A 96-Gb/s PAM-8 Transmitter with Transition-Boosted Current-Mode Logic Driver in 40-nm CMOS for Wireline Communication

Abstract

A 96-Gb/s PAM-8 transmitter with a transition-boosted current-mode logic (TBCML) driver is introduced and fabricated in 40-nm CMOS technology. The proposed TBCML driver incorporates cross-coupled gate voltage boosting and feedforward coupling techniques to enhance transition speeds for high-speed operation. The implemented transmitter achieves a differential peak-to-peak output swing of 657 mV at a data rate of 96 Gb/s. Feedforward equalization (FFE) is applied to mitigate inter-symbol interference (ISI). The prototype transmitter occupies a die area of 0.15 mm2 and achieves an energy efficiency of 4.33 pJ/b with a total power consumption of 416 mW.