Implementation of an Operational Amplifier using Standard Digital Cells of IHP 130 nm Technology

• Grant number: 25/22106-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2026
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Electrical, Magnetic and Electronic Circuits
• Principal Investigator: Maximiliam Luppe
• Grantee: Otávio Augusto Biasi
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In recent decades, digital integrated circuits (ICs) have advanced significantly due to the evolution of CMOS manufacturing technologies, now in the 1.4nm range. However, analog integrated circuits have not evolved at the same rate, resulting in increasingly difficult integration of analog and digital components in SoCs (System on Chip). A good way to address these challenges is to rethink analog functions in digital terms so that they can be implemented using digital circuit manufacturing methodologies. Thus, elements that can be described entirely (or nearly entirely) in digital terms have been proposed. This approach is particularly attractive since digital circuits can be described in a variety of ways, such as hardware description languages ¿¿(VHDL and Verilog), as well as in schematics, with the aid of Computer-Aided Design (CAD). Similarly, the development of open-source tools for the design, analysis, simulation, and synthesis of digital circuits has facilitated their implementation, in addition to the emergence of open-source PDKs (Process Design Kits), such as SKY130, IHP130, OSU180, and others. Thus, initiatives have been developed to leverage the benefits of technological advances in digital IC manufacturing for the manufacture of analog electronic components as well. Therefore, this project aims to implement an analog circuit (operational amplifier) ¿¿using digital technology to better leverage the benefits of new technologies. (AU)