Skip to main content

The Flipped Voltage Follower: Theory and Applications

  • Chapter

Part of the Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering book series (LNEE,volume 233)

Abstract

The ”flipped voltage follower (FVF)” is an enhanced buffer cell widely employed for low-power and/or low voltage operation. The applications of the FVF and its variations in analog and mixed signal (AMS) circuit design have increased continuously over the last few years. These are specially promising in deep submicrometer CMOS technology. In 2004 the paper ”The Flipped Voltage Follower: A useful cell for low-voltage low-power circuit design” was published [1], where the most important information about this versatile cell was compiled. Since then, several modifications of the FVF and a wide variety of new applications have been reported. No other article with a similar purpose has been published since then. The aim of this chapter is to make a compendium summarizing some of the most relevant information published to date on the FVF. In order to facilitate AMS designers the utilization of this cell in this chapter we revisit, classify and summarize most applications of the basic FVF and its variations. Although it is tutorial in nature, it can be helpful for those who want to introduce themselves in the study of this cell or for experienced designers who want to become familiar with the principle of operation, improved versions and applications, so that both can exploit to its maximum the potential of the FVF in a wide number of applications or also to develop new ones.

Keywords

  • Differential Pair
  • Gain Bandwidth
  • Open Loop Gain
  • Voltage Follower
  • Output Swing

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-36329-0_12
  • Chapter length: 19 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-642-36329-0
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Carvajal, R.G., Ramírez-Angulo, J., López-Martin, A., Torralba, A., Galán, J., Carlosena, A., Muñoz, F.: The Flipped voltage follower: A useful cell for low-voltage low-power circuit design. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I 52, 1276–1291 (2005)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  2. Gupta, S., Padilla, I., Ramirez-Angulo, J., Torralba, A., Jimenez, M.: Comparison of conventional and new flipped voltage follower structures. In: IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, pp. 1151–1154 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Gray, P.R., Hurst, P.J., Lewis, H., Meyer, R.G.: Design of analog integrated circuits, 4th edn. John Wiley and Sons, New York (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ramirez-Angulo, J., Lopez, A.: MITE Circuits: The continuous time counterpart to switched capacitor circuits. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II 48, 45–55 (2001)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  5. Torralba, A., Carvajal, R.G., Jiménez, M., Muñoz, F., Ramírez-Angulo, J.: A new low-voltage CMOS unity-gain buffer. In: Proc. of the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, pp. 919–922 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Torralba, A., Carvajal, R.G., Jiménez, M., Muñoz, F., Ramírez-Angulo, J.: A new, true low voltage, Class-AB current mirror. IEICE Electronics Express ELEX 2, 103–107 (2005)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  7. Acosta, L., Jimenez, M., Lopez-Martin, A., Ramirez-Angulo, J.: Highly linear tunable CMOS Gm-C low-pass filter. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems 56, 2145–2158 (2009)

    CrossRef  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. Acosta, L., Carvajal, R.G., Jimenez, M., Ramirez-Angulo, J., Lopez-Martin, A.: A CMOS transconductor with 90 dB SFDR and low sensitivity to mismatch. In: Proc. of the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Sanchez-Rodriguez, T., Ramirez-Angulo, J., Lopez-Martin, A., Carvajal, R.G., Patil, C.: Gain enhancement and low voltage techniques for analogue circuits in deep submicrometer CMOS Technology. In: Krysztof, I. (ed.) CMOS Nanoelectronics: Analog and RF VLSI Circuits. McGraw Hill, New York (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  10. You, F., Embabi, S.H.K., Sánchez-Sinencio, E.: Low-voltage class AB buffers with quiescent current control. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 33, 915–920 (1998)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  11. Peluso, V., Steyaert, M., Sansen, W.: Design of low-voltage low-power Sigma-delta A/D converters. Kluwer Academics Publishers, Boston (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Pardoen, M.D., Degrauwe, M.G.: A rail-to-rail CMOS input/output power amplifier. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 25, 501–504 (1990)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  13. Ramírez-Angulo, J., Carvajal, R.G., Torralba, A.: Low supply voltage high-performance CMOS current mirror with low input and output voltage requirements. In: Proc. of the IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, pp. 510–513 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Torralba, A., Carvajal, R.G., Ramirez-Angulo, J., Munoz, F.: Output stage for low supply voltage, high-performance CMOS current mirrors. IEE Electronics Letters 38, 1528–1529 (2002)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  15. Ducoudray, G.O., Carvajal, R.G., Ramírez-Angulo, J.: A High-speed dynamic current sensor scheme for iDD test using a flipped voltage follower. In: Proc. of the Southwest Symposium on Mixed-Signal Design, pp. 50–53 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Man, T.Y., Leung, K.N., Leung, C.Y., Mok, P.K.T., Chan, M.: Development of single transistor control LDO based on flipped voltage follower for SoC. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I 55, 1392–1401 (2008)

    CrossRef  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  17. Chen, H., Leung, K.N.: A fast transient LDO based on buffered flipped voltage follower. In: Proc. of the IEEE Electron. Devices and Solid State Circuits (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Peluso, V., Coreland, P.V., Steyaert, M., Sansen, W.: A 900 mV differential class AB OTA for switched op-amp applications. IEE Electronics Letters 33, 1455–1456 (1997)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  19. Torralba, A., Carvajal, R.G., Martínez-Heredia, J., Ramírez-Angulo, J.: Class AB output stage for low voltage CMOS Op-Amps with accurate quiescent current control. IEE Electronics Letters 36, 1753–1754 (2000)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  20. Carvajal, R.G., Galán, J., Ramírez-Angulo, J., Torralba, A.: Low-power low-voltage differential class-AB OTAs for SC circuits. IEE Electronics Letters 38, 1304–1305 (2002)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  21. Ramírez-Angulo, J., Carvajal, R.G., Torralba, A., Nieva, C.: A new class AB differential input stage for implementation of low-voltage high slew rate op amps and linear transconductors. In: Proc. of the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, pp. 671–674 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Ramirez-Angulo, J., Thoutam, S., Lopez-Martin, A., Carvajal, R.G.: Low voltage CMOS analog four quadrant multiplier based on flipped voltage followers. IEE Electronic Letters Proc. 39, 1771–1772 (2003)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  23. Lopez-Martin, A., Ramirez-Angulo, J., Chintham, R., Carvajal, R.G.: Class AB CMOS analogue squarer circuit. IEE Electronics Letters 43, 1059–1060 (2007)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  24. Palmisano, G., Palumbo, G.: A simple CMOS CCII+. International Journal of Circuit Theory and Applications 6, 599–603 (1995)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  25. Ramirez-Angulo, J., Gupta, S., Carvajal, R.G., Lopez-Martin, A.: New improved class AB buffers based on differential flipped voltage followers. In: Proc. of the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, pp. 3914–3917 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Ramirez-Angulo, J., Lopez-Martin, A., Carvajal, R.G., Chavero, F.M.: Very low-voltage analog signal processing based on quasi-floating gate transistors. IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits 39, 434–442 (2004)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  27. Ramírez-Angulo, J., Ducoudray-Acevedo, G., Carvajal, R.G., López-Martín, A.: Low voltage high performance voltage mode and current mode WTA circuits based on flipped voltage follower. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II 52, 420–423 (2005)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  28. Ramirez-Angulo, J., Molinar-Solis, J.E., Gupta, S., Carvajal, R.G., Lopez-Martin, A.: A high swing, high speed CMOS WTA using differential flipped voltage follower. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II 54, 668–672 (2007)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  29. Bikumandla, M., Ramírez-Angulo, J., Urquidi, C., Carvajal, R.G., Lopez-Martin, A.: Biasing CMOS amplifiers using MOS transistors in subthreshold region. IEICE Electronics Express 1, 339–345 (2004)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  30. Marri, S., Ramirez-Angulo, J., Lopez-Martin, A., Carvajal, R.G.: New high performance second generation CMOS current conveyor. In: Proc. of the XXIV Conference on Design Circuits and Integrated Systems, pp. 388–391 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ramirez-Angulo, J. et al. (2013). The Flipped Voltage Follower: Theory and Applications. In: Fakhfakh, M., Tlelo-Cuautle, E., Castro-Lopez, R. (eds) Analog/RF and Mixed-Signal Circuit Systematic Design. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 233. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36329-0_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36329-0_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-36328-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36329-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)