ECE 4220 - Analog Integrated Circuit Design (3C)

Integrated circuit design in silicon bipolar, MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor), and BiCMOS (Bipolar Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technologies for communications, sensor, instrumentation, data conversion, and power management applications. Models for active devices in bipolar and MOS technologies; transistor-level amplifiers and output stages (amplifier classifications); transistor-level current mirrors and voltage reference generators, transistor-level operational amplifiers; transistor-level feedback circuits; noise and linearity; layout and simulation of analog integrated circuits with modern VLSI CAD (Very Large Scale Integration-Computer Aided Design) software.

Analog signals are ubiquitous throughout the physical world. Analog circuits are therefore required to detect, amplify, manipulate, and process such signals. For example, analog circuits are required to interface with sensors/transducers [including microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices], converting physical responses, such as temperature, airflow, vibration, acceleration, stress, into electrical signals, amplifying these signals, and finally digitizing and communicating the resulting information to the electronic world. Analog circuits are required in the low-frequency/baseband sections of wireline and wireless communications transceivers. Analog circuits also form the core of many power management and control systems. Such analog circuits are now overwhelmingly realized as large-scale and very-large-scale integrated circuits, and these ICs increasingly contain both analog and digital functions (i.e. mixed-signal) rapidly approaching system-on-a-chip implementations. Silicon technology has evolved from micro- to nano-scale during the past decade. Accordingly, the integrated circuits and systems based on the silicon processes, CMOS or SiGe BiCMOS, are undoubtedly undergoing a paradigm shift toward a massive system integration by connecting gigantic number of smart objects in the network-oriented system platform. Rapid changing aspects of this technology imposes the need to revise and modify the previous version of this course into the proposed new syllabus. Furthermore, it is critical that ECE students have an opportunity to gain exposure to state-of-the-art analog IC design for communications, sensor, instrumentation, data conversion, and power management applications. It should be noted that skilled analog/mixed-signal IC designers continue to be in high demand in the semiconductor/electronics industries. The proposed course will provide this important exposure for our students. In addition, a key skill-set for IC designers is the ability to employ state-of-the-art computer-aided design (CAD), simulation and modeling tools; exposure to such tools will be a key aspect of the course

Describe, analyze and/or design:

- models for active devices in MOS and bipolar IC technologies, - feedback in system level, - single-ended and differential IC amplifiers, - IC current sources and voltage references, - noise sources and models applicable to ICs, - IC operational amplifiers, - linear regulators as an application circuit of operational amplifier in feedback

Design, simulate, lay out, and verify analog IC using a commercial CAD environment

Evaluate integrated circuit noise performance