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A linear compact tunable transconductor for Gm-C applications

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Abstract

A CMOS highly linear voltage-controlled transconductor suitable for Gm-C filter design is presented. The control loop to program the transconductance maintains the input transistors in triode region with a compact topology. Measurement results for the transconductor fabricated in a 0.5-μm CMOS technology feature a spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of 72 dB for 1 Vpp differential inputs at 1 MHz. The voltage to current converter ensures a high linearity level for a wide transconductance range. Functionality of the transconductor is shown in a fifth-order Gm-C tunable complex filter well suited for a dual-mode Bluetooth/Zigbee transceiver.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, and FEDER funds under Grants FPA2010-22131-C02-02 and TEC2010-21563-C02-02, and by the Andalusian Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia, under Grants TIC-6311 and TIC-3674.

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Correspondence to J. Galán.

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Pedro, M., Galán, J., Sánchez-Rodríguez, T. et al. A linear compact tunable transconductor for Gm-C applications. Analog Integr Circ Sig Process 72, 351–361 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-011-9807-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10470-011-9807-2

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