All-Synthesizable Current-Mode Transmitter Driver for USB2.0 Interface

An all-synthesizable current-mode transmitter driver for a USB2.0 high-speed (480 Mb/s) interface was proposed to enhance the design portability. The proposed driver was implemented using tristate inverter cells. It uses the differential current-mode architecture, with variable output voltage swing, and includes a predriver. It was also successfully applied to the 480-Mb/s USB2.0 TX driver with the synthesized serializer and phase-locked loop.