16 GS/s Continuous-Time ΣΔ Modulator in a 22 nm SOI Process : a Simulation and Feasibility Study

Abstract: With a reference specification model in terms of 8 GS/s Sigma Delta Modulator in a 28 nm CMOS process consuming 890 mW, the purpose with this thesis is to construct a similar and simpler model but with higher specification demands. In a 22 nm SOI process with an input signal bandwidth of 500 MHz sampled at 16 GS/s with a power consumption below 2 W, the objective is to design a Continuous-Time Sigma Delta Modulator with verified simulated functionality on a transistor level basis. This specification is accomplished - with a power consumption in total of 75 mW. The design methodology is divided into an integrator part along with a quantizer and feedback DAC part. A top-down strategy is carried out starting with an ideal high level Verilog-A model for the complete system, followed by a hardware implementation on transistor level.