Versatile Voltage-Mode Biquadratic Filter and Quadrature Oscillator Using Four OTAs and Two Grounded Capacitors

1 V Tunable High-Quality Universal Filter Using Multiple-Input Operational Transconductance Amplifiers

This paper presents a new multiple-input single-output voltage-mode universal filter employing four multiple-input operational transconductance amplifiers (MI-OTAs) and three grounded capacitors suitable for low-voltage low-frequency applications. The quality factor (Q) of the filter functions can be tuned by both the capacitance ratio and the transconductance ratio. The multiple inputs of the OTA are realized using the bulk-driven multiple-input MOS transistor technique. The MI-OTA-based filter can also offer many filtering functions without additional circuitry requirements, such as an inverting amplifier to generate an inverted input signal. The proposed filter can simultaneously realize low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, band-stop, and all-pass responses, covering both non-inverting and inverting transfer functions in a single topology. The natural frequency and the quality factors of all the filtering functions can be controlled independently. The natural frequency can also be electronically controlled by tuning the transconductances of the OTAs. The proposed filter uses a 1 V supply voltage, consumes 120 μW of power for a 5 μA setting current, offers 40 dB of dynamic range and has a third intermodulation distortion of -43.6 dB. The performances of the proposed circuit were simulated using a 0.18 μm TSMC CMOS process in the Cadence Virtuoso System Design Platform to confirm the performance of the topology.

0.5-V Nano-Power Shadow Sinusoidal Oscillator Using Bulk-Driven Multiple-Input Operational Transconductance Amplifier

This paper presents a low-frequency shadow sinusoidal oscillator using a bulk-driven multiple-input operational transconductance amplifier (MI-OTA) with extremely low-voltage supply and nano-power consumption. The proposed oscillator is composed using two-input single-output biquad filter and amplifiers. The condition and the frequency of oscillation of the shadow oscillator can be controlled electronically and independently using amplifiers. The circuit is designed in Cadence program using 0.18 µm CMOS technology from TSMC. The voltage supply is 0.5 V and the power consumption of the oscillator is 54 nW. The total harmonic distortion (THD) of the output signals is around 0.3% for 202 Hz. The simulation results are in accordance with theory.

Synthesis of High-Input Impedance Electronically Tunable Voltage-Mode Second-Order Low-Pass, Band-Pass, and High-Pass Filters Based on LT1228 Integrated Circuits

This paper introduces two new high-input impedance electronically tunable voltage-mode (VM) multifunction second-order architectures with band-pass (BP), low-pass (LP), and high-pass (HP) filters. Both proposed architectures have one input and five outputs, implemented employing three commercial LT1228 integrated circuits (ICs), two grounded capacitors, and five resistors. Both proposed architectures also feature one high-impedance input port and three low-impedance output ports for easy connection to other VM configurations without the need for VM buffers. The two proposed VM LT1228-based second-order multifunction filters simultaneously provide BP, LP, and HP filter transfer functions at V_o1, V_o2, and V_o3 output terminals. The pole angular frequencies and the quality factors of the two proposed VM LT1228-based second-order multifunction filters can be electronically and orthogonally adjusted by the bias currents from their corresponding commercial LT1228 ICs, and can be independently adjusted in special cases. In addition, both proposed VM LT1228-based second-order multifunction filters have two independent gain-controlled BP and LP filter transfer functions at V_o4 and V_o5 output terminals, respectively. Based on the three commercial LT1228 ICs and several passive components, simulations and experimental measurements are provided to verify the theoretical predictions and demonstrate the performance of the two proposed high-input impedance electronically tunable VM LT1228-based second-order multifunction filters. The measured input 1-dB power gain compression point (P1dB), third-order IMD (IMD3), third-order intercept (TOI) point, and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of the first proposed filter were -7.1 dBm, -48.84 dBc, 4.133 dBm, and 45.02 dBc, respectively. The measured input P1dB, IMD3, TOI, and SFDR of the second proposed filter were -7 dBm, -49.65 dBc, 4.316 dBm, and 45.88 dBc, respectively. Both proposed filters use a topology synthesis method based on the VM second-order non-inverting/inverting HP filter transfer functions to generate the BP, LP and HP filter transfer functions simultaneously, making them suitable for applications in three-way crossover networks.

Duty-Cycle Electronically Tunable Triangular/Square Wave Generator Using LT1228 Commercially Available ICs for Capacitive Sensor Interfacing

This paper proposes a duty-cycle electronically tunable triangular/square wave generator using LT1228 commercially available ICs for capacitive sensor interfacing. The generator comprises two LT1228s, a grounded resistor, and a grounded capacitor. The circuit provides two output signals which are triangular and square waves. Both signals are regulated by adjusting the current bias. Likewise, the amplitude of the triangular signal can be tuned electronically without affecting the frequency. In addition, the square wave can independently control the linear duty cycle via tuning the voltage. Experiment results confirm the performance of the proposed circuit that the amplitude of the triangular wave, frequency, and duty cycle are linearly controllable via current or voltage, which do not affect each other. The duty cycle, the amplitude of the triangular wave, and frequency have maximum errors of ±1.60%, ±3.33%, and ±2.55%, respectively.

1.2 V Differential Difference Transconductance Amplifier and Its Application in Mixed-Mode Universal Filter

This paper presents a new mixed-mode universal filter based on a differential difference transconductance amplifier (DDTA). Unlike the conventional transconductance amplifier (TA), this DDTA has both advantages of the TA and the differential difference amplifier (DDA). The proposed filter can offer four-mode operations of second-order transfer functions into a single topology, namely, voltage-mode (VM), current-mode (CM), transadmittance-mode (TAM), and transimpedance-mode (TIM) transfer functions. Each operation mode offers five standard filtering responses; therefore, at least twenty filtering transfer functions can be obtained. For the filtering transfer functions, the matching conditions for the input and passive component are absent. The natural frequency and the quality factor can be set orthogonally and electronically controlled. The performance of the proposed topology was evaluated by PSPICE simulator using the 0.18 µm CMOS technology from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The voltage supply was 1.2 V and the power dissipation of the DDTA was 66 µW. The workability of the filter was confirmed through experimental test by DDTA-based LM13600 discrete-component integrated circuits.

0.3-Volt Rail-to-Rail DDTA and Its Application in a Universal Filter and Quadrature Oscillator

This paper presents the extremely low-voltage supply of the CMOS structure of a differential difference transconductance amplifier (DDTA). With a 0.3-volt supply voltage, the circuit offers rail-to-rail operational capability. The circuit is designed for low-frequency biomedical and sensor applications, and it consumes 357.4 nW of power. Based on two DDTAs and two grounded capacitors, a voltage-mode universal filter and quadrature oscillator are presented as applications. The universal filter possesses high-input impedance and electronic tuning ability of the natural frequency in the range of tens up to hundreds of Hz. The total harmonic distortion (THD) for the band-pass filter was 0.5% for 100 mV_pp @ 84.47 Hz input voltage. The slight modification of the filter yields a quadrature oscillator. The condition and the frequency of oscillation are orthogonally controllable. The frequency of oscillation can also be controlled electronically. The THD for a 67 Hz oscillation frequency was around 1.2%. The circuit is designed and simulated in a Cadence environment using 130 nm CMOS technology from United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC). The simulation results confirm the performance of the designed circuits.

Isomorphic Circuits of Independent Amplitude Tunable Voltage-Mode Bandpass Filters and Quadrature Sinusoidal Oscillators

This paper presents isomorphic circuits of voltage-mode (VM) non-inverting bandpass filters (NBPFs) and VM quadrature sinusoidal oscillators (QSOs) with independent amplitude control functionality. The proposed VM NBPFs and VM QSOs exhibit low-output impedance and independent amplitude control, which are important for easily cascading the VM operation and independent control of the amplitude gain. The proposed isomorphic circuits employ three LT1228 commercial integrated circuits (ICs), two grounded capacitors, two grounded resistors and one floating resistor. The use of grounded capacitors is beneficial for the implementation of the IC. Both NBPFs have a high-input impedance and have a wide range of independent amplitude tunable passband gain without affecting the quality factor (Q) and center frequency (fo). The Q and fo parameters of the proposed NBPFs are orthogonal tunability. By feeding back each input signal to the output response of the NBPF, two VM fully uncoupled QSOs are also proposed. The proposed VM fully uncoupled QSOs have two quadrature sinusoidal waveforms with two low-output impedances and one independent amplitude tunable sinusoidal waveform. The frequency of oscillation (FO) and the condition of oscillation (CO) are fully uncoupled and controlled electronically. The performances of the proposed isomorphic circuits have been tested with a ±5 volt power supply and are demonstrated by experimental measurements which confirm the theoretical assumptions.

Design and Experiment of Electronically Tunable Voltage-Mode Biquad and Output Current Amplitude Oscillator

This study presents an electronically tunable configuration for the design of a voltage-mode (VM) biquad with four input terminals and three output terminals. The proposed circuit employs four operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) and two grounded capacitors. Depending on the selections of the four input voltage signals, all the standard filtering functions can be realized. The proposed configuration simultaneously provides VM inverting band-pass, non-inverting low-pass, and non-inverting band-reject filtering functions without any component-matching choices. It offers the features of a resistorless structure, high-input impedance, electronic control of the pole frequency and quality factor, and low active and passive sensitivities. The measured power dissipation of the biquad is 0.96 W under 32 mA constant output current. The measured 1 dB power gain compression point of the output inverting band-pass filter is −7 dBm. The measured value of the third-order intercept point is 5.136 dBm, and the measured value of the third-order intermodulation distortion is −50.83 dBc. Moreover, the measured value of the spurious-free dynamic range is 53.49 dB, and the figure-of-merit of the biquad is 268.75 × 103. In addition, an electronically controllable quadrature oscillator (QO) with amplitude of output current can be realized using the proposed biquad. The proposed electronically controllable QO can provide an amplitude modulation signal or an amplitude shift keying signal, and is widely applied in signal processing systems and electronic communication systems. PSpice simulations and experimental results are accomplished.

High-Input Impedance Voltage-Mode Multifunction Filter

This paper proposes a high-input impedance voltage-mode (VM) multifunction biquad filter which employs three current-feedback amplifiers (CFAs), three resistors, and two grounded capacitors. The proposed VM multifunction biquad filter has single-input and triple-output and can realize non-inverting low-pass (NLP), inverting band-pass (IBP), and non-inverting band-stop (NBS) voltage responses at the same time without increasing component selection. The proposed VM multifunction biquad filter enjoys the orthogonal tunability of angular frequency and quality factor and also provides the advantage of using only two grounded capacitors, high-input impedance and low active/passive sensitivity. The performance of the proposed VM multifunction biquad filter is verified through its hardware implementation and OrCAD PSpice simulation based on AD844-type CFAs. The circuit analysis, sensitivity analysis, and NLP, IBP, and NBS voltage responses are also shown in this paper. The paper presents a method to effectively reduce the active and passive components, maintain good circuit performance, and reduce circuit costs.

Voltage-Mode Multifunction Biquad Filter and Its Application as Fully-Uncoupled Quadrature Oscillator Based on Current-Feedback Operational Amplifiers

This research introduces a new multifunction biquad filter based on voltage mode (VM) current-feedback operational amplifier (CFOA) and a fully uncoupled quadrature oscillator (QO) based on the proposed VM multifunction biquad filter. The proposed VM multifunction biquad filter has high impedance to the input voltage signal, and uses three CFOAs as active components, while using four resistors and two grounded capacitors as passive components. The VM CFOA-based multifunction biquad filter realizes band-reject, band-pass, and low-pass transfer functions at high-input impedance node simultaneously, which has the feature of easy cascading in VM operation without the need for additional voltage buffers. Additionally, the filter control factor parameter pole frequency (ω_o) and quality factor (Q) of the proposed VM multifunction biquad filter can be independently set by varying different resistors. By slightly modifying the VM multifunction biquad filter topology, a VM fully-uncoupled QO is easily obtained. The difference from the previous VM CFOA-based multifunction biquad filter is that the proposed VM CFOA-based multifunction biquad filter can be independently controlled by the filter control factor parameters, ω_o and Q. The proposed VM CFOA-based multifunction biquad filter can be transformed into a VM QO with fully-uncoupled adjustable of the oscillation condition and the oscillation frequency. The oscillation condition and the oscillation frequency can be fully-uncoupled and controlled by varying two sets of completely different resistors. The proposed VM fully-uncoupled QO solves the amplitude instability. The constant amplitude ratio of two quadrature sinusoidal waveforms can be realized when tuning FO. PSpice simulation and experimental results prove the performances of the proposed VM multifunction filter and VM fully-uncoupled QO. Simulation and experimental results confirm the theoretical analysis of the proposed circuits.