Title :
Wide dynamic range current-to-voltage converters
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Concordia Univ., Montreal, QC
Abstract :
Current-to-voltage converters often need to have a wide dynamic range and a high sensitivity. We propose a method to design such converters. The conversion is made to comprise a nonlinear compression applied to the DC component of the input current and a high gain conversion to the signal one. It is performed by a low-pass current filter and current-dependent resistances. The current filter is used to extract the DC current from the input. This DC current is then converted, with a compression, into a voltage biasing the devices that make the signal conversion. In this way, the circuit bias and the conversion of the small signal are made input-current-adaptive. A CMOS converter has been designed with this method. The simulation results show that is able to operate over a dynamic range of 4 decades.
Keywords :
CMOS analogue integrated circuits; convertors; integrated circuit design; low-pass filters; CMOS converter; DC component; DC current; analog circuit design; current-dependent resistance; current-to-voltage converter; high gain conversion; high sensitivity convertor; input-current-adaptive conversion; low-pass current filter; nonlinear compression; wide dynamic range; CMOS technology; Circuit simulation; Design methodology; Dynamic range; Filters; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Switches; Switching circuits; Transconductance; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Design and Test Workshop, 2008. IDT 2008. 3rd International
Conference_Location :
Monastir
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-3479-4
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-3478-7
DOI :
10.1109/IDT.2008.4802529
