IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - 11

where g mb ^. 0.2g mh denotes the
transconductance with respect to the
body terminal. The two transistors
are, of course, placed in separate
n -wells. Also, the drain voltages
must remain above approximately
VDD - 0.5 V to ensure the drain-well
forward bias negligibly affects the
transistors' performance.
Cross coupling through the bulk
proves useful in low-voltage designs.
Shown in Figure 3(b) is an amplifier
example [7], where VDD . 0.5 V and
the XCP raises the voltage gain. Here,
the input common-mode (CM) level
and Vb can be near zero while the four
transistors are accorded sufficient
VDS so as to operate in the saturation
region. (The CM feedback circuit [7] is
not shown.) We point out that, in the
presence of mismatches, the XCP can
regenerate and cause latch-up if its
loop gain is equal to unity or higher.
The design in [7] employs a replica
loop to avoid this situation.

VDD
Vb

VDD = 0.5 V
+
Vin

Vb
M1

M2

Vb

-

Vin

Vb

M3

M4

M2

M1
Vout

Req
(a)

(b)

Figure 3: (a) An XCP using the bulk terminal and (b) the first stage of an op amp using the
XCP.

VDD
L1

RL

VDD

L2

L1

+

+

-

Vin

Vin

M1

L2

RL

-

Vin

M2

Vin
M1

M3

(a)

M2

M4

(b)

Figure 4: (a) A simple PA output stage and (b) the use of XCP to reduce input capacitance.

Output Stage

In this article, we
study applications
of the cross-coupled
pair in analog and
RF circuits.

RD

RD
X

VDD

Vout
M2

M1

Y

Vin
M4

M3
CC

NIC
Figure 5: The use of NIC to increase bandwidth in a broadband transmitter.

M2

M1

ESD

Termination
Resistors

ESD

The XCP has also been used to
improve the performance of RF
power amplifiers (PAs). In the simple
output stage shown in Figure 4(a), M 1
and M 2 are wide enough to carry a
high current, thus presenting a large
input capacitance. The preceding
stage therefore tends to consume a
high power. This issue can be alleviated if some of the input capacitance is driven by the output port,
i.e., if a portion of W 1, 2 is reconfigured as an XCP [Figure 4(b)] [8]. In
the limit, M 3 and M 4 form an oscillator along with L 1 and L 2 that is
injection-locked to the input signal
[8]. Such an arrangement provides
efficient amplification for constantenvelope signals. Interestingly, the
XCP also helps create CM stability
here by presenting a CM impedance
equal to 1/ (2g m3, 4) to ground.

CC

Figure 6: The use of NIC to increase bandwidth of I/O interfaces.

IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

w i n t e r 2 0 15

11



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015

IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - Cover1
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - Cover2
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - 1
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - 2
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - 3
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - 4
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - 5
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IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - 9
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IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - Cover3
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Winter 2015 - Cover4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_summer2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_winter2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_fall2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_summer2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_spring2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_winter2022
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_summer2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_spring2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_winter2021
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/mssc_summer2020
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/solidstatecircuits_winter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/solidstatecircuits_fall2017
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/solidstatecircuits_spring2017
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/solidstatecircuits_winter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/solidstatecircuits_fall2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/solidstatecircuits_summer2015
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