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Abstract
Two new class AB output stages for CMOS opamps are
proposed with accurate quiescent current control. The
second proposed stage also provides accurate control of
the minimum current through the output transistors. The
proposed stages can be operated with a supply voltage
close to a transistor threshold voltage. A dynamic biasing
scheme allows them to operate in a wide range of supply
voltages. Simulation and experimental results are provided
that are in good agreement with expected values.
1. Introduction
The market of portable electronic equipment has pushed
industry to produce circuit designs with very low supply
voltage. Although two oxides are presently available in
some analogue technologies, digital compatibility forces
analogue circuits to operate with supply voltages close to
a transistor threshold voltage.
Several low-voltage (VDD<1SV)class-AB op-amp schemes
have been recently reported [ 11441. The Monticelli's
scheme [l] for quiescent current control uses two
complementary head-togail connected transistors and two
matched current sources to implement a floating voltage
source. This scheme achieves an accurate quiescent
current control by means of a translinear loop at the
expense of a high supply voltage (larger than two VGs).In
[2] the (negative) floating voltage source of figure 1 b was
implemented with one current source and one transistor,
although a complex control loop was required for quiescent
current control. In [3], diode connected transistors acting
as loads of simple common source amplifiers were used to
bias the output transistors. Although the proposed stage
is very simple, no a good class AB behavior was achieved
and dependence on process variations was not fully
eliminated. In [4] a folded version of the Monticelli's
output stage was proposed to achieve operation with low
supply voltage. Other output stages using a feedback loop
for quiescent current control can also be found in the
literature, but they have a slower speed and may have
stability problems because of the feedback loop.
(4
Figurel: First proposed class-AB output stage: a) Basic
idea, b) dynamic biasing circuitry, c) practical
implementation.
a) First output stage @gure la).
Figure 2a shows the first proposed output stage and figure
lb its biasing circuit for quiescent current control. The
proposed stage uses resistor R and current sourCes I , to
implement the floating voltage source VASof figure 1 b. The
input and output terminal voltages are V,and E,, Cross
connecting terminals X and Y to the gates of transistors
MOut,,and
respectively, allows the supply voltage to
be close to a transistor threshold voltage. For larger supply
voltages a straight connection of these terminal should be
done.
967
On the other hand, if lVABlwas too small, transistors Mlpand Ml,-M2, would operate in linear region.
Appropriate values for V? and VF are: VxQ= VDD - VsGMIpQ
- VDBar- dvxMAx/
2, and V p = VGsMln+ VDBa,+ oVxMAx/
2,
where dvxMAXis the maximum expected variation for the
input node voltage Vx . As a result, an appropriate value
for VAS= VP- VP = vDD - VGsMInQ - V S G ~ ~- ~ 2vDSat
~ Q
oVxMA".If the input node Vxin figure 3 is the first stage
output of an opamp, negative feedback reduces &xMAX to
only a few mVso that, for a 0.8,&ICMOS technology with
0.8 V of transistor threshold voltages, VDD - VABis in the
order of 1.8 to 3 V depending on transistor sizes and
biasing currents. According to this reasoning, this stage
can be operated with less than 1 V supply voltage and VAS
= - 0.8 V. Note that this stage can be also operated with a
high supply voltage if V,, is positive. The same dynamic
biasing scheme of figure 2b can be used to generate the
floating voltage sources VAS between nodes X-Y and W-Z
by means of two matched (and, normally scaled) replicas of
current sources I,' and resistor R'.
$+Iz
r'
V C M ADJ
Mal
Zo,rN
.
.
I
, I -
_.-.-
968
W/L
Output Stage
of figure 2c
50011
1 W/L I 16511
I 165/1
WiL.
5011
20/1
M2
W/L
16.5/1
6/ 1
I,=I*
p.4
lO/l
1011
50011
500/1
4,
pA
200
200
M1bM2p
W/L
2511
M3P
w/L
50/1
M3n
I,
w/L
Ip.4
I-
191: I I
Output Stage
of figure 3
50011
MI
16.5/1
4. Conclusions
Two new low voltage output stages have been proposed
for class-CMOS opamps. A new dynamic biasing
technique allows an accurate quiescent current control and
provides good PSRR. The second proposed stage also
allows to set the minimum current through output
969
transistors, which is a very convenient property for classAB output stages. Simulation and experimental results
show the classAB behavior of proposed stages.
[4]
DC Psspnnse
[5]
[6]
[7]
with quiescent current control, IEEE J. of SolidState Circuits, 1998, SC-33, (6), pp. 915-920.
DE LANGEN, and HUISING, H.J.: Compact low
voltage power-efficient operational amplifier cells
for VLSI, IEEE J. of Solid-state Circuits, 1998,
SC-33, (lo), pp. 1482-1496.
PELUSO, V., VANCORELAND, P., MARQUES,
A.M., STEYAERT, M.S.J., and SANSEN, W.: A
900mV low-power AID converter with 77 -dB
dynamic range, IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits,
1998, SC-33, (12), pp. 1887-1897.
RAM&Z-ANGULO,J., TORRALBA, A., and
CARVAJAL, R.G.: Low-voltage CMOS amplifiers
with wide inputautput voltage swing based on a
novel scheme, to be published in IEEE Tramon
CAS-II, 2000, CASH7 (5).
BASCHIROTTO, A., CASTELLO, R., and
MONTAGNA, G.P: Active series switch for
switched opamp circuits, Electron. Lett., 1999,
35, (4), pp. 263-264.
Units
m~
am
om
Mnn
tiNrc (
mh
;)
1.x
DcGain
(b)
Phase Margin
Unity Gain fequency
dB
Output
Output
Stage of Stage
fig.2c
offig.3
67
60
1 1 1 :l
0
7(P
60
MHz
18
20
332
387
Quiescent
output (p.4)
current
Minimum
output
current
(PA)
Supply current
(a)
I
I c-
(c)
PsRR
dB
I40
I dB
I45
I 45
5. References
[l]
MONTICELLI, D.M.: A quad CMOS smglesupply op amp with rail-to-rail output swing.
IEEE J. of Solid-State Circuits, 1986, SC-21, (6),
pp. 1026-1034.
[2]
[3]
500
970