A 0.13μm CMOS 10 Gb/s current-mode class AB serial link transmitter with low supply voltage sensitivity

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a new current-mode class AB transmitter with a low supply voltage sensitivity for 10 Gb/s serial links. The sensitivity of the output current to supply voltage fluctuation is achieved by operating the system in a rail-to-rail swing mode. A high speed is achieved from current-domain multiplexing and the inductive shunt peaking with active inductors. The fully differential configuration of the transmitter minimizes the effect of both common-mode disturbances and electro-magnetic interference exerted from the channels to neighboring devices. The full push-pull operation of the driver minimizes the static power consumption of the transmitter. The proposed transmitter is implemented in a 1.2V 0.13μm CMOS technology and analyzed using Spectre from Cadence Design Systems with BSIM3v3 device models. Simulation results demonstrate that the transmitter conveys a sufficiently large differential output current that is insensitive to supply voltage fluctuation at 10 Gb/s.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.4 INPUT/OUTPUT AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS

General Terms:
Design

Keywords:
active inductors, class AB serial link transmitters