• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1627-1634
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• 2021

This paper introduces a low-power compact ADC circuit for analog Convolutional filter for low-power neural network accelerator SOC. While convolutional neural network accelerators can speed up the learning and inference process, they have drawback of consuming excessive power and occupying large chip area due to large number of multiply-and-accumulate operators when implemented in complex digital circuits. To overcome these drawbacks, we implemented an analog convolutional filter that consists of an analog multiply-and-accumulate arithmetic circuit along with an ADC. This paper is focused on the design optimization of a low-power 8bit SAR ADC for the analog convolutional filter accelerator We demonstrate how to minimize the capacitor-array DAC, an important component of SAR ADC, which is three times smaller than the conventional circuit. The proposed ADC has been fabricated in CMOS 65nm process. It achieves an overall size of 1355.7㎛², power consumption of 2.6㎼ at a frequency of 100MHz, SNDR of 44.19 dB, and ENOB of 7.04bit.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.43 no.11 s.353
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• pp.48-57
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• 2006

This work describes a 12b 200KHz 0.52mA $0.47mm^2$ algorithmic ADC for sensor applications such as motor controls, 3-phase power controls, and CMOS image sensors simultaneously requiring ultra-low power and small size. The proposed ADC is based on the conventional algorithmic architecture with recycling techniques to optimize sampling rate, resolution, chip area, and power consumption. The input SHA with eight input channels for high integration employs a folded-cascode architecture to achieve a required DC gain and a sufficient phase margin. A signal insensitive 3-D fully symmetrical layout with critical signal lines shielded reduces the capacitor and device mismatch of the MDAC. The improved switched bias power-reduction techniques reduce the power consumption of analog amplifiers. Current and voltage references are integrated on the chip with optional off-chip voltage references for low glitch noise. The employed down-sampling clock signal selects the sampling rate of 200KS/s or 10KS/s with a reduced power depending on applications. The prototype ADC in a 0.18um n-well 1P6M CMOS technology demonstrates the measured DNL and INL within 0.76LSB and 2.47LSB. The ADC shows a maximum SNDR and SFDR of 55dB and 70dB at all sampling frequencies up to 200KS/s, respectively. The active die area is $0.47mm^2$ and the chip consumes 0.94mW at 200KS/s and 0.63mW at 10KS/s at a 1.8V supply.