A precision variable-supply CMOS comparator

Several new techniques are presented for the design of precision CMOS voltage comparator circuits which operate over a wide range of supply voltages. Since most monolithic A/D converter systems contain an on-chip voltage reference, techniques have been developed to replicate the reference voltage in order to provide stable supply-independent DC bias voltages, and controlled internal voltage swings for the comparator. These techniques are necessary in order to eliminate harmful bootstrapping effects which can potentially occur in all AC coupled MOS analog circuits. An actively controlled biasing scheme has been developed to allow for differentially autozeroing the comparator for applications in differential A/D converter systems. A general approach for selecting the gain in AC-coupled gain stages is also presented. The comparator circuit has been implemented in a standard metal-gate CMOS process. The measured comparator resolution is less than 1 mV, and the allowable supply voltages range from 3.5 to 10 V.