A BiCMOS limiting amplifier for SONET OC-3

Abstract

This paper presents a Synchronous Optical NET-work (SONET) OC-3 155.52 Mb/s limiting amplifier, which is implemented in a 1.0 μm double-poly double-metal N-well BiCMOS technology. Composed of amplifier cells, a slicer, an output driver, and offset cancellation circuits, this limiting amplifier allows an input dynamic range of 36 dB (6 mVpp ∼ 400 mVpp) and provides a constant output 1 Vpp across a 50 Ω load for long-haul 40 km application. The active area of this limiting amplifier is 0.8 mm × 3.0 mm. It consumes 130 mW from a single -5V supply voltage.