Done By: Raza Hanif (3336928)

Raheel Choudhary
Fawad Usman Rathore
 Contents of Presentation
o Background and literature review
o Different applications of CMOS OpAmp
o Choice of complex electronic system
o proposed circuit (cmos opamp) to be
implemented in the system -> In the Book
o analysis of proposed circuit
o Improved, and more complex circuit
o Analysis
o System Analysis
o Conclusion
 BackGround
Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS)
technology is circuit implementation using both pMOS and
nMOS transistors on the same silicon chip.
CMOS designs typically offer high gain and speed at low
power consumption.
CMOS scales well to smaller devices without drastic
changes in performance.
This device is commonly used to amplify small signals, to
add/subtract voltages, and in active filtering.

It must have high gain, low current draw,

and should function over a variety of
frequencies.
 In Context with Textbook
TTL LOGIC

OP741
 Why CMOS over TTL?

MOSFETS consume less power in the driver circuit.

MOSFETS have greater bandwidth.
MOSFETS are thermally more stable.

MOSFETS are considerably ‘faster’ than BJT’s.

CMOS ICs use much less power than TTL

 Analysis of a Complex Electronic
System

The input consists of differential electrode inputs and the

outputs are from: an amplifier, a peak detector, a trough
detector, and a level detector.
A trough is a noticeable decline in the signal strength
 Implication of CMOS (OTA) amplifier in
neural amplifier
There is a great demand for technologies that enable neuroscientists and clinicians to
observe the simultaneous activity of large numbers of neurons in the brain.

While there are microelectronic devices being developed for small-scale amplification of the
weak bioelectrical signals, existing circuits typically have unacceptable noise levels or
consume too much power to be fully implanted in large quantities.

In our electronic system, the bioamplifier must dissipate little power so that surrounding
tissues are not damaged by heating. A heat flux of only 80 mW/cm2 can cause necrosis in
muscle tissue.

In small chronic impants, the power dissipation should not exceed a few hundred miliwatts.

Necrosis: accidental death of cells and living tissue.

 Main Objective

Design and testing of a fully integrated amplifier

suitable for recording biological signals from the
millihertz range to 7 kHz.

Design such that the amplifier offers the best power –

noise tradeoff.
Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA)

Pg. 885 in
textbook
 Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA)
The input voltage controls an output current by means of the device transconductance, labeled gm.

What is important and useful about the OTA’s transconductance parameter is that it is
controlled by an external current, the amplifier bias current, I ABC , so that one obtains

From this externally controlled transconductance, the output current as a function of the applied
voltage difference between the two input pins, labeled v + and v-, is given by
 Analysis of OTA Circuit

Power dissipation in the circuit is acceptable, but it is still not close to 1 mW, which is ideal for
biosignal amplifiers.

Possible Solutions:

I) Either, try to improve this circuit

II) Come up with another circuit that can supply high enough open loop gain, with
low power dissipation.
One possible design for a Low power CMOS
Operational Amplifier

VOS VDD
Vin
+

V+
OUT Vo
CL
-

V-
2p

VSS
 DC Gain of this circuit is about 145 dB
AC Analysis of the amplifier

W W
k p  2k n ( ) 2  ( )6
vo g m2  g m6 L L
  
vi ( g ds 2  g ds 4 )  ( g ds 6  g ds 7 ) ( 2   4)  ( 6   7) I D5  I D7
 VOS VDD
Vin
+

V+
OUT Vo

Power Dissipation of the amplifier -

CL

V-
2p

VSS

(ID1 + ID2 + ID3)*(VDD-VSS)

The circuit dissipates only about 180 uW of power, which is quiet low
compared to the circuit analyzed before
Result on the Oscilloscope
 Transient Response of the Circuit

Time domain response of the circuit when it is excited with a sinusoidal signal.
Closed Loop Circuit with Rf & Rs in
VDD

V+
inverting configuration
OUT Vout
RF2
-

V-
Vin CL
1M
2p
VSS

RF1
10M
Result on the Oscilloscope
 Many other design possibilities
VDD
5V

Q3 Q9

Q1 Q13 Q17
JFET_P_VIRTUAL JFET_P_VIRTUAL

JFET_P_VIRTUAL Q4 Q10 JFET_P_VIRTUAL JFET_P_VIRTUAL

Ibias Q23
100uA
JFET_P_VIRTUAL JFET_P_VIRTUAL
Q2 Q14 Q18
JFET_P_VIRTUAL

Q21
JFET_P_VIRTUAL JFET_P_VIRTUAL JFET_P_VIRTUAL

C1
Q19
JFET_P_VIRTUAL
15pF

Q5 Q6 Q11 Q15 JFET_N_VIRTUAL

JFET_N_VIRTUAL JFET_N_VIRTUAL JFET_N_VIRTUAL JFET_N_VIRTUAL Q22

V1
Q20
1V JFET_N_VIRTUAL
Q8 Q7 Q12 Q16
1kHz
0Deg
JFET_N_VIRTUAL
JFET_N_VIRTUAL JFET_N_VIRTUAL JFET_N_VIRTUAL JFET_N_VIRTUAL

C2

VSS
15pF
-5V
 Conclusion

The design process that was followed resulted in a CMOS operational

amplifier design that at least met and, in a few cases, exceeded the design
objectives by a large margin. The notable performance areas were the DC
open loop gain of 145 dB, and the power consumption of 180 uW. Also, the
settling time was quite low as can be seen by the transient response of the
circuit, which means the circuit is relatively ‘fast’.

A great deal was learned in the design process, including how to

approach a design project, the tradeoffs involved in a CMOS op-amp
design, patience, and how to stay up late.

There could still be a lot improved in this circuit, but requires knowledge
that is beyond the scope of this course, mainly in the field of VLSI.
 References

R. R. Harrison and C. Charles, "A low-power low-noise CMOS amplifier for neural
recording applications," IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 38, pp. 958-965, 2003.

Yiqin Chen, Mark E. Schlarmann and Randall L. Geiger, "An Improved design
Formulation for design and Optimization of Operational Amplifiers," MWSCAS’99 The
43rd Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, New Mexico, USA, 8-11 August,
1999.

Electrophysiology, From: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrophysiology]. Retrieved on

November 10th, 2006.