Unit I Lecture 2
Unit I Lecture 2
• Hand Written
• Maximum of 5 Pages (back and front)
• Submission Date:
• 6th March 2025 10:00AM to be collected by CRs and submitted
in my office
IC Biasing- Current Source
• Biasing in integrated-circuit design is based on the use of constant-current
sources
• On an IC chip with a number of amplifier stages, a constant dc current
(called a reference current) is generated at one location and is then
replicated at various other locations for biasing the various amplifier stages
through a process known as current steering.
• Advantage:
• The effort expended on generating a predictable and stable reference
current, usually utilizing a precision resistor external to the chip or a
special circuit on the chip, need not be repeated for every amplifier stage
• The bias currents of the various stages track each other in case of
changes in power-supply voltage or in temperature
IC Biasing- Current Source
• The Basic MOSFET Current Source (1)
• The drain of Q1 is shorted to its gate, thereby forcing
it to operate in the saturation mode with
-----(1)
The drain current of Q1 is supplied by VDD through
resistor R, which in most cases would be outside
the IC chip
-----(2)
where the current through R is considered the reference current of the current source and is
denoted IREF. Equations above can be used together to determine the value required for R to
generate a given IREF.
IC Biasing- Current Source
• The Basic MOSFET Current Source (2)
• Now consider transistor Q2: It has the same VGS as
Q1 ; thus, if we assume that it is operating in
saturation, its drain current, which is the output
current I0 of the current source, will be
-----(3)