Telescopic Hybrid Amplifier Gain Boost via Smaller Cascode Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Telescopic amplifiers face a challenge in increasing their gain without incurring a power and/or size penalty, as traditional methods like gain boosting or triple cascoding require additional power or increased area.
Innovation Solution
The design involves reducing the size of cascode devices by half while maintaining their functionality, which reduces current and increases output impedance, thereby enhancing gain without increasing power consumption or size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional gain boosting or triple cascoding methods are used to increase the DC gain of a telescopic amplifier, then the gain is improved, but power consumption and/or device area increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the cascode devices by reducing their width (W) by half, which directly alters the current and output impedance characteristics. This parameter change achieves gain enhancement without the need for additional power-consuming circuits or larger device areas, thereby resolving the contradiction between improving DC gain and reducing power consumption
2Measurement precision
If traditional gain boosting or triple cascoding methods are used to increase the DC gain of a telescopic amplifier, then the gain is improved, but the device area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves gain improvement through parameter optimization of existing cascode devices (reducing width by half) rather than adding more devices or increasing their size. This approach enhances DC gain while maintaining or even reducing the overall device area, resolving the contradiction between gain enhancement and area minimization
3Measurement precision
If cascode device size is reduced by half, then output impedance increases and gain is enhanced, but current flowing through the devices decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent accepts the current reduction as a trade-off for achieving higher output impedance and gain. By changing the width parameter of cascode devices, the output impedance increases proportionally, which directly enhances the amplifier gain according to the formula Gain = gm * Rout. The current reduction is compensated by optimizing other parameters to maintain overall amplifier performance
Data Source
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AI summary
Exemplary embodiments are directed to systems, devices, and methods for enhancing a telescopic amplifier. An amplifier may include a differential pair of input transistors including at least one transistor configured to receive a first input and at least one other transistor configured to receive a second input. The amplifier may further include a cascode circuit including a first pair of transistors coupled to the at least one transistor of the differential pair to form a first plurality of current paths configured to generate a first output. The cascode circuit maymo also include a second pair of transistors coupled to the at least one other transistor of the differential pair to form a second plurality of currents paths configured to generate a second output.