Low-Voltage Ultra-Low-Power Current Conveyor Based on Quasi-Floating Gate Transistors

The field of low-voltage low-power CMOS technology has grown rapidly in recent years; it is an essential prerequisite particularly for portable electronic equipment and implantable medical devices due to its influence on battery lifetime. Recently, significant improvements in implementing circuits working in the low-voltage low-power area have been achieved, but circuit designers face severe challenges when trying to improve or even maintain the circuit performance with reduced supply voltage. In this paper, a low-voltage ultra-low-power current conveyor second generation CCII based on quasi-floating gate transistors is presented. The proposed circuit operates at a very low supply voltage of only ±0.4 V with rail-to-rail voltage swing capability and a total quiescent power consumption of mere 9.5 µW. Further, the proposed circuit is not only able to process the AC signal as it's usual at quasi-floating gate transistors but also the DC which extends the applicability of the proposed circuit. In conclusion, an application example of the current-mode quadrature oscillator is presented. PSpice simulation results using the 0.18 µm TSMC CMOS technology are included to confirm the attractive properties of the proposed circuit

A Survey of Non-conventional Techniques for Low-voltage Low-power Analog Circuit Design

Designing integrated circuits able to work under low-voltage (LV) low-power (LP) condition is currently undergoing a very considerable boom. Reducing voltage supply and power consumption of integrated circuits is crucial factor since in general it ensures the device reliability, prevents overheating of the circuits and in particular prolongs the operation period for battery powered devices. Recently, non-conventional techniques i.e. bulk-driven (BD), floating-gate (FG) and quasi-floating-gate (QFG) techniques have been proposed as powerful ways to reduce the design complexity and push the voltage supply towards threshold voltage of the MOS transistors (MOST). Therefore, this paper presents the operation principle, the advantages and disadvantages of each of these techniques, enabling circuit designers to choose the proper design technique based on application requirements. As an example of application three operational transconductance amplifiers (OTA) base on these non-conventional techniques are presented, the voltage supply is only ±0.4 V and the power consumption is 23.5 µW. PSpice simulation results using the 0.18 µm CMOS technology from TSMC are included to verify the design functionality and correspondence with theory

ECCCII-Based Current-Mode Universal Filter with Orthogonal Control of w_o and Q

This paper presents a new current-mode current-controlled four-input five-output universal filter employing one current-controlled current conveyor (CCCII), one electronically tunable CCCII and two grounded capacitors. The proposed configuration provides lowpass, bandpass, highpass, bandstop and allpass current responses that taken from the high-output impedance terminals, which enable easy cascadability of the current-mode operation. The filter also offers both orthogonal and electronic controls of the natural frequency and the quality factor through adjusting the bias current of the CCCIIs. For realizing all the filter responses, the proposed filter does not require passive component-matching condition and both active and passive sensitivities are low. In addition, a new current-mode current-controlled single-input five-output universal filter can be achieved by using an additional multiple-output minus-type CCCII. The proposed filter is simulated using PSPICE simulations to confirm the theoretical analysis

Voltage-Mode Multifunction Biquadratic Filters Using New Ultra-Low-Power Differential Difference Current Conveyors

This paper presents two low-power voltage-mode multifunction biquadratic filters using differential difference current conveyors. Each proposed circuit employs three differential difference current conveyors, two grounded capacitors and two grounded resistors. The low-voltage ultra-low-power differential difference current conveyor is used to provide low-power consumption of the proposed filters. By appropriately connecting the input and output terminals, the proposed filters can provide low-pass, band-pass, high-pass, band-stop and all-pass voltage responses at high-input terminals, which is a desirable feature for voltage-mode operations. The natural frequency and the quality factor can be orthogonally set by adjusting the circuit components. For realizing all the filter responses, no inverting-type input signal requirements as well as no component-matching conditional requirements are imposed. The incremental parameter sensitivities are also low. The characteristics of the proposed circuits are simulated by using PSPICE simulators to confirm the presented theory

A Novel Current-Mode Full-Wave Rectifier Based on One CDTA and Two Diodes

Precision rectifiers are important building blocks for analog signal processing. The traditional approach based on diodes and operational amplifiers (OpAmps) exhibits undesirable effects caused by limited OpAmp slew rate and diode commutations. In the paper, a full-wave rectifier based on one CDTA and two Schottky diodes is presented. The PSpice simulation results are included

Mixed-Mode Third-Order Quadrature Oscillator Based on Single MCCFTA

This paper presents a new mixed-mode third-order quadrature oscillator based on new modified current-controlled current follower transconductance amplifier (MCCFTA). The proposed circuit employs one MCCFTA as active element and three grounded capacitors as passive component which is highly suitable for integrated circuit implementation. The condition and frequency of oscillations can be controlled orthogonally and electronically by adjusting the bias currents of the active device. The circuit provides four quadrature current outputs and two quadrature voltage outputs into one single topology, which can be classified as mixed-mode oscillator. In addition, four quadrature current output terminals possess high-impedance level which can be directly connected to next stage without additional buffer circuits. The performance of the proposed structure has been verified through PSPICE simulators using 0.25 µm CMOS process from TSMC and experimental results are also investigated

Language Control and Lexical Competition in Bilinguals: An Event-Related fMRI Study

Language selection (or control) refers to the cognitive mechanism that controls which language to use at a given moment and context. It allows bilinguals to selectively communicate in one target language while minimizing the interferences from the nontarget language. Previous studies have suggested the participation in language control of different brain areas. However, the question remains whether the selection of one language among others relies on a language-specific neural module or general executive regions that also allow switching between different competing behavioral responses including the switching between various linguistic registers. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we investigated the neural correlates of language selection processes in German-French bilingual subjects during picture naming in different monolingual and bilingual selection contexts. We show that naming in the first language in the bilingual context (compared with monolingual contexts) increased activation in the left caudate and anterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, the activation of these areas is even more extended when the subjects are using a second weaker language. These findings show that language control processes engaged in contexts during which both languages must remain active recruit the left caudate and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in a manner that can be distinguished from areas engaged in intralanguage task switchin

A wideband linear tunable CDTA and its application in field programmable analogue array

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Hu, Z., Wang, C., Sun, J. et al. ‘A wideband linear tunable CDTA and its application in field programmable analogue array’, Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, Vol. 88 (3): 465-483, September 2016. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 6 June 2017. The final publication is available at Springer via https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10470-016-0772-7 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016In this paper, a NMOS-based wideband low power and linear tunable transconductance current differencing transconductance amplifier (CDTA) is presented. Based on the NMOS CDTA, a novel simple and easily reconfigurable configurable analogue block (CAB) is designed. Moreover, using the novel CAB, a simple and versatile butterfly-shaped FPAA structure is introduced. The FPAA consists of six identical CABs, and it could realize six order current-mode low pass filter, second order current-mode universal filter, current-mode quadrature oscillator, current-mode multi-phase oscillator and current-mode multiplier for analog signal processing. The Cadence IC Design Tools 5.1.41 post-layout simulation and measurement results are included to confirm the theory.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Sleep-wake sensitive mechanisms of adenosine release in the basal forebrain of rodents : an in vitro study

Adenosine acting in the basal forebrain is a key mediator of sleep homeostasis. Extracellular adenosine concentrations increase during wakefulness, especially during prolonged wakefulness and lead to increased sleep pressure and subsequent rebound sleep. The release of endogenous adenosine during the sleep-wake cycle has mainly been studied in vivo with microdialysis techniques. The biochemical changes that accompany sleep-wake status may be preserved in vitro. We have therefore used adenosine-sensitive biosensors in slices of the basal forebrain (BFB) to study both depolarization-evoked adenosine release and the steady state adenosine tone in rats, mice and hamsters. Adenosine release was evoked by high K+, AMPA, NMDA and mGlu receptor agonists, but not by other transmitters associated with wakefulness such as orexin, histamine or neurotensin. Evoked and basal adenosine release in the BFB in vitro exhibited three key features: the magnitude of each varied systematically with the diurnal time at which the animal was sacrificed; sleep deprivation prior to sacrifice greatly increased both evoked adenosine release and the basal tone; and the enhancement of evoked adenosine release and basal tone resulting from sleep deprivation was reversed by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) inhibitor, 1400 W. These data indicate that characteristics of adenosine release recorded in the BFB in vitro reflect those that have been linked in vivo to the homeostatic control of sleep. Our results provide methodologically independent support for a key role for induction of iNOS as a trigger for enhanced adenosine release following sleep deprivation and suggest that this induction may constitute a biochemical memory of this state

<i>KCNV2</i>-associated retinopathy:genotype-phenotype correlations-<i>KCNV2</i> study group report 3

Background/aims To investigate genotype–phenotype associations in patients with KCNV2 retinopathy.Methods Review of clinical notes, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), molecular variants, electroretinography (ERG) and retinal imaging. Subjects were grouped according to the combination of KCNV2 variants—two loss-of-function (TLOF), two missense (TM) or one of each (MLOF)—and parameters were compared.Results Ninety-two patients were included. The mean age of onset (mean±SD) in TLOF (n=55), TM (n=23) and MLOF (n=14) groups was 3.51±0.58, 4.07±2.76 and 5.54±3.38 years, respectively. The mean LogMAR BCVA (±SD) at baseline in TLOF, TM and MLOF groups was 0.89±0.25, 0.67±0.38 and 0.81±0.35 for right, and 0.88±0.26, 0.69±0.33 and 0.78±0.33 for left eyes, respectively. The difference in BCVA between groups at baseline was significant in right (p=0.03) and left eyes (p=0.035). Mean outer nuclear layer thickness (±SD) at baseline in TLOF, MLOF and TM groups was 37.07±15.20 µm, 40.67±12.53 and 40.38±18.67, respectively, which was not significantly different (p=0.85). The mean ellipsoid zone width (EZW) loss (±SD) was 2051 µm (±1318) for patients in the TLOF, and 1314 µm (±965) for MLOF. Only one patient in the TM group had EZW loss at presentation. There was considerable overlap in ERG findings, although the largest DA 10 ERG b-waves were associated with TLOF and the smallest with TM variants.Conclusions Patients with missense alterations had better BCVA and greater structural integrity. This is important for patient prognostication and counselling, as well as stratification for future gene therapy trials