A BiCMOS limiting amplifier for SONET OC-3

This paper presents a Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET) OC-3 155.52 Mb/s limiting amplifier, which is implemented in a 1.0 /spl mu/m 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 mV/sub pp//spl sim/400 mV/sub pp/) and provides a constant output 1 V/sub pp/ across a 50 /spl Omega/ load for long-haul 40 km application. The active area of this limiting amplifier is 0.8 mm/spl times/3.0 mm. It consumes 130 mW from a single -5 V supply voltage.