Fully differential implementation of a delta-sigma modulator based on the pseudo-pseudo differential technique

Flicker noise and distortion are the main limitations in biomedical applications, especially for Switched Capacitor implementations, where the flicker noise is folded into the signal band. To remove the flicker noise and increase the linearity, the Pseudo-Pseudo Differential (P2D) technique has been proposed, where a single-ended signal is processed in a differential way. This paper presents the first silicon implementation of a second order Comparator-Based Switched-Capacitor (CBSC) delta-sigma modulator based on a variation of the P2D technique. Experimental results in a standard 180 nm CMOS technology show an improvement of 10 dB in the Peak SNDR, 5 dB in the DR, and 9 dB in the SFDR over its pseudo differential counterpart, which is the preferred differential implementation for CBSC circuits. Moreover, it is achieved with a reduction in the power consumption

170 GBit/s transmission in an erbium-doped waveguide amplifier on silicon

Signal transmission experiments were performed at 170 Gbit/s in an integrated $Al_2O_3:Er^{3+}$ waveguide amplifier to investigate its potential application in high-speed photonic integrated circuits. Net internal gain of up to 11 dB was measured for a continuous-wave 1532 nm signal under 1480 nm pumping, with a threshold pump power of 4 mW. A differential group delay of 2 ps between the TE and TM fundamental modes of the 5.7-cm-long amplifier was measured. When selecting a single polarization open eye diagrams and bit error rates equal to those of the transmission system without the amplifier were observed for a 1550 nm signal encoded with a 170 Gbit/s return-to-zero pseudo-random $2^{7}-1$ bit sequence

Design of a compact and low-power TDC for an array of SiPM's in 110nm CIS technology

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are meant to substitute photomultiplier tubes in high-energy physics detectors and nuclear medicine. This is because of their -to name a few interesting properties- compactness, lower bias voltage, tolerance to magnetic fields and finer spatial resolution. SiPMs can also be built in CMOS technology. This allows the incorporation of active quenching and recharge schemes at cell level and processing circuitry at pixel level. One of the elements that can lead to finer temporal resolutions is the time-to-digital converter (TDC). In this paper we describe the architecture of a compact TDC to be included at each pixel of an array of SiPMs. It is compact and consumes low power. It is based on a voltage controlled oscillator that generates multiple internal phases that are interpolated to provide time resolution below the time delay of a single gate. Simulation results of a 11b TDC based on a 4-stage VCRO in 110nm CIS technology yield a time resolution of 80.0ps, a DNL of ±0.28 LSB, a INL ±0.52 LSB, and a power consumption of 850μW.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2015-66878-C3-1-RJunta de Andalucía TIC 2012-2338Office of Naval Research (USA) N00014141035

Pseudo-fermions in an electronic loss-gain circuit

In some recent papers a loss-gain electronic circuit has been introduced and analyzed within the context of PT-quantum mechanics. In this paper we show that this circuit can be analyzed using the formalism of the so-called pseudo-fermions. In particular we discuss the time behavior of the circuit, and we construct two biorthogonal bases associated to the Liouville matrix \Lc used in the treatment of the dynamics. We relate these bases to \Lc and \Lc^\dagger, and we also show that a self-adjoint Liouville-like operator could be introduced in the game. Finally, we describe the time evolution of the circuit in an {\em Heisenberg-like} representation, driven by a non self-adjoint hamiltonian.Comment: International Journal of Theoretical Physics, in pres

Discrete-Time receivers for software-defined radio: challenges and solutions

Abstract—CMOS radio receiver architectures, based on radio frequency (RF) sampling followed by discrete-time (DT) signal processing via switched-capacitor circuits, have recently been proposed for dedicated radio standards. This paper explores the suitability of such DT receivers for highly flexible softwaredefined radio (SDR) receivers. Via symbolic analysis and simulations we analyze the properties of DT receivers, and show that at least three challenges exist to make a DT receiver work for SDR: 1) the sampling clock frequency is related to the radio frequency, complicating baseband filter design; 2) a frequencydependent phase shift is introduced by pseudo-quadrature and pseudo-differential sampling; 3) the conversion gain of a charge sampling front-end is strongly frequency-dependent. Some potential solutions are also suggested for each challenge. Compared to a mixer based radio receiver, extra costs are needed to solve these problems

A neural probe with up to 966 electrodes and up to 384 configurable channels in 0.13 μm SOI CMOS

In vivo recording of neural action-potential and local-field-potential signals requires the use of high-resolution penetrating probes. Several international initiatives to better understand the brain are driving technology efforts towards maximizing the number of recording sites while minimizing the neural probe dimensions. We designed and fabricated (0.13-μm SOI Al CMOS) a 384-channel configurable neural probe for large-scale in vivo recording of neural signals. Up to 966 selectable active electrodes were integrated along an implantable shank (70 μm wide, 10 mm long, 20 μm thick), achieving a crosstalk of −64.4 dB. The probe base (5 × 9 mm2) implements dual-band recording and a 1

Fast, non-monte-carlo estimation of transient performance variation due to device mismatch

This paper describes an efficient way of simulating the effects of device random mismatch on circuit transient characteristics, such as variations in delay or in frequency. The proposed method models DC random offsets as equivalent AC pseudo-noises and leverages the fast, linear periodically time-varying (LPTV) noise analysis available from RF circuit simulators. Therefore, the method can be considered as an extension to DC match analysis and offers a large speed-up compared to the traditional Monte-Carlo analysis. Although the assumed linear perturbation model is valid only for small variations, it enables easy ways to estimate correlations among variations and identify the most sensitive design parameters to mismatch, all at no additional simulation cost. Three benchmarks measuring the variations in the input offset voltage of a clocked comparator, the delay of a logic path, and the frequency of an oscillator demonstrate the speed improvement of about 100-1000x compared to a 1000-point Monte-Carlo method