A current-mode implementation of a traveling wave amplifier model similar to the cochlea

We present a current-mode circuit architecture that implements a frequency-shifted version of a model of the mammalian cochlea. Unlike other silicon cochleae that are based on cascades of second order filters, we used a true traveling wave amplifier model as the basis of our circuit architecture. The circuit architecture was accomplished by first transforming a discrete component model into a signal flow graph. Integration terms were then replaced with current-mode integrator circuits. Simulation data of the small-signal gain and phase response, as well as the transient behavior shows that the circuit behaves like a biological cochlea