Wide dynamic range transimpedance amplifier for 10 Gb/s optical links.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 66
Description: The recently approved IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GE) standard is an economical solution to the existing speed bottlenecks in short reach local and metropolitan area networks. One of the primary challenges in implementing 10 GE is the design of cost-effective, wide dynamic range and low power optical receivers. The dynamic range of an optical receiver depends on the performance of the transimpedance amplifier (TIA).In this work, a high speed TIA suitable for all short to medium reach 10 Gb/s applications, including 10 GE and OC-192 SONET, was implemented in IBM's mature 0.5mum SiGe BiCMOS technology. A new parallel feedback topology employing both shunt-shunt and shunt-series feedback was utilized to achieve wider dynamic range than a conventional common-emitter shunt-shunt feedback design. Given an optical overload specification, the parallel feedback architecture can use a larger feedback resistor resulting in improved noise performance. The fabricated TIA had a total area of 1 x 1 mm2 and featured a dynamic range of 18.4 dBm; over which it maintained a bit error rate (BER) less than 10-12. The power consumption was 189mW from a 3.3V supply. This represents a 55% power savings when compared to previously reported state of the art designs.
Notes: Adviser:  C. A. T. Salama.

Thesis (M.A.Sc.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, page: 0925.

MICR copy on microfiche (1 microfiche).