The most accurate method for performing analog signal processing in MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) integrated circuits is through the use of switched-capacitor circuits. A switched-capacitor circuit operates as a discrete-time signal processor. These circuits have been used in a variety of applications, such as filters, gain stages, voltage-controlled oscillators, and modulators.; A switched-capacitor circuit contains operational amplifiers (opamps), capacitors, switches, and a clock generator. Capacitors are used to define the state variables of a system. They store charges for a defined time interval, and determine the state variables as voltage differences. Switches are used to direct the flow of charges and to enable the charging and discharging of capacitors. Nonoverlapping clock signals control the switches and allow charge transfer between the capacitors. Opamps are used in order to perform high-accuracy charge transfer from one capacitor to another.; The goal of this research is to design and explore future low-voltage switched-capacitor circuits, which are crucial for portable devices. Low-voltage operation is needed for two reasons: making reliable and accurate systems compatible with the submicron CMOS technology and reducing power consumption of the digital circuits.; To this end, three different switched-capacitor integrators are proposed, which function with very low supply voltages. One of these configurations is used to design a lowpass ΔΣ modulator for digital-audio applications. This modulator is fabricated and tested demonstrating 80 dB dynamic range with a 1-V supply voltage.; The second part of this research is to show that these low-voltage circuits are suitable for modern wireless communication applications, where the clock and signal frequencies are very high.; This part of the research has focused on bandpass analog-to-digital converters. Bandpass analog-to-digital converters are among the key components in wireless communication systems. They are used to digitize the received analog signal at an intermediate center frequency. Such converters are used for digital FM or AM radio applications and for portable communication devices, such as cellular phones. The main block, in these converters, is the resonator, which is tuned to a particular center frequency. A resonator must be designed such that it has a sharp peak at a specific center frequency. However, because of circuit imperfections, the resonant peak gain and/or the center frequency are degraded in existing architectures.; Two novel switched-capacitor resonators were invented during the second part of this research. These resonators demonstrate superior performance as compared to previous architectures. A fourth-order low-voltage bandpass ΔΣ modulator, using one of these resonators, has been designed.
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