Design of CMOS Two-Stage Differential Operational

Trans Conductance Amplifier

Minor Project Report
by

Mahesh K (15VL14F)
Surya Ganesh P (15VL17F)
M Narendar (15VL16F)
(M.Tech VLSI Design)
Under the guidance of

Dr. Rekha S

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

National Institute of Technology Karnataka
22nd April 2016

Contents
1 Introduction

2 Design procedure
2.1 2 Stage OTA archetrcture . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 OTA with Frequency Compensation . . . . . .
2.2.1 OTA with Miller Compensation . . . .
2.2.2 OTA with Feed Forward Compensation

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3 Simulations and Results

3.1 Frequency Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2 Transient Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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4 Conclusion

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List of Figures
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Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 stage OTA without compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 stage OTA with Miller Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frequency response of OTA with and without Miller Compensation
OTA with Feed Forward Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frequency response of OTA with Feed Forward Compensation . . .
Frequency Response of OTA with Miller Compensation . . . . . . .
Frequency Response of OTA with Feed Forward Compensation . . .
OTA as Unity gain Amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OTA as Non Inverting Amplifier with Gain =2 . . . . . . . . . . . .
OTA as Inverting Amplifier with Gain =2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Specification of two-stage CMOS op-amp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

List of Tables
1

ABSTRACT
OTA(Operational Trans conductance Amplifier)is a basic building block of analog system
designs like data converters(ADC/DAC),active filter design and RF integrated circuit
design.OTA contains mainly 2 stages ,first stage is differential circuit of high gain and
second stage is normal CS amplifier for high swing. We designed and implemented the
OTA with compensation techniques(Miller and Feed forward) for certain specifications
using 180nm technology TSMC model.The OTA is simulated using LT-SPICE with both
Miller compensation and Feed forward compensation.The OTA with miller compensation
has gain of 70dB with bandwidth of 6.5 KHz and having phase margin of 60 degrees.The
OTA with Feed Forward compensation has gain of 60dB with bandwidth of 360 KHz and
having phase margin of 45 degrees.

Introduction

OTA(Operational Trans conductance Amplifier)is a basic building block of analog system designs like data converters(ADC/DAC),active filter design and RF integrated circuit
design. The basic block diagram of 2 stage OTA is shown in Figure 1.It contains the differential amplifier ,single stage amplifier, Compensation circuit and biasing circuit .The first
stage differential amplifier is used to remove common mode noise and to get high gain.
The second stage is single ended CS amplifier which is mainly used for high swing.The
biasing circuits are mainly used to make all the MOSFETs in saturation region. Usually
current mirror circuits are used for biasing. The 2 stage OTA has 2 poles so it may effects
the system stability because of poor phase margin. To improve the phase margin of OTA
we are using 2 compensation techniques ,they are miller compensation and Feed forward
compensation. Each one has advantages and disadvantages.
In Miller compensation we are adding an additional capacitor between second stage
input and output.It will causes the OTA to behave like a first order system before UGB
frequency by transferring one of the pole to the right of UGB frequency there by increasing the phase margin.
In feed forward compensation we are connecting a single stage trans conductor in feed
forward path with 2 stage OTA. It will cause an addition of LHP zero. If the zero is
placed to the left of UGB frequency then it will reduces the effective phase caused by
LHP poles , there by increasing the phase margin.

Figure 1: Block Diagram

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2.1

Design procedure
2 Stage OTA archetrcture

The two-stage CMOS operational amplifier without any compensation technique is shown
in Figure 2. The Input Differential Amplifier block forms the input of the op amp and
provides a good portion of the overall gain to improve noise and offset performance. The
Second Gain Circuit block is typically configured as a simple common-source stage so as
to allow maximum output swings. The Bias Circuit is provided to establish the proper
operating point for each transistor in its saturation region. circuit: Transistors M1, M2,

Figure 2: 2 stage OTA without compensation

M3, and M4 form the first stage of the op ampthe differential amplifier with differential to
single ended transformation. In this stage, the conversion from differential to single ended
is achieved by using a current mirror (M3 and M4). The current from M1 is mirrored
by M3 and M4 and subtracted from the current from M2. The differential current from
M1 and M2 multiplied by the output resistance of the first stage gives the single-ended
output voltage, which constitutes the input of the second gain stage. The second stage is
a current sink load inverter. M6 is the driver while M7 acts as the load. The first stage
and the second stage circuits use the same reference current; hence, the bias currents in
the two stages are controlled together.
F irstStageGain(Av1 ) =
SecondStageGain(Av2 ) =

gm1
gds2 + gds4
gm6
gds6 + gds7

T otalDCgain(Av0 ) = (Av1 ) (Av2 )

Av0
S
S
(1 + )(1 + )
P1
P2
gm1
GainBandwidthP roduct =
C1
Av (S) =

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

(5)

Table 1: Specification of two-stage CMOS op-amp

Specification Names
Values
Supply VDD
1.8v
Gain
60dB
Slew rate
5v/us
Gain Bandwidth
30MHz
Input/output common
0.9v
mode voltage
Common mode rejection
50dB
Output Swing
+/- 1V
Offset
1uv
[gds2 + gds4 ]
C1
[gds6 + gds7 ]
OutputpoleP 2 =
CL

OutputpoleP 1 =

2.2

(6)
(7)

OTA with Frequency Compensation

The 2 stage OTA faces discussed in the above section has poor phase margin.To improve
phase margin we are using some compensation techniques. They are Miller compensation
and Feed forward compensation.If the phase margin is very less or negative then the
circuit will become unstable. If the phase margin is very high then the settling time is
very high. So we have to choose an appropriate phase margin while designing the OTA
with compensation circuit. Usually the optimum range of phase margin is about 45-60
dB.
2.2.1

OTA with Miller Compensation

Figure 3: 2 stage OTA with Miller Compensation

The OTA with miller compensation is shown in Figure.3. The OTA is implemented
with Miller compensation by placing an additional large capacitor across the input and
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Figure 4: Frequency response of OTA with and without Miller Compensation

out of second stage amplifier. The value of the capacitor will depend on the value of
phase margin. The basic principle involved in the miller compensation is splitting of the
poles.The frequency response of OTA with and without miller capacitance is shown in
Figure 4.
From the frequency response, before applying miller compensation OTA has poles
atP 1 and P 2 and the pole P 2 lies on the left of the UGB frequency in bode plot.So at
UGB frequency the phase of OTA is below -180 degree causing phase margin negative.
If we add a miller capacitor ,it will split the poles causing P 1 is shifted to P 10 and P 2
is shifted to the P 20 and the P 20 lies on the right of the UGB frequency .So the phase of
OTA at UGB frequency is greater than -180 degree, there by increasing the phase margin
from negative to positive value(depend on miller capacitor). The miller compensation
causes the OTA to behave like a single order system on or before UGB frequency.The
disadvantage of Miller compensation is decrease in bandwidth because of shifting P1.But
the UGB is same so the DC gain will increase the same amount of decrease in bandwidth.
The miller capacitor split the poles and they move in opposite directions such that pole
P 20 will go to the right of the UGB frequency there by decreasing the order of the system
to single order in left of the UGB frequency.The disadvantage of the Miller compensation
is ,it reduces the bandwidth of the OTA because of shifting the pole location from P1 to
P1
The equations governing 2 stage OTA with Miller compensation is shown below.
Slewrate =

I5
Cc

gm1
gds2 + gds4
gm6
SecondStageGain(Av2 ) =
gds6 + gds7
F irstStageGain(Av1 ) =

(8)
(9)
(10)

T otalDCgain(Av0 ) = (Av1 ) (Av2 )

S
]
Z1
Av (S) =
S
S
(1 + )(1 + )
P1
P2
gm1
GainBandwidthP roduct =
Cc

(11)

Av0 [1 +

[gds6 + gds7 ][gds6 + gds7 ]

gm6 Cc
gm6
OutputpoleP 2 =
CL
gm6
RHP ZeroZ1 =
Cc

OutputpoleP 1 =

2.2.2

(12)

(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)

OTA with Feed Forward Compensation

The OTA with feed forward compensation is shown in Figure .5.In feed forward compensation we are adding an addition single stage OTA parallel to 2 stage OTA. The feed
forward OTA adds a zero to the transfer function of total OTA. If we design the Gm of
feed forward OTA in such away that the added zero should be in LHP plane and it should
lie in the left of UGB frequency, it will effect the effective phase of OTA before UGB frequency. The frequency response of OTA with feed forward compensation is shown in
Figure.6.
Before feed forward compensation the phase of the OTA at UGB frequency is less
than -180 degree ,so it causes the system instability because of negative phase margin.If
the OTA is implemented with feed forward compensation, it will add a LHP zero. The
basic idea of improving phase margin is the added LHP zero should lie on the left of UGB
frequency. As the Zero adds a +90 degree phase to the voltage gain transfer function it
will make the effective phase to be greater than -180 degree there by giving positive phase
margin.The positive phase margin improves the system stability. The main requirement
of this compensation is designing the feed forward trans conductor (Gm)for required
phase margin.From the equation.23, it is observed that the Gm1 of feed forward trans
conductor should be grater than the Gm2 and Gm3 so that the zero will be added to the
left of the UGB frequency.The feed forward compensation wont decrease the bandwidth
but it will decrease the gain of total OTA,because the output resistance of OTA with
compensation will decrease by half.The disadvantage of Feed forward compensation is we
have use an additional trans conductor there by increasing the area and power.
The equations governing Feed forward compensation circuit are written below.
V0 =

Gm1 Vid Gm2 Gm3 Vid

+
Gl
Go2 GL

Gm1 Gm2 Gm3

+
GL
Go2 GL
Gm1 Go1 + Gm2 Gm3
DCGain =
Go2 GL
Av =

(17)
(18)
(19)

Figure 5: OTA with Feed Forward Compensation

Figure 6: Frequency response of OTA with Feed Forward Compensation

DCGain =

Gm2 Gm3
; Since G02 << Gm2 orGm3
Go2 GL
S
]
Z1
Av (S) =
S
S
(1 + )(1 + )
P1
P2
Gl
P1 =
CL
G02
P2 =
C2
Gm2 Gm3
Z1 =
Gm1 C2
Av0 [1 +

(20)

(21)
(22)
(23)

Simulations and Results

The OTA is implemented with both Miller compensation and feed forward compensation.The designed OTA is simulated by using LT-Spice simulator.First we biased the
OTA with proper biasing circuit to make all the transistors in saturation.In the biasing
proper currents are chosen to make both input and output common mode voltages are
equal.The frequency response and transient response is observed for both compensation
techniques.The OTA with Miller compensation has power dissipation of 290 uW where
as OTA with feed forward compensation has power dissipation of 1.2mA.

3.1

Frequency Response

Figure 7: Frequency Response of OTA with Miller Compensation

The OTA is implemented with both Miller compensation and feed forward compensation.The frequency response of OTA with Miller compensation and feed forward compensation are shown in Figure.7 and Figure.8 respectively. From frequency response it is
observed that OTA with miller compensation has Gain of 70dB ,bandwidth of 6.5KHz
and phase margin of 60 degrees.the OTA with feed forward compensation has Gain of
63dB ,bandwidth of 360KHz and phase margin of 45 degree.

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Figure 8: Frequency Response of OTA with Feed Forward Compensation

3.2

Transient Response

The designed OTA is used as an amplifier by using negative feedback.The OTA is connected in both inverting mode and non inverting mode to act as amplifier.The simulated
waveforms are shown in Figure.11,Figure.10,Figure.9.

Figure 9: OTA as Unity gain Amplifier

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Figure 10: OTA as Non Inverting Amplifier with Gain =2

Figure 11: OTA as Inverting Amplifier with Gain =2

Conclusion

The 2 stage Operational Trans conductance amplifier is designed and implemented with
both miller compensation and feed forward compensation.The advantages and disadvantages of both compensations are discussed in the above sections.The miller compensation
decreases the 3-db bandwidth of OTA while feed forward compensation wont effect the
3dB bandwidth of the OTA.The power dissipation and area in OTA with miller compensation is less compared to the OTA with feed forward compensation. From frequency
response it is observed that OTA with miller compensation has Gain of 70dB ,bandwidth
of 6.5KHz and phase margin of 60 degrees where as the OTA with feed forward compensation has Gain of 63dB ,bandwidth of 360KHz and phase margin of 45 degree.The
OTA with Miller compensation has power dissipation of 290 uW where as OTA with feed
forward compensation has power dissipation of 1.2mW.

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