Design of CMOS core for practical examination of DC references [educational aid]

The objective of this paper is to present a CMOS core, for educational purposes, which has been developed with two goals in mind. The first is to demonstrate and learn the basic theory of analog integrated DC circuits. The second goal is to use a practical approach, which gives possibilities for configuration of many circuits so that the students can actively participate in the process of education. For that purpose, the architectures of widely used analog circuits are analyzed. On this basis, the analog DC core is implemented. This is the way to acquire more experience and new knowledge, by comparing the simulated with measurement results. The core is to be used in bachelor´s and master´s degree programs, which include analog integrated circuit design, microelectronics and computer-aided design (CAD) courses. The core is designed using modern and low cost 0.35 μm CMOS Si technology.