1.

Continuous Electronics Circuit Design

Course Description: The key aim of this course is to provide the background and the
methods for the understanding of the operation of basic analogue CMOS cells, and how
to design common functions. The emphasis is placed on design of analogue functions
specifically as part of mixed signal systems. The course will start with a review of the
important operating features of MOS devices and focus on the parasitic elements
associated with the fabrication process, examining which can be used as passive elements
in design. Device models suitable for hand calculation are considered as well as their
limits of applicability. The course adopts a strongly industrial perspective and design
methods for manufacturability and robustness as well as cost are given high priority.
Functions addressed include primitive cells, biasing and references, op-amp designs,
sampled and continuous time filters, A/D and D/A converters, and clock generation
systems for digital and mixed signal SoCs.
Textbooks: Razavi, B; Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits, McGraw Hill, 2001,
1st Ed.
Course learning outcomes:

Understand about active and passive components available in CMOS and their
parasitic elements of first order transistor modelling for initial manual design and
the limits of applicability
Understand about behaviour and design of basic analogue circuit primitives,
including quantitative treatment of matching
Understand about CMOS Op-Amp design, from simple single ended to full
differential and rail-to-rail structures
Understand about signal and bias handling for noise immunity in mixed signal
substrate
Understand about switched capacitor techniques and continuous time filters
Understand about practical issues in voltage and current scaling A/D and D/A
converters
Understand about sigma Delta ADC and DAC operation and design
Understand about SoC PLL clock generation subsystems

Topics covered:
1. Review of CMOS Process Device Modelling
Passive Components and their Parasitics
MOS Transistor Large and Small Signal Modelling for Hand Calculations
2. CMOS Amplifier Basics
Gain and Bandwidth
Cascode Stages
Differential Amplifier

 Device Matching Considerations

3. Current and Voltage Sources
Basic Current Mirrors
High Performance Current Mirrors
Simple Voltage References
Bandgap Voltage Reference
4. CMOS Operational Amplifiers
Basic Requirements
Simple 2-Stage Architecture
Stability Considerations and Dominant-Pole Compensation
Output Buffers
Single Stage Amplifiers
Fully Differential Amplifiers
Dynamically Biased Amplifiers
5. Noise in MOS Circuits
Review of Basics
Thermal of 1/f Device noise
Noise in Amplifier- Stages
Chopper Stabilisation for 1/f noise
kT/C Noise
6. Data Conversion Circuits
Basic Requirements
Simple Voltage and Current Scaling D/A
Comparators
Integrating A/D
Charge Redistribution A/D
Flash A/D
Sigma-Delta ADC and DAC
7. Switched Capacitor Techniques
Resistor Equivalent
Stray Insensitive Integrators
Biquad Design
8. Continuous Time Filters
Master-Slave Tuning Schemes
MOSFET-C Architecture
Transconductor-C Architecture
9. Clock Generation for Mixed Signal System ICs
PLL operating principles and behaviour
Phase detectors for integrated PLLs

 PLL architectures for SoC clock generation

Crystal reference oscillator circuits