Active Filter Design

Gm-C, OTA-C filter

Class#5

Outline
Transconductor
OTA
Gm circuits

Gm-C filter building block

Two integrator biquads
Design example

Automatic Frequency Tuning

Frequency control
Q control

Transconductor
What is needed?
An accurate voltage to current conversion
A clean transfer of current to output terminals

Attributes of high performance gm

Gm value should be stable and well controlled over process, supply and
temperature
Large signal handling capability, at both input and output terminals,
along with low distortion, and low noise.
Good high frequency characteristics for both magnitude and phase
response.
High input impedance.
High output impedance.
Availability of fully differential and balanced structures.
Gm tunability.

Operational Transconductance Amplifier

Simple gm circuits

Simple gm circuits
Properties

Gm can be tuned via I

Reasonably high input impedance
Moderate output impedance
Moderate bandwidth

Problems
Gm value is not well controlled, depends on process and
temp.
Square-root dependence on I limits the tuning range, Large
gm requires a large I, and tuning directly affects supply I.
The gm linearity is restricted to a small vin.

Gm linearization schemes-source degeneration

Gm-C-OTA integrator

Building Blocks

Building Blocks

First order circuits

First order circuits

Lossy integrator

Two integrator loop

Two-integrator biquads

Two-integrator biquads

Two-integrator biquads

Two-integrator biquads

Two-integrator biquads

Design Example 1 : Very small gm circuit

[ref] A. Veeravalli, E. Sanchez-Sinencio and J. Silva-Martinez, "Transconductance amplifier structures with very
small transconductances: a comparative design approach", IEEE JSSC, Vol. 37 Issue: 6, Jun 2002, pp. 770 -775

Design Example : Very Small Transconductances

Design Example :Output results

Design Example 2 : Pacemaker system

Design Example 2 : 4th order gm-C filter

VDD
MP 6

MP 5

MP 3

MP 4
I ss
V bfl
CA

MP 1M

MP 1

MP 2

M:1

CB

V rst

V ip
V rst

MN 5
MN 2

Vo

1:M

CB

V im

MP 2M

CA

MN 6
MN 1

MN 3
VSS

MN 4

Design Example 2 :Output results

- 20

@ vin 100mV ( -23.01TdBV) T

- 30 10Hz

TT

70Hz
- 12 dB/octave

- 40

- 50

- 60

- 70
10

20

50

100

200

500

1k

2k

5k

Frequency [Hz]

Passband: 10 Hz and 70Hz.

The harmonic distortion is below -70 dB at a 30-Hz, 75-mVp-p input signal.
The measured power dissipation of the filter is 1.8W.

Automatic Frequency Tuning

By adding additional circuitry to the main
filter circuit
Have the filter critical frequency automatically
tuned
Expensive trimming avoided
Accounts for critical frequency variations due to
temperature, supply voltage, and effect of aging
Additional hardware, increased Si area & power

Master-Slave Automatic Frequency Tuning

Following facts used in this scheme:
Use a replica of the main filter or its building block in the
tuning circuitry
The replica is called the master and the main filter is named
the slave
Place the replica in close proximity of the main filter to
ensure good matching
Use the tuning signal generated to tune the replica, to also
tune the main filter
In the literature, this scheme is called master-slave tuning!

Master-Slave Automatic Frequency Tuning

Tuning Methods For CT Filters

Voltage Controlled Filter approach

Problem :VCF method requires a fundamental sine wave, and suffers from offset error.

Voltage controlled oscillator approach

Instead of VCF a voltage-controlled oscillator
(VCO) is used
VCO made of replica integrator used in main
filter
Tuning circuit operates exactly as a
conventional phase-locked loop (PLL)
Tuning signal used to tune main filter

Voltage controlled oscillator approach

Phase
detector

Fclk

Loop
filter

Limiter
gmt
VCO

In

gm

gm

gm

Out

Slave filter

This is by far the most widely used automatic tuning method and considered the most
reliable method. This method made to achieve up to 1 % frequency accuracy.

Digitally Assisted Filter Tuning

DSP, A/D converter and input source are required. Its very difficult !!.

Q-tuning
Mismatch among similar gms or Cs
Phase errors are the limiting factors for high Q
circuits and high frequency applications
Q tuning should always be performed after
frequency has been tuned, and without
affecting frequency tuning.

Some ways of improving Q-tuning

Measuring Q directly.
Monitor the gain-magnitude at different frequencies and
correct the magnitude frequency response [R. schaumann].
Combine Q-tuning with frequency tuning using a VCO [J.M.
Khoury].
Envelope detection instead of peak detection [J. SilvaMartinez].
Adaptive technique [J.M. Stevenson].

Gm-C Filter Design Challenges

Power vs. Linearity

Dynamic range
Tuning scheme
Size of Capacitors / Noise

Summary
Gm-C, OTA-C filter

Gm circuit
Building block
Biquad examples
Automatic frequency tuning

Despite a rich history, new circuit

implementations, tuning schemes are still
being explored.

Current mode filter

Class#6

Outline
Current mode circuits
Primitive CM circuits
Lossy integrator

Building block
Integrator
Single ended
Improved balanced

Current mode circuit

Input Signal: Current
Output Signal: Current
Basic Building Blocks are:
Inverting Integrators
Inverting (Current Amplifiers)

Primitive Circuit Implementations:

Single Transistor Inverting Amplifier
Simple Current Mirror
Capacitor

Primitive CM Circuits

In order to fully obtain the benefits of current-mode techniques simpler circuits with
reduced parasitics are desirable.

Primitive CM Circuits

Primitive CM Circuits

Low Power supply

High frequency
Low area
Suitable for digital process
Good PSR
Poor linearity, efficiency (THD
< 4%)
Poor voltage gain

Primitive CM Circuits

Low power supply (3.3V)

High frequency
Low area
Suitable for digital process
Very good PSR
Good Linearity (differential)
Excellent efficiency ( 100%)
Poor common mode rejection

Primitive CM Circuits

Linearity sufficient
Very high efficiency (100%)
AB, low power
Very high frequency
Small area
Low Power Supply
Linearity dep. on process
variations
PSR poor

Lossy Integrator

Current mode lossy integrator

Current mode lossy integrator

Differential Integrator

Current mode basic cells-single ended

Integrator-single ended

Improved Balanced Integrators

X. Quan, S. Embabi and E. Snchez-Sinencio, Improved Fully Balanced Current-Mirror Integrator,

Electronic Letters, vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 1-3, January 1998.

Improved Balanced Integrators

Improved Balanced Integrators

Summary
CM filters can result in the lowest power
dissipation and smallest area
Transistor matching and bias current source
matching are main problems

Single ended and differential configuration

Improved balanced integrators