Abstract
A new circuit architecture for broadband digitally controlled variable gain amplifier (VGA) is introduced in this paper. The gain of the VGA is controlled precisely by using a resistor ladder attenuator and a closed-loop fine gain control block together. The bandwidth of the VGA is extended by applying a compensation technique in the fine gain control block. Implemented in 0.13-μm CMOS technology, the proposed VGA demonstrates a decibel-linear gain range of 24 dB (0–24 dB) with a gain step of 0.1 dB, a gain error <0.08 dB, a maximum input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) of 22.8 dBm, and a 3-dB bandwidth of 600 MHz.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bloodworth, B. E., Siniscalchi, P. P., De Veirman, G. A, Sr, Jezdic, A., Pierson, R., & Sundararaman, R. (1999). A 450-Mb/s analog front end for PRML read channels. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 34(11), 1661–1675.
Hsu, C.-C., & Wu, J.-T. (2003). A highly linear 125-MHz CMOS switched-resistor programmable-gain amplifier. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 38(10), 1663–1670.
Yoo, S.-J., Ravindran, A., & Ismail, M. (2004). A low voltage CMOS transresistance-based variable gain amplifier. IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, 1, 809–812.
Calvo, B., Celma, S., Aznar, F., & Alegre, J. P. (2007). Low-voltage CMOS programmable gain amplifier for UHF applications. Electronics Letters, 43(20), 1087–1088.
Duong, Q.-H., Le, Q., Kim, C.-W., & Lee, S.-G. (2006). A 95-dB linear low-power variable gain amplifier. IEEE Transanctions on Circuits and Systems I Regular Paper, 53(8), 1648–1657.
Nguyen, H.-H., Duong, Q.-H., & Lee, S.-G. (2008). 84 dB 5.2 mA digitally controlled variable gain amplifier. Electronics Letters, 44(5), 344–345.
Calvo, B., Celma, S., Martinez, P. A. & Sanz, M.T. (2006). A 1.8 V-100 MHz CMOS programmable gain amplifier. IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, (pp. 1555–1558).
Gilbert, B. (1991). Variable gain amplifier controlled by an analog signal and having a large dynamic range. U.S. Patent 5077541.
Kwon, I., & Lee, K. (2007). An accurate behavioral model for RF MOSFET linearity analysis. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, 17(12), 897–899.
Nguyen, H.-H., Nguyen, H.-N., Lee, J.-S., & Lee, S.-G. (2009). A binary-weighted switching and reconfiguration-based programmable gain amplifier. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II Express Briefs, 56(9), 699–703.
Lakshmikumar, K., Hadaway, R., & Copeland, M. (1986). Characterization and modeling of mismatch in MOS transistors for precision analog design. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, SC-21, 1057–1066.
Bastos, J., Steyaert, M., & Sansen, W. (1996). A High Yield 12-bit 250-MS/s CMOS D/A Converter. IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, (pp. 431–434).
Pelgrom, M. J. M., Duinmaijer, A. C. J., & Welbers, A. P. G. (1989). Matching properties of MOS transistors. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 24, 1433–1439.
Mostafa, M. A. I., Embabi, S. H. K., & Elmala, M. (2003). A 60-dB 246-MHz CMOS variable gain amplifier for subsampling GSM receivers. IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems, 11(5), 835–838.
Lee, H-C., Lin, C-C., & Wang, C-K. (2006) A 290 MHz 50 dB programmable gain amplifier for wideband communications. IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, (pp. 379–382).
Nguyen, H.-H., Duong, Q.-H., Le, H.-B., Lee, J.-S., & Lee, S.-G. (2008). Low-power 42 dB-linear single-stage digitally controlled variable gain amplifier. Electronics Letters, 44(13), 780–782.
Nguyen, H-H., Nguyen, H-N., Lee, J. & Lee, S-G. (2010) A high-linearity low-noise reconfiguration-based programmable gain amplifier, IEEE European Solid-State Circuits Conference, (pp. 166–169).
Harpe, P., Zhou, C., Philips, K. & Groot, H. (2011). A 1.6 mW 0.5 GHz open-loop VGA with fast startup and offset calibration for UWB radios. IEEE European Solid-State Circuits Conference, (pp. 103–106).
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the sponsors from LSI Corporation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lin, N., Fang, F., Hong, ZL. et al. A broadband linear-in-decibel variable gain amplifier with low gain error. Analog Integr Circ Sig Process 76, 73–80 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-013-0079-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-013-0079-x