A Wideband dB-Linear Variable-Gain Amplifier With a Compensated Negative Pseudo-Exponential Generation Technique

Dong, Yanlei; Kong, Lingshan; Boon, Chirn Chye; Yang, Kaituo; Liu, Zhe; Li, Chenyang; Zhou, Ao

doi:10.1109/tmtt.2021.3058266

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…When a cascaded cell-based PGA is designed, it is very important to cancel any DC-offsets that may arise along the gain stages to prevent the baseband portion from saturation. For the proposed PGA, DC-offset cancellation is implemented between the output of third-and first-unit cells similar to the techniques mentioned in the literature [19], [21], [22] . The DCOC circuit implemented in this work is illustrated in Fig.…”

Section: Dc-offset Cancellation Techniquementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The VGA circuit topologies can be broadly classified into two categories based on the mode of gain tuning which are PGAs [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16] and analog-controlled VGAs [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24] . The most common technique used in the literature to achieve dB-linearity is through the pseudo-exponential behaviour of MOS transistors in the sub-threshold region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A unique exponential approximation for dB-linear gain control is published and has achieved a linear gain range of 50 dB consuming a large amount of 3.84 mW power [20] . The well-established pseudo-exponential generation technique is used to achieve a wideband (7 -8 GHz) dB-linear VGA at the expense of 27 mW power [22] . The exponential approximation of voltage to current conversion is fully utilized [23] to achieve a dB-linear gain range of 51 dB consuming 2.49 mW of power.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A versatile programmable gain amplifier with wide dynamic range and low power consumption

Boora

Thangarasu

Yeo

2023

Preprint

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A tuneable gain analog amplifier is a primary building block in RF receivers specially to achieve high dynamic range. Here, we present a wide dB-linear gain range and low power programmable gain amplifier (PGA) fabricated in 40nm CMOS process, which exploits the exponential approximation of the MOS transistor in sub-threshold region. As a result, our PGA achieved one of the widest dB-linearity of 76 dB for 32 digital gain settings and a gain error of less than ± 0.5 dB and consumes only 167 µW of power from a 1.1 V supply. The proposed PGA has dual-mode gain tunability using analog voltage control and 5-bit digital control. At the maximum gain setting, the PGA exhibits a bandwidth of 1.1 MHz and output P1dB of -4.7 dBm. The PGA design is first of its kind attributing to its low-power consumption, wide dB-linear dynamic range, and dual-mode tunability. The novel design enables this PGA as a versatile and an effective block in RF integrated circuits.

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Section: Dc-offset Cancellation Techniquementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A versatile programmable gain amplifier with wide dynamic range and low power consumption

Boora

Thangarasu

Yeo

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Numerous dB-linear VGA topologies have been developed in previous works. Pseudo-exponential VGAs are widely used to obtain dB-linear characteristics [4], [5]. By using a single-branch negative exponential generator (NEG), the VGA in [4] achieves a gain tuning range of 40 dB with a linear-in-dB error of ±1 dB.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By using a single-branch negative exponential generator (NEG), the VGA in [4] achieves a gain tuning range of 40 dB with a linear-in-dB error of ±1 dB. To improve the gain range, the work in [5] includes additional compensated negative pseudo-exponential generation (C-NPEG), resulting in a gain tuning range of 51 dB with ±1-dB error. This comes at the expense of circuit complexity and power consumption, making gain ranges above 60 dB difficult to achieve and unsuitable for low-power applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 0.96-mW dB-Linear Variable Gain Amplifier With 0.4-dB Linearity Error Over a 62.4-dB Gain Tuning Range

Cai

Tang

et al. 2022

IEEE Solid-State Circuits Lett.

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This letter presents a low-power dB-linear variable gain amplifier (VGA) with a small linear-in-dB error over a wide gain tuning range. An exponential current ratio is realized in the linear-in-dB control circuit based on the subthreshold I-V characteristic. The VGA is built with subthreshold common-gate transistors as current steering, accurately replicating the exponential current ratio and forming a tunable gain. Implemented in 55-nm CMOS technology, the proposed VGA occupies a compact active area of 0.011 mm 2 excluding the buffer. It achieves a linear-in-dB error of 0.4 dB over a gain tuning range of 62.4 dB, corresponding to the state-of-the-art relative error of 0.6%. The proposed design shows constant 80-MHz bandwidth with a power consumption of 0.96 mW.

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Evolution of and Perspectives on Differential‐Pair‐Based CMOS Variable Gain Amplifiers With Linear‐in‐Decibel Gain Control: A Tutorial

Wang,

Lu,

Tang

et al. 2024

Circuit Theory & Apps

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A variable gain amplifier (VGA) is an essential building block used in the automatic gain control (AGC) loop to provide a continuous, adjustable gain for the signal strength. To maintain the stability and consistency of the AGC loop, it is necessary to ensure that the gain of the VGA has an accurate dB‐linear characteristic. This tutorial provides a detailed overview of the development of dB‐linear VGAs based on differential pair structures over recent years. We categorize various VGA cells based on differential pair structures, analyze their operating principles, and explain the key features of each topology. Based on observation and extraction of the dB‐linear implementation schemes used by these VGAs, we summarize three basic methods for achieving dB‐linear gain control. We also discuss specific methods for realizing the exponential function, using a true exponential and a mathematical approximation, and present the different types of approximation functions adopted in the works described here. Considerations in regard to the tuning range, gain error, bandwidth, linearity, process‐temperature robustness, and circuit simplicity are also discussed. Finally, we draw comparisons and give perspectives for future dB‐linear VGAs.

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A Wideband dB-Linear Variable-Gain Amplifier With a Compensated Negative Pseudo-Exponential Generation Technique

Cited by 9 publications

References 22 publications

A versatile programmable gain amplifier with wide dynamic range and low power consumption

A versatile programmable gain amplifier with wide dynamic range and low power consumption

A 0.96-mW dB-Linear Variable Gain Amplifier With 0.4-dB Linearity Error Over a 62.4-dB Gain Tuning Range

Evolution of and Perspectives on Differential‐Pair‐Based CMOS Variable Gain Amplifiers With Linear‐in‐Decibel Gain Control: A Tutorial

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