Startup wants to be the ARM of analog
The two founders describe their inventions, Complementary Current Field-Effect Transistors (CiFET) as a charge-mode analogue CMOS circuit design relying on a slightly different read-out strategy, with a focus on looking at what the charges are doing in the device. An approach involving what they call an additional current port input (iPort) for each MOSFET gate. This charge controlled port provides a bidirectional current sink/source without analogue extensions.
The new technology, they claim, could scale down alongside digital circuits process nodes, potentially replacing most add-on analogue circuits and fulfilling the Holy Graal of full mixed signal SoC integration at any node.
The two co-founders documented a 3‐Stage CiFET feed‐forward amplifier, yielding a 20-bit accuracy in linearity and gain and say they have proven their design methodology with several analogue blocks within a 40nm die, including amplifiers, ADCs and phase lock loops, with scope for operation under 0.1V. Running at logic speed, the circuits are self-biasing, and are not subject to parametric changes, according to the authors, while amplifiers could be boasting gradual gains up to 10,000 and a dynamic range up to 1010.
"The smaller we go, the better the results are", emphasized Susan Schober, insisting that in principle, CiFETs are scalable down to any digital node.
Umbrella company InventionShare is now looking for licensing partners to license Circuit Seed circuit designs as an alternative to traditional low power analogue devices.
In principle, as they sit on top of 100% digital parts and because they are only subject to the limitations of digital design rules, the analogue blocks proposed would be easier to automate through EDA tools, pending analogue circuit libraries are offered pre-configured and parameterized for a given process. They would also be highly portable, from one node to the next.
With the right licensing deals for what they call a revolutionary technology, CircuitSeed’s founders hope to become the ARM of analogue design, no less, moving analogue components from PCBs to SoCs.
Visit InventionShare at www.inventionshare.com
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