A Wide Bandwidth, Low Power, Linear Quantized-Analog VGA in 28 nm CMOS Technology and 1.2V Supply

EasyChair Preprint 10393

Abstract

This work presents wide-band/wide range Variable Gain Amplifier (VGA) based on the Quantized-Analog (QA) processing. The VGA is formed by an array of sub-units that amplify different portions of the input signal. The gain variation is obtained by acting on the signal correlation among adjacent slices that are eventually recombined on an output load. The VGA has been characterized, by inserting the VGA inside an optical RF front-end which includes a TIA stage and output buffer. Designed and layouted in 28nm CMOS, the VGA shows a gain variation of about 22 dB obtained in one stage, and a -3dB bandwidth of 29 GHz. At maximum gain, the average equivalent input-referred current noise is equal to 10.3 pA/√Hz while the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is below 2.3% for a maximum output swing of 500-mV peak-to-peak differential. The VGA consumes 64 mW while the complete front-end 124 mW from a 1.2V voltage supply

Keyphrases: One stage, Quantized Analog, VGA, Wideband/wide range, distortion THD, gain variation, noise, signal correlation, voltage supply

@booklet{EasyChair:10393,
  author    = {Gurjeet Singh and Xhulio Selmani and Rinaldo Castello and Antonio Liscidini},
  title     = {A Wide Bandwidth, Low Power, Linear Quantized-Analog VGA in 28 nm CMOS Technology and 1.2V Supply},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 10393},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2023}}