Search Results (99)

Low noise and low power neural recording amplifiers are required for implantable devices measuring action potentials. This paper presents a dynamic current pulsing technique combined with a special type of two-stage low-pass filter (LPF) that demonstrates an improvement in the noise efficiency factor (NEF) beyond that achievable using traditional design. A low NEF of 1.55 is achieved at an average power consumption of 587.8 nW and 5.18 µVrms noise, integrated from 0.1 to 9.8 kHz, inclusive of the impacts of sampling and aliasing. The NEF is improved from 1.76 in the static low current state (LCS) and 1.67 in the static high current state (HCS), measured on the same amplifier chip. Full article

This paper presents a novel self-packaged low-pass filter (LPF) based on the substrate-integrated suspended line (SISL) technique, employing a high-impedance line structure. The core circuit of the proposed LPF integrates three distinct transmission line technologies: stripline (SL), grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW), and SISL. Leveraging these advanced techniques, the prototype LPF with a cutoff frequency (f₀) of 3 GHz has been successfully designed and fabricated. Comprehensive measurements reveal that the LPF exhibits an insertion loss (S₂₁) of greater than −0.74 dB within the pass-band, while maintaining a stop-band ranging from 5 GHz to 12.2 GHz, achieving a suppression level exceeding 15 dB. Additionally, the highest internal solid-line impedance reaches 110 Ω. Given its superior performance characteristics, the proposed LPF is highly suitable for application in radio frequency (RF) front-end systems, specifically for filtering and screening signals within designated frequency bands. Full article

The present work proposes a novel fractional-order multifunction filter topology in current-mode (CM), which is designed based on the Modified Current Feedback Operational Amplifier (MCFOA). The proposed design simultaneously generates fractional-order low-pass (FO-LPF), high-pass (FO-HPF), and band-pass (FO-BPF) outputs while utilizing an optimized set of essential active and passive elements, thereby ensuring simplicity, cost efficiency, and compatibility with integrated circuits (ICs). The fractional-order feature allows precise control over the transition slope between the passband and the stopband, enhancing design flexibility. PSpice simulations validated the filter’s theoretical performance, confirming a 1 kHz cut-off frequency, making it suitable for VLF applications such as military communication and submarine navigation. Monte Carlo analyses demonstrate robustness against parameter variations, while a low THD, a wide dynamic range, and low power consumption highlight its efficiency for high-precision, low-power applications. This work offers a practical and adaptable approach to fractional-order circuit design, with significant potential in communication, control, and biomedical systems. Full article

High-frequency (HF) injection is a widely used technique for low-speed implementation of position sensorless permanent magnet synchronous motor control. A key component of this technique is the tracking loop control system, which extracts rotor position error and utilizes proportional–integral regulation as a position observer for estimating the rotor position. Generally, this process relies on band-pass filters (BPFs) and low-pass filters (LPFs) to modulate signals in the quadrature current to obtain rotor position error information. However, limitations in filter accuracy and dynamic response lead to prolonged convergence times and timing inconsistencies in the estimation process, which affects real-time motor control performance. To address these issues, this study proposes an exponential moving average (EMA)-based scheme for rotor position error extraction, offering a rapid response under dynamic conditions such as direction reversals, step speed changes, and varying loads. EMA is used to pass the original rotor position information carried by the quadrature current signal, which contains HF components, with a specified smoothing factor. Then, after the synchronous demodulation process, EMA is employed to extract rotor position error information for the position observer to estimate the rotor position. Due to its computational simplicity and fast response in handling dynamic conditions, the proposed method can serve as an alternative to BPF and LPF, which are commonly used for rotor position information extraction, while also reducing computational burden and improving performance. Finally, to demonstrate its feasibility and effectiveness in improving rotor position estimation accuracy, the proposed system is experimentally validated by comparing it with a conventional system. Full article

To enhance the robustness of sensorless control in permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) under parameter mismatches, this paper proposes a novel sliding mode observer (SMO) that automatically adjusts the error factor. The purpose is to enable the precise observation of rotor position in PMSMs while simultaneously suppressing chattering and simplifying the design process. First, an SMO based on an adjustable error factor is designed, which reduces chattering and eliminates the need for a low-pass filter (LPF). The impact of the error factor within the SMO is then analyzed, including its effects on the estimation of current, speed, and position, and a method for determining the error factor based on these estimated values is introduced. This method uses a neural network algorithm to balance chattering suppression with high control accuracy. Finally, a neural network-based self-adjusting SMO model is proposed to automatically adjust the error factor based on motor operating conditions. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach. Full article

This paper presents a rectifying metasurface (RMS) that enables wide-angle, polarization-insensitive wireless energy harvesting in the Wi-Fi frequency range. The RMS consists of a metasurface integrated with rectifying diodes, a low-pass filter (LPF), and a resistive load. In the structural design, the RMS incorporates four Schottky diodes placed on the bottom structure and connected to the top structure through four metallized vias. This configuration facilitates impedance matching between the metasurface and the diodes, omitting the need for conventional rectifier circuits or external matching networks and removing the impact of soldering variations. A 3 × 3 RMS prototype was manufactured and subjected to experimental validation. The measurements confirm that the RMS achieves a peak RF-to-DC conversion efficiency of 68.3% at 5.8 GHz with a 12.5 dBm input power, while maintaining stable performance across a wide range of incident angles and polarization states. Full article

This article presents an improved control strategy based on the traditional sliding-mode controller (SMC), integrated with a generalized higher-order disturbance observer (DOB), to enhance the speed regulation of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) during operation. The proposed method is mitigated and employed to smooth system disturbances by utilizing the disturbance observer (DOB) in conjunction with a low-pass filter (LPF). The low-pass filter is employed to smooth the q-axis current component and reduce speed oscillations. Initially, the paper builds upon the conventional control law and introduces a more optimized approach. The stability of the control strategy is then analyzed using Lyapunov stability theory. Different sliding surfaces are compared to develop the proposed SMC. Finally, the novel control method is introduced by integrating the DOB with the LPF. This approach results in improved speed stability and enhanced adaptability compared to traditional SMC techniques. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed control algorithm outperforms traditional methods, particularly in terms of the dynamic response and disturbance rejection. Full article

This paper presents a multiple-input single-output (MISO) shadow filter implemented using multiple-input differential difference transconductance amplifiers (MI-DDTAs). The MI-DDTA’s multiple inputs are realized through the multiple-input bulk-driven MOS transistor (MI-BD MOST) technique. Leveraging the multiple-input capability of the DDTA, various filter responses—low-pass filter (LPF), high-pass filter (HPF), band-pass filter (BPF), band-stop filter (BSF), and all-pass filter (APF)—can be efficiently achieved by appropriately configuring the input signals. The natural frequency and quality factor of the shadow filter can be independently tuned using external amplifiers. Unlike conventional shadow filters, where adjusting the quality factor or natural frequency impacts the passband gain, this design ensures a constant unity passband gain. The MI-DDTA operates at a supply voltage of 0.5 V and consumes 385.8 nW of power for setting current I_set = 14 nA. The proposed MI-DDTA and shadow filter are designed and validated through simulations in the Cadence design environment, using a 0.18 µm CMOS process provided by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited). Full article

To improve the precision of the position and speed estimation in ultra-high-speed (UHS) permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) without position sensors, multiple refinements to the traditional extended electromotive force (EEMF) estimation algorithm are proposed in this paper. The key improvements include discretization compensation, high-frequency harmonic filtering, and the real-time adjustment of the phase-locked loop (PLL) bandwidth. Firstly, a discrete model is introduced to address EMF cross-coupling issues. Secondly, an improved proportional resonant (IPR) controller eliminating static errors is utilized in place of the conventional proportional-integral (PI) controller and low-pass filter (LPF) to enable precise electromotive force extraction, effectively filtering high-frequency harmonics that arise in low carrier ratio conditions. Based on a standard PR design, the IPR controller offers a streamlined calculation for target leading angles in delay compensation schemes to effectively mitigate discretization and delay errors. Additionally, an adaptive phase-locked loop (AQPLL) dynamically adjusts its bandwidth during acceleration to balance noise rejection and phase delay, reducing position estimation errors and optimizing torque. Simulations and experimental analyses on a motor (90,000 rpm, 30 kW) validate the effectiveness of the proposed sensorless driving techniques and demonstrate enhanced performance in position and velocity estimation, compared to the conventional EEMF approach. Full article

This work presents a potentiometric readout circuit for a pH-sensing system in an oral healthcare device. For in vivo applications, noise, area, and power consumption of the readout electronics play critical roles. While CMOS amplifiers are commonly used in readout circuits for these applications, their applicability is limited due to non-deterministic noises such as flicker and thermal noise. To address these challenges, the Correlated Double Sampler (CDS) topology is widely employed as a sampled-data circuit for potentiometric readout, effectively eliminating DC offset and drift, thereby reducing overall noise. Therefore, this work introduces a novel potentiometric readout circuit realized with CDS and a switched-capacitor-based low-pass filter (SC-LPF) to enhance the noise characteristic of overall circuit. The proposed readout circuit is implemented in an integrated circuit using 0.18 µm CMOS process, which occupies an area of 990 µm × 216 µm. To validate the circuit performances, simulations were conducted with a 5 pF load and a 1 MHz input clock. The readout circuit operates with a supply voltage range ±1.65 V and linearly reproduces the pH sensor output of ±1.5 V. Noise measured with a 1 MHz sampling clock shows 0.683 µ$V_{rms}$, with a power consumption of 124.1 µW. Full article

Implementing energy management is crucial in the fuel cell and battery or supercapacitor hybrid energy systems of ships. Traditional real-time energy management strategies often struggle to adapt to complex operating conditions; to address this issue and mitigate fuel cell fluctuations during real-time operations while extending the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries, this paper proposes a two-layer energy management system (EMS) based on prior knowledge of ship operation. In the first layer of the EMS, which operates offline, dynamic programming (DP) and low-pass filtering (LPF) are used to allocate power optimally for different typical ship operating conditions. Distribution results are then used to train an SSA-BP neural network, creating an offline strategy library. In the second layer, operating in real-time, the current load power is input into a support vector machine (SVM) to classify the current operating condition. The corresponding strategy from the offline library is then selected and used to provide energy distribution recommendations based on the real-time load and the state of charge (SOC) of the lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors. The proposed EMS was validated using different ship load cycles. The results demonstrate that, compared to second-order filtering-based real-time energy management strategies, the proposed method reduces fuel cell power fluctuations by 44% and decreases lithium-ion battery degradation by 28%. Furthermore, the simulation results closely align with the offline optimization results, indicating that the proposed strategy achieves near-optimal energy management in real-time ship operations with minimal computational overhead. Full article

This paper presents a low power wideband dB-linear analog baseband (ABB) circuit for a millimeter-wave (mmW) wireless receiver in 40 nm CMOS technology. The proposed ABB system consists of a multi-stage variable gain amplifier (VGA) and a low-pass filter (LPF). The 5-stage VGA is composed of two variable gain units followed by three fixed gain units with DC offset cancellation (DCOC). The first variable gain unit with a self-compensated transistor pair and compact active inductor load is designed for dB-linear functionality and bandwidth extension, respectively. Moreover, a proposed error compensation method is applied to the second cascaded variable gain unit for further dB-linear gain error correction. A 4th-order Butterworth transconductance-capacitance (Gm-C) LPF with flipped source follower (FSF) as an input transconductance stage for linearity enhancement is designed after the VGA stage. The prototype chip is implemented, and measurement results show a dB-linear gain range from −18 to 26 dB with less than 0.5 dB-linear gain error with a bandwidth of 4 GHz. The VGA and LPF consume 8.3 mW and 3 mW, respectively, under a 1 V power supply, while the entire ABB occupies an area of 0.94 mm² with an active core area of only 0.045 mm². Full article

This paper presents a 35 nV/√Hz analog front-end (AFE) circuitdesigned in the UMC 40 nm CMOS technology for the acquisition of biopotential signal. The proposed AFE consists of a capacitive-coupled instrumentation amplifier (CCIA) and a combination of a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) and a low-pass filter (LPF). The CCIA includes a DC servo loop (DSL) to eliminate electrode DC offset (EDO) and a ripple rejection loop (RRL) with self-zeroing technology to suppress high-frequency ripples caused by the chopper. The PGA-LPF is realized using switched-capacitor circuits, enabling adjustable gain and bandwidth. Implemented in theUMC 40 nm CMOS process, the AFE achieves an input impedance of 368 MΩ at 50 Hz, a common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) of 111 dB, an equivalent input noise of 1.04 μVrms over the 0.5–1 kHz range, and a maximum elimination of 50 mV electrode DC offset voltage. It occupies an area of only 0.39 × 0.47 mm² on the chip, with a power consumption of 8.96 μW. Full article

This paper presents a highly efficient, low-power, compact mixed-signal sinusoidal current generator (CG) integrated circuit (IC) designed for bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) with low total harmonic distortion (THD). The proposed system employs a 9-bit sine wave lookup table (LUT) which is simplified to a 4-bit data stream through a third-order digital delta–sigma modulator (ΔΣM). Unlike conventional analog low-pass filters (LPF), which statically limit bandwidth, the finite impulse response (FIR) filter attenuates high-frequency noise according to the operating frequency, allowing the frequency range of the sinusoidal signal to vary. Additionally, the output of the FIR filter is applied to a 6-bit capacitive digital-to-analog converter (CDAC) with data-weighted averaging (DWA), enabling dynamic capacitor matching and seamless interfacing. The sinusoidal CG IC, fabricated using a 65 nm CMOS process, produces a 5 μA amplitude and operates over a wide frequency range of 0.6 to 20 kHz. This highly synthesizable CG achieves a THD of 0.04%, consumes 19.2 μW of power, and occupies an area of 0.0798 mm². These attributes make the CG IC highly suitable for compact, low-power bio-impedance applications. Full article

This study developed a realization of sensorless control for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Both position and speed were estimated using a high-frequency (HF) injection scheme. Accurate estimation is essential to ensure the proper functioning of sensorless motor control. To improve the estimation accuracy of the rotor position and reduce the motor speed ripple found in conventional methods, a new extraction strategy for estimating the rotor position and motor speed is proposed. First, signal modulation compensation was applied to expand the information of the error function in order to provide more accurate data to the tracking loop system for rotor position extraction. Second, to minimize the motor speed ripple caused by the HF injection, motor speed estimation was performed after obtaining the rotor position information using a differential equation with a low-pass filter (LPF) to avoid the direct effect of the injected signal. Verified experimentally, the results showed that the rotor position error did not exceed 10 el.deg, so these methods effectively reduce the rotor position estimation error by about 30%, along with the motor speed ripple. Therefore, better performance in sensorless PMSM control can be achieved in motor control applications. Full article