Variable gain amplifier suitable for biomedical signal acquisition analog front end
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of integrated circuit design, in particular to a variable gain amplifier suitable for a biomedical signal acquisition analog front end.
Background
With the development of microelectronic technology, medical devices are rapidly evolving toward portability. How to effectively extract biomedical signals is an important point and difficulty in the research of portable equipment. The basic structure of the biomedical signal acquisition analog front end is shown in figure 1. The ac-coupled capacitive feedback amplifier amplifies and filters the signal obtained from the sensor while suppressing baseline wander. Considering that biomedical signals are low-frequency and low-amplitude signals, a low cut-off point needs to be arranged at a lower frequency point (0.5 Hz), in order to achieve a large time constant, a pseudo-resistance structure Rpseu is adopted in the analog front end, an MOS tube in the pseudo-resistance structure works in a subthreshold region, and the resistance value of the pseudo-resistance can reach more than 10 12 omega. The biomedical signal is amplified by an OTA amplifier and then enters a Variable gain amplifier (Variable GAIN AMPLIFIER, VGA), the Variable gain amplifier changes the gain according to the amplitude of the input signal so as to keep a quite constant output voltage range, the signal is amplified by the gain and then is sent to a Buffer amplifier for amplification, then the analog signal is converted into a digital signal by an ADC (analog-to-digital converter), and the digital signal is output by a series of DSPs (digital signal processing and computing) to obtain the required biomedical signal.
In the analog front end, the variable gain amplifier plays a role of changing gain, stabilizing output signals and ensuring the requirements of large bandwidth, low power consumption and high linearity of the circuit. As shown in fig. 2 (a) and (b), a variable gain amplifier with a source negative feedback Rs is widely used at present, and both of the variable gain amplifiers can change the gain by changing the resistance of Rs. But since the loop gain of both variable gain amplifiers is relatively low, the linearity of both variable gain amplifiers is low.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to solve the problem that the linearity and loop gain of the existing variable gain amplifier are low, and provides a variable gain amplifier suitable for the biomedical signal acquisition analog front end.
In order to solve the problems, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:
A variable gain amplifier suitable for biomedical signal acquisition analog front end comprises capacitors C1 and C2, NMOS transistors M1, M2, M5 and M6, PMOS transistors M3, M4 and M FB1、MFB2、MFB3、MFB4, resistors R cm1、Rcm2 and Rs, a current source I L1、IL2, a transconductance amplifier A1, A2. The grid electrode of the NMOS tube M1 forms a positive input end V in+ of the variable gain amplifier, the source electrode of the NMOS tube M1 and one end of a resistor Rs are connected with the drain electrode of the NMOS tube M5, and the drain electrode of the NMOS tube M1, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M3, one end of a resistor R cm1, the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M FB1 and one end of a capacitor C 1 are connected to form a positive output end V out+ of the variable gain amplifier. The grid electrode of the PMOS tube M2 forms a negative input end V in -of the variable gain amplifier, the source electrode of the PMOS tube M2 and the other end of the resistor Rs are connected with the drain electrode of the NMOS tube M6, and the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M2, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M4, one end of the resistor R cm2, the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M FB2 and one end of the capacitor C 2 are connected to form a negative output end V out -of the variable gain amplifier. The positive input end of the transconductance amplifier A1 and the positive input end of the transconductance amplifier A2 are connected with a voltage VB, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M FB1, the source electrode of the PMOS tube M FB3 are connected with the negative input end of the transconductance amplifier A1, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M FB2, The source of the PMOS tube M FB4 is connected with the negative input end of the transconductance amplifier A2, the grid of the PMOS tube M FB3 is connected with the output end of the transconductance amplifier A1, and the grid of the PMOS tube M FB4 is connected with the output end of the transconductance amplifier A2. The grid electrode of the PMOS tube M3, the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M4, one end of the resistor R cm1 and one end of the resistor R cm2 are connected, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M FB3, the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M5 and one end of the current source I L1 are connected, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M FB4, The gate of the NMOS tube M6 is connected with one end of the current source I L2. The source of the PMOS tube M3, the source of the PMOS tube M4, the source of the MOS tube M FB1 and the source of the PMOS tube M FB2 are connected with the power supply voltage VDD, the source of the NMOS tube M5, the source of the NMOS tube M6 and the other end of the capacitor C 1, the other end of C 2, the other end of current source I L1, and the other end of current source I L2 are grounded.
In the above scheme, the types of the capacitors C 1 and C 2 are the same, the types of the resistors R cm1 and R cm2 are the same, the types of the NMOS transistors M1 and M2 are the same, the types of the NMOS transistors M5 and M6 are the same, the types of the PMOS transistors M3 and M4 are the same, the types of the PMOS transistors M FB1 and M FB2 are the same, the types of the PMOS transistors M FB3 and M FB4 are the same, and the types of the current sources I L1 and I L2 are the same.
In the above scheme, the transconductance amplifier A1 and the transconductance amplifier A2 have the same structure, and each transconductance amplifier includes NMOS transistors M9, M10, M11, and M12, PMOS transistors M7, M8, M13, M14, M15, and M16, and a current source I L3. The grid electrode of the PMOS tube M7 forms the positive input end V in+ of the transconductance amplifier, and the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M8 forms the negative input end V in- of the transconductance amplifier to be connected. The drain electrode of the PMOS tube M7 and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M10 are connected with the drain electrode and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M9, and the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M8 and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M11 are connected with the drain electrode and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M12. The source electrode of the PMOS tube M7 is connected with the substrate, the source electrode of the PMOS tube M8 is connected with the substrate and the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M16, and the drain electrode of the NMOS tube M12 is connected with the drain electrode of the PMOS tube to form the output end V out of the transconductance amplifier. The drain electrode of the NMOS tube M9 and the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M13 are connected with the grid electrode and the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M14, and the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M16 and the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M15 are connected with the drain electrode and one end of the current source I L3. The source of the PMOS tube M13, the source of the PMOS tube M14, the source of the PMOS tube M15 and the source of the PMOS tube M16 are connected with a power supply voltage V DD. The source of NMOS tube M9, the source of NMOS tube M10, the source of NMOS tube M11, the source of NMOS tube M12 and the other end of current source I L3 are grounded.
In the above scheme, the models of the PMOS transistors M7 and M8 are the same, the models of the PMOS transistors M13 and M14 are the same, the models of the PMOS transistors M15 and M16 are the same, and the models of the NMOS transistors M9, M10, M11 and M12 are the same.
Compared with the prior art, the variable gain amplifier can realize higher loop gain and low total harmonic distortion, has better linearity, and has the total harmonic distortion corresponding to the maximum input signal amplitude of not more than 0.5% within the range of 0-30 mV of the input signal amplitude.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram of an analog front end for biomedical signal acquisition;
FIGS. 2 (a) and (b) are schematic circuit diagrams of two prior art variable gain amplifiers;
FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of a variable gain amplifier of the present invention adapted for use in a biomedical signal acquisition analog front end;
FIG. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram of the transconductance amplifiers A1, A2 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a graph comparing total harmonic distortion curves;
Fig. 6 is a graph comparing the results of the dual frequency test.
Detailed Description
The invention will be further described in detail below with reference to specific examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the invention more apparent.
The whole circuit structure of the variable gain amplifier suitable for the biomedical signal acquisition analog front end is shown in figure 3, and the circuit comprises capacitors C1 and C2, NMOS tubes M1, M2, M5 and M6, PMOS tubes M3, M4 and M FB1、MFB2、MFB3、MFB4, resistors R cm1、Rcm2 and Rs, a current source I L1、IL2, a transconductance amplifier A1, A2. The gate of NMOS tube M1 forms the positive input V in+ of the variable gain amplifier. The source of NMOS tube M1, one end of resistor Rs is connected with the drain of NMOS tube M5. the drain electrode of the NMOS tube M1, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M3, one end of the resistor R cm1, the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M FB1 and one end of the capacitor C 1 are connected to form a positive output end V out+ of the variable gain amplifier. The gate of the PMOS tube M2 forms the negative input end V in -of the variable gain amplifier. The source electrode of the PMOS tube M2 and the other end of the resistor Rs are connected with the drain electrode of the NMOS tube M6. The drain electrode of the PMOS tube M2, the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M4, one end of the resistor R cm2, the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M FB2 and one end of the capacitor C 2 are connected to form a negative output end V out -of the variable gain amplifier. The positive input of the transconductance amplifier A1 and the positive input of the transconductance amplifier A2 are connected to the voltage VB. The drain of the PMOS tube M FB1 and the source of the PMOS tube M FB3 are connected with the negative input end of the transconductance amplifier A1. The drain of the PMOS tube M FB2 and the source of the PMOS tube M FB4 are connected with the negative input end of the transconductance amplifier A2. the grid of the PMOS tube M FB3 is connected with the output end of the transconductance amplifier A1. The grid of the PMOS tube M FB4 is connected with the output end of the transconductance amplifier A2. The grid electrode of the PMOS tube M3, the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M4, one end of the resistor R cm1 and one end of the resistor R cm2 are connected. The drain of the PMOS tube M FB3, the gate of the NMOS tube M5 and one end of the current source I L1 are connected. The drain of the PMOS tube M FB4, the gate of the NMOS tube M6 and one end of the current source I L2 are connected. The source of the PMOS tube M3, the source of the PMOS tube M4, the source of the MOS tube M FB1 and the source of the PMOS tube M FB2 are connected with the power supply voltage VDD. The source of NMOS tube M5, the source of NMOS tube M6, the other end of capacitor C 1, the other end of C 2, the other end of current source I L1 and the other end of current source I L2 are grounded. The capacitors C 1 and C 2 are the same in model, the resistors R cm1 and R cm2 are the same in model, the NMOS transistors M1 and M2 are the same in model, the NMOS transistors M5 and M6 are the same in model, the PMOS transistors M3 and M4 are the same in model, the PMOS transistors M FB1 and M FB2 are the same in model, the PMOS transistors M FB3 and M FB4 are the same in model, and the current sources I L1 and I L2 are the same in model.
The transconductance amplifiers A1 and A2 have the same structure, and the circuit structure is shown in FIG. 4, and the circuit comprises NMOS tubes M9, M10, M11 and M12, PMOS tubes M7, M8, M13, M14, M15 and M16 and a current source I L3. The gate of the PMOS tube M7 forms the positive input end V in+ -of the transconductance amplifier. The grid electrode of the PMOS tube M8 is connected with the negative input end V in- of the transconductance amplifier. The drain electrode of the PMOS tube M7 and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M10 are connected with the drain electrode and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M9. The drain electrode of the PMOS tube M8 and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M11 are connected with the drain electrode and the grid electrode of the NMOS tube M12. The source electrode of the PMOS tube M7 is connected with the substrate, and the source electrode of the PMOS tube M8 is connected with the substrate and the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M16. The drain electrode of the NMOS tube M12 is connected with the drain electrode of the PMOS tube to form an output end V out of the transconductance amplifier. The drain electrode of the NMOS tube M9 and the drain electrode of the PMOS tube M13 are connected with the grid electrode and the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M14. The grid electrode of the PMOS tube M16 and the grid electrode of the PMOS tube M15 are connected with the drain electrode and one end of the current source I L3. The source of the PMOS tube M13, the source of the PMOS tube M14, the source of the PMOS tube M15 and the source of the PMOS tube M16 are connected with a power supply voltage V DD. The source of NMOS tube M9, the source of NMOS tube M10, the source of NMOS tube M11, the source of NMOS tube M12 and the other end of current source I L3 are grounded. The models of the PMOS pipes M7 and M8 are the same, the models of the PMOS pipes M13 and M14 are the same, the models of the PMOS pipes M15 and M16 are the same, and the models of the NMOS pipes M9, M10, M11 and M12 are the same.
The variable gain amplifier shown in fig. 2 (a) can change the gain of the amplifier by adjusting the resistance value of the negative feedback resistor Rs. As can be seen from equation (1), the negative feedback resistor Rs not only increases the loop gain of the amplifier to gm 1,2 Rs, but also increases the linearity of the amplifier.
The source of the variable gain amplifier shown in fig. 2 (a) is connected to two tail power sources I L to reduce the difference between the dc voltages across the resistor Rs. However, this circuit configuration has some problems in that the noise of the circuit will be higher than that without the negative feedback resistor Rs. Because there is no negative feedback resistor Rs, the noise of the tail power supplies I L is output as a common mode signal, while there is a negative feedback resistor Rs, each tail power supply generates some noise. The impedances looking into the M1 source and the degeneration resistor Rs from the tail power supply I L are 1/gm1,2 and Rs+1/gm1,2, respectively, so the output reference current noise is equal to:
The variable gain amplifier shown in fig. 2 (b) is designed in such a way that the loop gain is increased by adding an additional feedback path through the negative feedback resistor Rs. The grid electrode of the PMOS tube MFB is connected with the output, and small signal current is fed back to the sources of the input tubes M1 and M2, and the loop gain is as follows:
Because of the addition of negative feedback, the variable gain amplifier of fig. 2 (b) has a lower common mode impedance than the variable gain amplifier of fig. 2 (a), and therefore, no additional common mode feedback loop is required. However, because the PMOS tube MFB is added, the circuit noise is increased slightly compared with the prior art. Since the operating point of the transistor changes with the change of the input signal, the distortion of the output signal increases with the increase of the amplitude of the input signal. As the amplitude of the input signal increases, so does the total harmonic distortion. Since the loop gain of the variable gain amplifier of fig. 2 (a) is low, the linearity is not good for the variable gain amplifier of fig. 2 (b), and the total harmonic distortion is higher than that of the variable gain amplifier of fig. 2 (b).
In the variable gain amplifier structure of the present invention, the NMOS transistors M1 and M2 are used as input transistors, the PMOS transistors M3 and M4 are used as active loads, the resistor Rcm is not only the circuit output common mode voltage Vcm, but also the gate voltages and the output voltages Vout of the PMOS transistors M3 and M4 are adjusted simultaneously, the PMOS transistors MFB1 and MFB2 and the transconductance amplifier A1 convert the output voltages into small signal currents to be output and connected with the gates of the NMOS transistors M5 and M6, so as to form a negative feedback network, and the loop gain is:
LG=A1·(gmro)1(gmro)FB1(gmro)FB2(gmro)5 (4)
From equation (4), it can be seen that the loop gain of the present invention is increased by A1 times, which is much higher than the two variable gain amplifiers of fig. 2. Since the loop gain of the present invention is much larger than that of fig. 2 (b), the distortion of the circuit will be reduced as shown in equation (5):
Simulation of the design environment using CADENCE SPECTRE and TSMC 0.18um for simulation of technical parameters verifies the feasibility of the invention.
Fig. 5 is a graph comparing the total harmonic distortion curves of the variable gain amplifier of the present invention and the conventional variable gain amplifier shown in fig. 2 (a) and (b). In the range of 0-30 mV of input signal amplitude, the total harmonic distortion of the variable gain amplifier is only 0.44% under the maximum signal amplitude, and the total harmonic distortion of the variable gain amplifier in fig. 2 (a) and (b) under the maximum signal amplitude is 4.6% and 2.8%, respectively. For the biomedical signal acquisition analog front end with high sensitivity, the total harmonic distortion corresponding to the maximum input signal amplitude is less than 2.5%. It is apparent that the linearity of conventional variable gain amplifiers does not meet the requirements of biomedical signal acquisition analog front ends. The variable gain amplifier can realize higher loop gain and low total harmonic distortion, has better linearity, and has the total harmonic distortion corresponding to the maximum input signal amplitude of not more than 0.5% within the range of 0-30 mV of the input signal amplitude.
Fig. 6 is a graph comparing the results of the dual frequency test of the variable gain amplifier of the present invention and the conventional variable gain amplifier shown in fig. 2 (b). The input signals were 9.5kHz and 10.5kHz, respectively, and at a frequency of 11.5kHz, it can be seen that the third order harmonic distortion of the variable gain amplifier of the present invention was reduced by 14dB relative to the variable gain amplifier of fig. 2 (b).
It should be noted that, although the examples described above are illustrative, this is not a limitation of the present invention, and thus the present invention is not limited to the above-described specific embodiments. Other embodiments, which are apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein, are considered to be within the scope of the invention as claimed.