Precision improvement in current-mode winner-take-all circuits using gain-boosted regulated-cascode CMOS stages

This paper presents a study on advantages and concerns of using gain-boosted regulated-cascoding technique in current-mode winner-take-all (WTA) circuits. For large scale integration and high frequency applications the use of MOS transistors with minimum feature size is a must. However, modern MOS transistors with sub-micron channel length exhibit pronounced channel-length modulation. This deficiency causes precision degradation in WTA circuits. With the use of gain-boosted regulated cascoding technique, a very high precision can be achieved in current-mode WTA circuits formed using sub-micrometer transistors.