An Op-Amp Approach for Bandpass VGAs With Constant Bandwidth

Two approaches to implement variable gain amplifiers based on Miller op-amps are discussed. One has true constant bandwidth while the other has essentially reduced bandwidth variations with varying gain. Servo-loops and ac coupling techniques with quasi floating gate transistors are used to provide a bandpass response with very low cutoff frequency in the range of hertz. In practice, one of the schemes is shown to have bandwidth variations close to a factor two while the second one has true constant bandwidth over the gain tuning range. Experimental results of test chip prototypes in 180-nm CMOS technology verify the theoretical claims

Constant and maximum bandwidth feedback amplifier with adaptive frequency compensation

We demonstrated the feasibility of the adaptive frequency compensation approach to design maximum-and constant-bandwidth feedback amplifiers. A basic CMOS amplifier exhibiting 66-dB dc gain and 310-MHz gain-bandwidth product was designed. For closed-loop gains ranging from 1 to 10, the closed loop bandwidth was found never lower than 401 MHz. A similar amplifier with equal gain-bandwidth product, but adopting the traditional fixed compensation approach, would exhibit a closed-loop bandwidth decreased to 33 MHz when the gain magnitude is set to 10. The enhanced frequency performance is obtained with a 48% increase in current consumption, while the other main opamp performance parameters remain almost unchanged compared to the standard solution. © 2012 IEEE