0.18-µm CMOS Driver Optimization for Maximum Data Rate under Power and Area Constraints

Audrey Michard (1) , Pietro Maris Ferreira (1) , Jean-François Carpentier (2)

1 GeePs - Laboratoire Génie électrique et électronique de Paris
2 ST-CROLLES - STMicroelectronics [Crolles]

This paper presents a Mach-Zehnder-based transmitter in 0.18 µm CMOS. An asymmetric driver is proposed to achieve a large output swing on the optical modulator. The logical effort method was applied on each driver block in order to optimize the propagation delay. The driver characteristics are analyzed based on slew-rate limitation. The speed-power-area trade-off is highlighted and enables to adjust the driver design according to specified constraints. Driver performance obtained with early-design-stage equations is compared to post-layout simulations. Good agreement is demonstrated which validates the proposed sizing methodology.

Keywords: Mach-Zehnder driver; logical effort; power-speed-area trade-off

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Electronics

Audrey Michard, Pietro Maris Ferreira, Jean-François Carpentier. 0.18-µm CMOS Driver Optimization for Maximum Data Rate under Power and Area Constraints. 2016 14th IEEE International New Circuits and Systems Conference (NEWCAS), Jun 2016, Vancouver, Canada. pp.1-4, ⟨10.1109/NEWCAS.2016.7604760⟩. ⟨hal-01357884⟩