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R.J. Milliken

Bio: R.J. Milliken is an academic researcher from Texas A&M University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Voltage regulator & Low-dropout regulator. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 446 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a solution to the present bulky external capacitor low-dropout (LDO) voltage regulators with an external capacitorless LDO architecture, where the large external capacitor used in typical LDOs is removed allowing for greater power system integration for system-on-chip (SoC) applications.
Abstract: This paper proposes a solution to the present bulky external capacitor low-dropout (LDO) voltage regulators with an external capacitorless LDO architecture. The large external capacitor used in typical LDOs is removed allowing for greater power system integration for system-on-chip (SoC) applications. A compensation scheme is presented that provides both a fast transient response and full range alternating current (AC) stability from 0- to 50-mA load current even if the output load is as high as 100 pF. The 2.8-V capacitorless LDO voltage regulator with a power supply of 3 V was fabricated in a commercial 0.35-mum CMOS technology, consuming only 65 muA of ground current with a dropout voltage of 200 mV. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed capacitorless LDO architecture overcomes the typical load transient and ac stability issues encountered in previous architectures.

484 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Experimental result verifies that the proposed LDO is stable for a capacitive load from 0 to 50 pF and with load capability of 100 mA and the gain-enhanced structure provides sufficient loop gain to improve line regulation and load regulation.
Abstract: An output-capacitorless low-dropout regulator (LDO) compensated by a single Miller capacitor is implemented in a commercial 90-nm CMOS technology. The proposed LDO makes use of the small transistors realized in nano-scale technology to achieve high stability, fast transient performance and small voltage spikes under rapid load-current changes without the need of an off-chip capacitor connected at the LDO output. Experimental result verifies that the proposed LDO is stable for a capacitive load from 0 to 50 pF (estimated equivalent parasitic capacitance from load circuits) and with load capability of 100 mA. Moreover, the gain-enhanced structure provides sufficient loop gain to improve line regulation to 3.78 mV/V and load regulation to 0.1 mV/mA, respectively. The embedded voltage-spike detection circuit enables pseudo Class-AB operation to drive the embedded power transistor promptly. The measured power consumption is only 6 μW under a 0.75-V supply. The maximum overshoot and undershoot under a 1.2-V supply are less than 66 mV for full load current changes within 100-ns edge time, and the recovery time is less than 5 μs.

262 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first LDO that achieves such a high PSR up to 10 MHz, and Kelvin connection is also used to increase the gain-bandwidth of the LDO allowing for faster transient performance.
Abstract: A low drop-out (LDO) regulator with a feed-forward ripple cancellation (FFRC) technique is proposed in this paper. The FFRC-LDO achieves a high power-supply rejection (PSR) over a wide frequency range. Complete analysis and design steps of the FFRC-LDO are presented in this paper. Kelvin connection is also used to increase the gain-bandwidth of the LDO allowing for faster transient performance. The LDO is implemented in 0.13 ?m CMOS technology and achieves a PSR better than - 56 dB up to 10 MHz for load currents up to 25 mA. Load regulation of 1.2 mV for a 25 mA step is measured, and the whole LDO consumes a quiescent current of 50 ?A with a bandgap reference circuit included. To our knowledge, this is the first LDO that achieves such a high PSR up to 10 MHz.

234 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A low-dropout regulator for SoC, with an advanced Q-reduction circuit to minimize both the on-chip capacitance and the minimum output-current requirement down to 100 muA, is introduced in this paper.
Abstract: A low-dropout regulator for SoC, with an advanced Q-reduction circuit to minimize both the on-chip capacitance and the minimum output-current requirement down to 100 muA, is introduced in this paper. The idea has been implemented in a standard 0.35-mum CMOS technology (VTHN ap 0.55 V and |VTHP| ap 0.75 V). The required on-chip capacitance is reduced to 6 pF, comparing to 25 pF for the case without Q-reduction circuit. From the experimental results, the proposed regulator-circuit implementation enables voltage regulation down to a 1.2-V supply voltage, and a dropout voltage of 200 mV at 100-mA maximum output current.

213 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
06 Dec 2010
TL;DR: This paper presents a fully-integrated switched-capacitor DC-DC converter in 45 nm digital CMOS technology that uses digital capacitance modulation instead of traditional PFM and PWM control methods to maintain regulation against load current changes.
Abstract: Implementing efficient and cost-effective power regulation schemes for battery-powered mixed-signal SoCs is a key focus in integrated circuit design. This paper presents a fully-integrated switched-capacitor DC-DC converter in 45 nm digital CMOS technology. The proposed implementation uses digital capacitance modulation instead of traditional PFM and PWM control methods to maintain regulation against load current changes. This technique preserves constant frequency switching while also scaling switching and bottom-plate losses with changes in load current. Therefore, high efficiency can be achieved across different load current levels while maintaining a predictable switching noise behavior. The converter occupies only 0.16 mm2, and operates from 1.8 V input. It delivers a programmable sub-1 V power supply with efficiency as high as 69% and load current between 100 μA and 8 mA. Measurement results confirm the theoretical basis of the proposed design.

201 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper presents design techniques for a high power supply rejection (PSR) low drop-out (LDO) regulator that is suitable for system-on-chip (SoC) applications while maintaining the capability to reduce high-frequency supply noise.
Abstract: This paper presents design techniques for a high power supply rejection (PSR) low drop-out (LDO) regulator. A bulky external capacitor is avoided to make the LDO suitable for system-on-chip (SoC) applications while maintaining the capability to reduce high-frequency supply noise. The paths of the power supply noise to the LDO output are analyzed, and a power supply noise cancellation circuit is developed. The PSR performance is improved by using a replica circuit that tracks the main supply noise under process-voltage-temperature variations and all operating conditions. The effectiveness of the PSR enhancement technique is experimentally verified with an LDO that was fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology with a power supply of 1.8 V. The active core chip area is 0.14 mm2, and the entire proposed LDO consumes 80 μA of quiescent current during operation mode and 55 μA of quiescent current in standby mode. It has a drop-out voltage of 200 mV when delivering 50 mA to the load. The measured PSR is better than -56 dB up to 4 MHz when delivering a current of 50 mA. Compared to a conventional uncompensated LDO, the proposed architecture presents a PSR improvement of 34 dB and 25 dB at 1 MHz and 4 MHz, respectively.

153 citations