A Programmable Pre-emphasis Technique with Combined RLC Source Degeneration for High-Speed Serial Link Transmitters

This paper presents a clock-less programmable pre-emphasis technique realized by a driver with combined resistive-inductive-capacitive source degeneration for high-speed serial link transmitters. The addition of a series inductive-capacitive resonance network expands the bandwidth of the driver without lowering down the pre-emphasis gain. The driver with the proposed pre-emphasis technique provides adjustable gain from mid-frequency to high-frequency which is controlled by a tunable tail current, offering the capability for the transmitter to adapt to different cable loss from 0 to 6 dB. The driver has been employed in a 2:4 multiplexing and cable driving integrated circuit for 1.65 Gbps high-definition-multimedia-interface and digital-visual-interface application to drive up to 7 m 24-American-wire-gauge cable. Fabricated in 180 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology, the transmitter consumes 68.6 mW for 6 dB pre-emphasis under 3.3 V power supply.