A novel, low-complexity, high-speed envelope detector and its applications

Abstract

A compact and effective transmission envelope detector (TED), which can detect whether the absolute amplitude of an input differential signal is larger than a threshold or not, is proposed. The TED has been demonstrated to be applicable for received signal strength indicator circuit in wireless communication receivers or power management systems, and mode-control circuit in bidirectional optical transceivers. Implemented in a 0.18 mu m CMOS technology, the TED has a response time of 210 ps at 5?Gbps, occupies an active area of 0.05?mm2, and consumes 1?mA from 1.8?V supply. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.