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70 dB Dynamic Range CMOS Wideband Digital Variable Gain Amplifier for AGC in DVB-T/H Receivers

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Abstract

This paper presents a novel variable gain amplifier (VGA) design which is applied in the automatic gain control loop of digital video broadcasting (DVB) receivers designed for standards DVB-T/H. The VGA is composed of three cascaded tunable gain stages to provide a 70 dB dynamic range with 2 dB gain steps. Each gain stage is based on a digital variable gain amplifier (DVGA) which is composed of a plurality of gain blocks (GBs) and a fully differential degeneration amplifier (FDDA). The GBs of the DVGA are digitally controlled current mirrors. A common-mode feedback circuitry is used to stabilize the FDDA by providing a stable common-mode voltage. Physical measurements on silicon show that the gain error is merely 0.55 dB given a 70 dB tuning range.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical Engineering Department, National Sun Yat-Sen University, 70 Lian-Hai Rd., Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan

    Chua-Chin Wang & Chi-Chun Huang

  2. Electronic Engineering Department, Kao Yuan University, 1821 Jhongshan Rd., Lujhu Township, Kaohsiung, 82151, Taiwan

    Ching-Li Lee

  3. Himax Technologies Inc., 26 Zih Lian Rd., Fonghua Village, Sinshih Township, Tainan, 74445, Taiwan

    Li-Ping Lin

  4. Himax Display Inc., Block B, 1F No.12 Nanke 8th Rd., Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park, Tainan, 74144, Taiwan

    Yih-Long Tseng

Authors
  1. Chua-Chin Wang
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  2. Chi-Chun Huang
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  3. Ching-Li Lee
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  4. Li-Ping Lin
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  5. Yih-Long Tseng
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chua-Chin Wang.

Additional information

This work was supported by National Science Council, Taiwan, under contract nos. NSC96-2628-E-110-019 and NSC96-2920-E-110-001.

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Wang, CC., Huang, CC., Lee, CL. et al. 70 dB Dynamic Range CMOS Wideband Digital Variable Gain Amplifier for AGC in DVB-T/H Receivers. Circuits Syst Signal Process 27, 367–379 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00034-008-9028-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00034-008-9028-9

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