A 100-MHz pipelined CMOS comparator

The authors describe the design of a VLSI-compatible CMOS comparator for high-speed applications. An examination of various generic approaches to obtaining the nonlinear amplification needed to perform the function of comparison leads to the conclusion that this amplification can best be obtained by means of regeneration. Based on this conclusion, a CMOS comparator has been designed wherein voltage comparisons are accomplished directly by a pipelined cascade of two regenerative sense amplifiers, without the use of a preamplifier. To ensure an input resolution of at least 8-bits, offset cancellation is incorporated in the first sense amplifier. The comparator has been integrated in a 2-μm CMOS technology and has a maximum sampling rate of over 100 MHz; it operates from a single +5-V supply and dissipates only 3.6 mW at its maximum sampling rate