An 8Gb/s Transformer-Boosted Transmitter with >V/sub 00/ swing

An 8 Gb/s serial-link transmitter that achieves >V_DD signal swing without stressing the voltage tolerance of the transistors is presented. The high-frequency signal is boosted to large swings above the supply rail through multiple transformer coupling. The design is implemented in 1.2V 0.13μm CMOS technology. The prototype TX achieves 1.42V_PP output swing with 1.16V on-chip V_DD and draws 136mA. The S₁₁ is less than -10dB for frequencies <4GHz