can be increased
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Transfer Function for Cascaded Sections

Normalized Transfer Function for Cascaded Sections

0
-3
-10

n=1

Normalized Gain (dB)

-20

-30

n=2

-40

-50

n=3

-60

-70

-80
1/100

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

n=4
1/10

Normalized Frequency (Hz)

10

100

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Choosing the Optimal Number of Stages

To first order, there is a constant gain-bandwidth

product for each stage

- Increasing the bandwidth of each stage requires that we

lower its gain
- Can make up for lost gain by cascading more stages

We found that the overall bandwidth is calculated as

Assume that we want to achieve gain G with n stages

From this, optimum gain/stage sqrt(e) = 1.65

See Tom Lees book, pp 299-302 (207-211,1

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

st

ed.)
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Achievable Bandwidth Versus G and n

Achievable Bandwidth (Normalized to

f tu)
Versus Gain (G) and Number of Stages (n)

0.3

- Note than gain

per stage derived

from plot as

0.25

G=10

0.2

G=100
w1/wt

1
u

0.15

- Maximum is fairly

G=1000

A=1.65

0.1

A=3

0.05

Optimum gain per

stage is about 1.65

10

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

15

20

25

soft, though

Can dramatically
lower power (and
improve noise) by
using larger gain
per stage

30

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Motivation for Distributed Amplifiers

RL=Z0
vout

M1
Rs=Z0

Cin

M2
Cin

Cout

Cout

Cout

M3
Cin

vin

We achieve higher gain for a given load resistance by

increasing the device size (i.e., increase gm)

- Increased capacitance lowers bandwidth

We therefore get a relatively constant gain-bandwidth product

We know that transmission lines have (ideally) infinite

bandwidth, but can be modeled as LC networks

- Can we lump device capacitances into transmission line?

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Distributing the Input Capacitance

RL=Z0
vout

delay
Rs=Z0

Zo

Cout

Cout

Cout
M1

M2

M3

Zo

Zo

Zo

vin

RL=Z0

Lump input capacitance into LC network corresponding

to a transmission line

- Signal ideally sees Z =R rather than an RC lowpass

- Often implemented as lumped networks such as T-coils
- We can now trade delay (rather than bandwidth) for gain
o

Issue: outputs are delayed from each other

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Distributing the Output Capacitance

delay

RL=Z0

RL=Z0

Zo

delay
Rs=Z0

vin

Zo

Zo

Zo

Zo

M1

M2

M3

Zo

Zo

Zo

vout

RL=Z0

Delay the outputs same amount as the inputs

Benefit high bandwidth

Negatives high power, poorer noise performance,
expensive in terms of chip area

- Now the signals match up

- We have also distributed the output capacitance

Each transistor gain is adding rather than multiplying!

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott
MIT OCW

Narrowband Amplifiers
package
die

Connector
Controlled Impedance
PCB trace

Matching
Network

Driving
Source

Z1

On-Chip
Delay = x
Characteristic Impedance = Zo

Transmission Line

Vin

L1

Matching
Network

Amp
C1

C2

RL

Vout

VL

For wireless systems, we are interested in

conditioning and amplifying the signal over a narrow
frequency range centered at a high frequency

- Allows us to apply narrowband transformers to create

matching networks

Can we take advantage of this fact when designing

the amplifier?

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Tuned Amplifiers
Vdd
LT

RL
vout
CL

vin

Rs

M1

Vbias

Put inductor in parallel across RL to create bandpass

filter

- It will turn out that the gain-bandwidth product is

roughly conserved regardless of the center frequency

To see this and other design issues, we must look

closer at the parallel resonant circuit

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Tuned Amp Transfer Function About Resonance

Cp

iin=gmvin

Lp Rp

Ztank

Amplifier transfer function

Note that conductances

add in parallel

vout

Evaluate at s = j

Look at frequencies about resonance:

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Tuned Amp Transfer Function About Resonance (Cont.)

From previous slide

=0

Simplifies to RC circuit for bandwidth calculation

vout
vin
Cp

Lp Rp

vout

g mR p

1
R pC p
slope =
-20 dB/dec
wo

iin=gmvin

Ztank

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

1
Rp2Cp

1
Rp2Cp
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Comparison between Low-Pass and Band-Pass

low-pass
amplifier

band-pass
(tuned)
amplifier

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Comparison between Low-Pass and Band-Pass

Tuned amplifier characteristic is a frequency

translated version of the low-pass amplifier
The band-pass bandwidth is equal to the low-pass
bandwidth (the band-pass shape is 2x narrower but
upper and lower sidebands give the same bandwidth
as LP)
We are tuning out the effect of capacitor (parallel LC
looks like an open circuit at resonance, so C doesnt
load the amplifier)
This is often called low-pass to band-pass transform
in filter design:

- Replace C with parallel LC tank

- Replace L with series LC tank

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Gain-Bandwidth Product for Tuned Amplifiers

vout
vin
Cp

Lp Rp

vout

g mR p

1
R pC p
slope =
-20 dB/dec
wo

iin=gmvin

Ztank

1
Rp2Cp

1
Rp2Cp

The gain-bandwidth product:

The above expression is just like the low-pass and

independent of center frequency!

- In practice, we need to operate at a frequency less than

the ft of the device

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

The Issue of Q
vout
vin
Cp

Lp Rp

vout

g mR p

1
R pC p
slope =
-20 dB/dec
wo

iin=gmvin

Ztank

By definition

For parallel tank

Comparing to above:

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

1
Rp2Cp

1
Rp2Cp

MIT OCW

Design of Tuned Amplifiers

vout
vin
Cp

Lp Rp

g mR p

vout

1
R pC p
slope =
-20 dB/dec
wo

iin=gmvin

Ztank

1
Rp2Cp

1
Rp2Cp

Three key parameters

- Gain = g R
- Center frequency =
- Q = /BW
Impact of high Q
- Benefit: allows achievement of high gain with low power
- Problem: makes circuit sensitive to process/temp
m

variations

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Issue: Cgd Can Cause Undesired Oscillation

Vdd
LT

RL
vout
CL

Zin C
gd

vin
Vbias

M1

Rs
Cgs

At frequencies below resonance, tank looks inductive

Negative
Resistance!
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Use Cascode Device to Remove Impact of Cgd

Vdd
LT

RL
vout

Vbias2

M2

Zin C
gd

vin

M1

Rs

Vbias

CL

Cgs

At frequencies above and below resonance

Purely
Capacitive!
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Neutralization in Tuned Amplifier

Recall the neutralization for broadband amplifier

RL

CN
-1
Zin

vin
Vbias

Id

Cgd
M1

Rs

vout
CL

Cgs

For narrowband amplifier, the inverting signal can

be generated by a tapped transformer

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Neutralization with Tapped Transformer

Problems: Area and quality of on chip transformer

The neutralization cap CN must be matched to Cgd
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

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Differential Neutralization for Narrow Band Amplifier

Same principle as differential neutralization in broadband

amp
Only issue left is matching CN to Cgd

- Often use lateral metal caps for C

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

(or CMOS transistor)

MIT OCW

Superregenerative Amplifier
quench

Vin is sampled at the rate fc (in actual implementation fc may

be input level dependent)
The sampled output voltage

Can be used for both broadband and narrowband well do a simple

analysis for broadband amp.
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Superregenerative Amplifier
Gain calculation

Nyquist theorem

Trades bandwidth only logarithmically with gain!

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Superregenerative Amplifier Example (Narrowband)

RB: DC bias resistor

LC, C1: Tuning LC
C2 : positive feedback
LE: RF choke (large inductance)

When the RF amplitude becomes large, it is rectified at the emitter of Q1

This raises the DC potential at the emitter Q1 eventually turning it off
The RF oscillation dies (quenched), and the DC potential at emitter of Q1
returns
Amplitude of oscillation grows again due to positive feedback
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

Active Real Impedance Generator

Zin

Vin

Cf

Av(s)

Vout

Av(s) = -Aoe-j

Input admittance:

Resistive component!
H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

This Principle Can Be Applied To Impedance Matching

Zin
Iout

vin

M1

Rs

Ls

Vbias

We will see that its advantageous to make Zin real

without using resistors

- For the above circuit (ignoring C

gd)

Itest

Vtest C
gs

vgs

gmvgs

Ls

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

Looks like series resonant circuit!

MIT OCW

Use A Series Inductor to Tune Resonant Frequency

Zin

Zin

Iout

Iout
Lg

vin

M1

Rs

vin
Ls

Vbias

Rs

Vbias

M1
Ls

Calculate input impedance with added inductor (in

order to choose resonance freq. and input resistance
separately)

Often want purely resistive component at frequency o

- Choose L

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

such that resonant frequency = o

MIT OCW

Narrowband Alternative to LC

On-chip inductors take up considerable die area and have

relatively poor Q. Is there any other alternatives?

Use quarter-wavelength transmission line (waveguide) resonator?

In Lecture 5 we found the /4 waveguide with shorted load behave much like
a parallel LC circuit, while with open load it behaves like a series LC
The problem is the dimension. For 900MHz mobile phone frequency, /4 in
free space is 3.25 inches!
With high permittivity dielectric material (ceramic), the size can be reduced
to a reasonable dimensions. With r=10, the length of waveguide is only
about inch.
Different configurations of filters can be built by combining sections of
series and parallel LC equivalents
More appropriate at frequencies over GHz

SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) filters are another popular

alternative

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

SAW Filters

SAW filters use piezoelectric substrate to generate surface

acoustic wave
electrodes

input

output

piezoelectric
substrate

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

Adapted from Japan Radio Co.

MIT OCW

SAW Filters

Piezoelectric substrate
LiTaO3
LiNbO3
Quartz
Filter Structures
Longitudinal Filter
Transversal Filter
Ladder Filter

Saw filters have high selectivity and low insertion loss (down to
a fraction of % fractional bandwidth, ~2dB insertion loss

Wide range of enter frequency (few 100 kHz-GHz)

At 1-2 GHz, the dimensions of SAW filters are 1-2mm

For more information on SAW filters look over www.njr.com

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

MIT OCW

SAW Filters in Mobile Phones

BPF

Mixer

BPF

RX

IF Detection
IF Amp
OSC
(1)

RF Amp

Buff Amp
ANT
Ant. SW
Buff Amp

OSC
(2)

BPF

BPF
TX
Mixer

Buff Amp

Power Amp

Figure by MIT OCW.

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott Adapted from Japan Radio Co.

MIT OCW

Insertion Loss [dB]

SAW Filter Example

0
5

0
1

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45
50

9
10

2200

2450

2700

Frequency [MHz]
Figure by MIT OCW.

JRC NSVS754 2.4 GHz RF SAW Filter Charactersitic

H.-S. Lee & M.H. Perrott

Adapted from Japan Radio Co.

MIT OCW