A 121.4dB DR, -109.8dB THD+N Capacitively-Coupled Chopper Class-D Audio Amplifier

Class-D amplifiers (CDAs) are often used in audio applications due to their superior power efficiency. Due to the sensitivity of the human ear, a large dynamic range (DR) is desired, and audio DACs with up to 130dB DR are commercially available [1]. However, the DR of the CDAs they drive is typically much lower [2]-[4], mainly due to the...

A MEMS Coriolis-Based Mass-Flow-to-Digital Converter with 100g/h/surdHz Noise i Floor and Zero Stability of pm 0.35mg/h

Flow sensors with high resolution (<200g/h/surdHz) and low offset drift (<pm 0.4mg/h) are essential in many microfluidic applications, such as flow cytometry and biological/chemical assays. Although thermal flow sensors can meet these specifications [1], [2], they measure flow velocity, so their calibration is fluid specific. Coriolis...

A 2.6-to-4.1GHz Fractional-N Digital PLL Based on a Time-Mode Arithmetic Unit Achieving -249.4dB FoM and -59dBc Fractional Spurs

In a fractional-N PLL, it is beneficial to minimize the input range of its phase detector (PD) as it promotes better linearity and higher PD gain for suppressing noise contributions of the following loop components. This can be done by canceling the predicted instantaneous time offset between the frequency reference (FREF) and the variable...

A 1.66Gb/s and 5.8pJ/b Transcutaneous IR-UWB Telemetry System with Hybrid Impulse Modulation for Intracortical Brain-Computer Interfaces

Intra-cortical extracellular neural sensing is being rapidly and widely applied in several clinical research and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), as the number of sensing channels continues to double every 6 years. By distributing multiple high-density extracellular micro-electrode arrays (MEAs) in vivo across the brain, each with 1000's of...

A 1.2mW/channel 100m-Pitch-Matched Transceiver ASIC with Boxcar-Integration-Based RX Micro-Beamformer for High-Resolution 3D Ultrasound Imaging

The integration of 2D ultrasonic transducer arrays and pitch-matched ASICs has enabled the realization of various 3D ultrasound imaging devices in recent years [1]-[3]. As applications such as 3D intravascular ultrasonography, intra-cardiac echocardiography, and trans-fontanelle ultrasonography call for miniaturization and improved spatial...

A Pitch-Matched ASIC with Integrated 65V TX and Shared Hybrid Beamforming ADC for Catheter-Based High-Frame-Rate 3D Ultrasound Probes

Intra-cardiac echography (ICE) probes (Fig. 32.2.1) are widely used in electrophysiology for their good procedure guidance and relatively safe application. ASICs are increasingly employed in these miniature probes to enhance signal quality and reduce the number of connections needed in mm-diameter catheters [1]-[5]. 3D visualization in real...

A 0.049mm2 7.1-to-16.8GHz Dual-Core Triple-Mode VCO Achieving 200dB FoMA in 22nm FinFET

LC VCOs with low phase noise (PN) and an octave frequency-tuning range (FTR) are required for multistandard communication devices, software-defined radios, and wireline data links. A viable popular approach is to exploit multicore mode-switching VCOs for two reasons: (1) their PN improves linearly by in-phase coupling of N identical VCOs; (2)...

A 23-to-29GHz Receiver with mm-Wave N-Input-N-Output Spatial Notch Filtering and Autonomous Notch-Steering Achieving 20-to-40dB mm-Wave Spatial Rejection and -14dBm In-Notch IP1 dB

Digital beamforming receivers (RXs) support MIMO operation and offer great flexibility and accuracy in multi-beam formation and calibration. However, compared with analog phased-array and hybrid systems, due to the absence of any rejection for spatial in-band blockers, the RX/ADC dynamic range and linearity should be high enough to prevent...

A -91 dB THD+N Resistor-Less Class-D Piezoelectric Speaker Driver Using a Dual Voltage/ Current Feedback for LC Resonance Damping

Piezoelectric speakers are gaining popularity on account of their improving form-factor and audio quality, making them a good fit for many audio applications such as in televisions, laptops, etc. Such speakers can be modelled as a large capacitive load, and so are typically driven by a Class-AB amplifier via a series resistor that ensures driver...

A ±25A Versatile Shunt-Based Current Sensor with 10kHz Bandwidth and ±0.25% Gain Error from -40°C to 85°C Using 2-Current Calibration

Accurate current sensing is critical in many industrial applications, such as battery management and motor control. Precise shunt-based current sensors have been reported with gain errors of less than 1% over the industrial temperature range (-40°C to 85°C) [1]–[4]. However, since they are intended for coulomb counting, their bandwidth is...

A Resistor-Based Temperature Sensor with a 0.13pJ·K2 Resolution FOM

Temperature sensors are often used for the temperature compensation of frequency references [1-5]. High resolution and energy efficiency are then critical requirements, the former to minimize jitter and the latter to minimize power dissipation in a given conversion time. A MEMS-resonator-based sensor meets both criteria [1], but requires two...