Tutorial: Basics of DAC-Based Wireline Transmitters

This tutorial presents a practical overview of current-mode and voltage-mode DAC drivers, focusing on the fundamentals, accuracy challenges and design solutions. First, the tutorial explains transmitter specifications for swing, jitter, equalization and linearity, while also introducing DAC performance metrics and discussing their overall impact on wireline systems. Next, the current-mode and voltage-mode DAC architectures are introduced while highlighting the pros and cons of each. High-speed design challenges, bandwidth and non-linearity trade-offs are reviewed. PVT and mismatch effects, swing enhancements and calibration techniques are introduced. The tutorial concludes with several DAC design examples utilizing deep submicron CMOS technologies reaching up to 56Gbaud/s.