A high-precision interface for tunneling magnetoresistance sensors with 0.15 nT/√Hz resolution

The tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) with high-resolution digital output is widely used in military and civil fields. In this work we proposed a low-noise read-out circuit and a four-order fully differential sigma-delta modulator for TMR sensors. In the read-out circuit, we used symmetrical cascade for good matching. We used correlated double sampling (CDS) technique to improve the conversion accuracy of the modulator. In switched capacitor circuits we used time-division multiplexing to suppress charge injection and clock feedthrough. The high-precision application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip was fabricated by a 0.35 [Formula: see text]m CMOS process from Shanghai Huahong foundry. The TMR sensor was placed in an environment of three-layer magnetic shielding for test. The active area of the ASIC is only about [Formula: see text]. At a sampling frequency of 20 kHz, the TMR magnetometer consumes 77 mW from a single 5 V supply; the sigma-delta modulator for TMR can achieve an average noise floor of −141 dBV. The magnetometer works at a full scale (FS) of [Formula: see text], it can achieve a nonlinearity of 0.2% FS and a resolution of 0.15 nT/Hz[Formula: see text] over a signal bandwidth.

Vertical Stacked LEGO-PoL CPU Voltage Regulator

<div>This paper presents a 48 V–1 V merged-two-stage hybrid-switched-capacitor converter with a Linear Extendable Group Operated Point-of-Load (LEGO-PoL) architecture for ultra-high-current microprocessors, featuring 3-D stacked packaging and coupled inductors for miniaturized size and vertical power delivery. The architecture is highly modular and scalable. The switched capacitor circuits are connected in series on the input side to split the high input voltage into multiple stacked voltage domains. The multiphase buck circuits are connected in parallel to distribute the high output current into multiple parallel current paths. It leverages the advantages of switched capacitor circuits and multiphase buck circuits to achieve soft charging, current sharing, and voltage balancing. The inductors of the multiphase buck converters are used as current sources to soft-charge and soft-switch the switched-capacitor circuits, and the switched-capacitor circuits are utilized to ensure current sharing among the multiphase buck circuits. A 780 A vertical stacked CPU voltage regulator with a peak efficiency of 91.1% and a full load efficiency of 79.2% at an output voltage of 1 V with liquid cooling is built and tested. This is the first demonstration of a 48 V–1 V CPU voltage regulator to achieve over 1 A/mm2 current density and the first to achieve 1,000 W/in3 power density. It regulates output voltage between 0.8 V and 1.5 V through the entire 780 A current range.</div>

Vertical Stacked LEGO-PoL CPU Voltage Regulator

<div>This paper presents a 48 V–1 V merged-two-stage hybrid-switched-capacitor converter with a Linear Extendable Group Operated Point-of-Load (LEGO-PoL) architecture for ultra-high-current microprocessors, featuring 3-D stacked packaging and coupled inductors for miniaturized size and vertical power delivery. The architecture is highly modular and scalable. The switched capacitor circuits are connected in series on the input side to split the high input voltage into multiple stacked voltage domains. The multiphase buck circuits are connected in parallel to distribute the high output current into multiple parallel current paths. It leverages the advantages of switched capacitor circuits and multiphase buck circuits to achieve soft charging, current sharing, and voltage balancing. The inductors of the multiphase buck converters are used as current sources to soft-charge and soft-switch the switched-capacitor circuits, and the switched-capacitor circuits are utilized to ensure current sharing among the multiphase buck circuits. A 780 A vertical stacked CPU voltage regulator with a peak efficiency of 91.1% and a full load efficiency of 79.2% at an output voltage of 1 V with liquid cooling is built and tested. This is the first demonstration of a 48 V–1 V CPU voltage regulator to achieve over 1 A/mm2 current density and the first to achieve 1,000 W/in3 power density. It regulates output voltage between 0.8 V and 1.5 V through the entire 780 A current range.</div>