A Novel Logarithmic Current-Controlled Current Amplifier (LCCA)
A new OTA-based logarithmic-control variable gain
current amplifier (LCCA) is presented. It consists of two Operational
Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) and two PMOS transistors
biased in weak inversion region. The circuit operates from 0.6V DC
power supply and consumes 0.6 μW. The linear-dB controllable
output range is 43 dB with maximum error less than 0.5dB. The
functionality of the proposed design was confirmed using HSPICE in
0.35μm CMOS process technology.
[1] Thomas L. Floyd, Electronic Devices (Conventional Flow Version), 6th
ed. (Prentice Hall, 2001).
[2] V.T.S. Vintola et al., "Variable-gain power amplifier for mobile
WCDMA applications," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and
Techniques 49 (December 2001): 2464-2471.
[3] D. Coffing et al., "A variable gain amplifier with 50-dB control range
for 900-MHz applications," IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 2
(September 2002): 1169-1175.
[4] B. Sewiolo, G. Fischer, and R. Weigel, "A 30 GHz Variable Gain
Amplifier With High Output Voltage Swing for Ultra-Wideband Radar,"
IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters 19 (September
2009): 590-592.
[5] K. Hadidi and H. Kobayashi, "A 25 MHz 20 dB variable gain amplifier"
(Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, 1994.
IMTC/94. Conference Proceedings. 10th Anniversary. Advanced
Technologies in I & M., 1994 IEEE), vol.2, pp. 780-783, May 1994
[6] Liu W and Liu S-I, "Low Voltage and Low Power CMOS Exponential-
Control Variable-Gain Amplifier," IEICE Trans Fundam Electron
Commun Comput Sci (Inst Electron Inf Commun Eng) E87-A, no. 4
(2004): 952-954.
[7] C. -C Chang, M. -L Lin, and S. -I Liu, "CMOS current-mode
exponential-control variable-gain amplifier," Electronics Letters 37, no.
14 (July 5, 2001): 868-869.
[8] W. Liu, S. -I Liu, and S. -K Wei, "CMOS exponential-control variable
gain amplifiers," Circuits, Devices and Systems, IEE Proceedings - 151,
no. 2 (April 12, 2004): 83- 86.
[9] Po-Chiun Huang, Li-Yu Chiou, and Chorng-Kuang Wang, "A 3.3-V
CMOS wideband exponential control variable-gain-amplifier," in
Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and
Systems, 1998. ISCAS -98, vol. 1 (presented at the Proceedings of the
1998 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, 1998.
ISCAS -98, IEEE, 1998), 285-288 vol.1.
[10] John M. Tammone, Jr., "United States Patent: 6229374 - Variable gain
amplifiers and methods having a logarithmic gain control function",
May 8, 2001.
[11] M. Mizutani, "Patent 4628276" - Logarithmically linearly controlled
variable gain amplifier (Google Patents, December 14, 1984).
[12] W. Liu and S. I Liu, "Low-voltage and low-power CMOS voltage-tocurrent
converter," IEICE transactions on electronics 87, no. 6 (2004):
1029-1032.
[13] Weihsing Liu, Wei-Lung Mao, and Jyh Sheen, "A Low-power and Lowvoltage
Cube-law Circuit Design using MOSFETs," in Electron Devices
and Solid-State Circuits, 2007. EDSSC 2007. IEEE Conference on,
2007, 829-832.
[14] A. Nag and R.P. Paily, "Low power squaring and square root circuits
using subthreshold MOS transistors," in Emerging Trends in Electronic
and Photonic Devices & Systems, 2009. ELECTRO -09. International
Conference on, 2009, 96-99.
[15] M.A. Al-Absi, "Low-voltage and low-power CMOS current-mode
divider and 1/x circuit," in Electronic Devices, Systems and
Applications (ICEDSA), 2010 Intl Conf on, 2010, 245-247.
[16] F. Serra-Graells and J.L. Huertas, "Low-voltage CMOS subthreshold log
amplification and AGC," Circuits, Devices and Systems, IEE
Proceedings - 152, no. 1 (2005): 61-70.
[17] C.-H. Kao, W.-P. Lin, and C.-S. Hsieh, "Low-voltage low-power current
mode exponential circuit," Circuits, Devices and Systems, IEE
Proceedings - (2005): 633-635.
[18] J. Pimentel, F. Salazar, M. Pacheco, and Y. Gavriel, "Very-low-power
analog cells in CMOS," 2000 Proc. 43rd IEEE Midwest Symposium on
Circuits and Systems, vol.1, pp.328 -331, 2000.
[1] Thomas L. Floyd, Electronic Devices (Conventional Flow Version), 6th
ed. (Prentice Hall, 2001).
[2] V.T.S. Vintola et al., "Variable-gain power amplifier for mobile
WCDMA applications," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and
Techniques 49 (December 2001): 2464-2471.
[3] D. Coffing et al., "A variable gain amplifier with 50-dB control range
for 900-MHz applications," IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 2
(September 2002): 1169-1175.
[4] B. Sewiolo, G. Fischer, and R. Weigel, "A 30 GHz Variable Gain
Amplifier With High Output Voltage Swing for Ultra-Wideband Radar,"
IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters 19 (September
2009): 590-592.
[5] K. Hadidi and H. Kobayashi, "A 25 MHz 20 dB variable gain amplifier"
(Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, 1994.
IMTC/94. Conference Proceedings. 10th Anniversary. Advanced
Technologies in I & M., 1994 IEEE), vol.2, pp. 780-783, May 1994
[6] Liu W and Liu S-I, "Low Voltage and Low Power CMOS Exponential-
Control Variable-Gain Amplifier," IEICE Trans Fundam Electron
Commun Comput Sci (Inst Electron Inf Commun Eng) E87-A, no. 4
(2004): 952-954.
[7] C. -C Chang, M. -L Lin, and S. -I Liu, "CMOS current-mode
exponential-control variable-gain amplifier," Electronics Letters 37, no.
14 (July 5, 2001): 868-869.
[8] W. Liu, S. -I Liu, and S. -K Wei, "CMOS exponential-control variable
gain amplifiers," Circuits, Devices and Systems, IEE Proceedings - 151,
no. 2 (April 12, 2004): 83- 86.
[9] Po-Chiun Huang, Li-Yu Chiou, and Chorng-Kuang Wang, "A 3.3-V
CMOS wideband exponential control variable-gain-amplifier," in
Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and
Systems, 1998. ISCAS -98, vol. 1 (presented at the Proceedings of the
1998 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, 1998.
ISCAS -98, IEEE, 1998), 285-288 vol.1.
[10] John M. Tammone, Jr., "United States Patent: 6229374 - Variable gain
amplifiers and methods having a logarithmic gain control function",
May 8, 2001.
[11] M. Mizutani, "Patent 4628276" - Logarithmically linearly controlled
variable gain amplifier (Google Patents, December 14, 1984).
[12] W. Liu and S. I Liu, "Low-voltage and low-power CMOS voltage-tocurrent
converter," IEICE transactions on electronics 87, no. 6 (2004):
1029-1032.
[13] Weihsing Liu, Wei-Lung Mao, and Jyh Sheen, "A Low-power and Lowvoltage
Cube-law Circuit Design using MOSFETs," in Electron Devices
and Solid-State Circuits, 2007. EDSSC 2007. IEEE Conference on,
2007, 829-832.
[14] A. Nag and R.P. Paily, "Low power squaring and square root circuits
using subthreshold MOS transistors," in Emerging Trends in Electronic
and Photonic Devices & Systems, 2009. ELECTRO -09. International
Conference on, 2009, 96-99.
[15] M.A. Al-Absi, "Low-voltage and low-power CMOS current-mode
divider and 1/x circuit," in Electronic Devices, Systems and
Applications (ICEDSA), 2010 Intl Conf on, 2010, 245-247.
[16] F. Serra-Graells and J.L. Huertas, "Low-voltage CMOS subthreshold log
amplification and AGC," Circuits, Devices and Systems, IEE
Proceedings - 152, no. 1 (2005): 61-70.
[17] C.-H. Kao, W.-P. Lin, and C.-S. Hsieh, "Low-voltage low-power current
mode exponential circuit," Circuits, Devices and Systems, IEE
Proceedings - (2005): 633-635.
[18] J. Pimentel, F. Salazar, M. Pacheco, and Y. Gavriel, "Very-low-power
analog cells in CMOS," 2000 Proc. 43rd IEEE Midwest Symposium on
Circuits and Systems, vol.1, pp.328 -331, 2000.
@article{"International Journal of Electrical, Electronic and Communication Sciences:59194", author = "Karama M. AL-Tamimi and Munir A. Al-Absi", title = "A Novel Logarithmic Current-Controlled Current Amplifier (LCCA)", abstract = "A new OTA-based logarithmic-control variable gain
current amplifier (LCCA) is presented. It consists of two Operational
Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) and two PMOS transistors
biased in weak inversion region. The circuit operates from 0.6V DC
power supply and consumes 0.6 μW. The linear-dB controllable
output range is 43 dB with maximum error less than 0.5dB. The
functionality of the proposed design was confirmed using HSPICE in
0.35μm CMOS process technology.", keywords = "LCCA, OTA, Logarithmic, VGA, Weak inversion,
Current-mode", volume = "6", number = "1", pages = "99-3", }
