A feed-forward equalizer with winner-take-all variable gain amplifiers for backplane channels.

ABSTRACT In this article, a transversal filter with winner-take-all variable gain amplifiers is investigated to improve the performance of a feed-forward equalizer. The proposed equalizer structure with nine gain cells has wide bandwidth and improved voltage headroom, at the same time achieving the low power consumption per gain cell. The proposed equalizer is fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process and shows the successful compensation with 30 and 60 in backplanes with 3 Gbps signal. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:2666-2670, 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]