A 16-Gb/s 3-tap adaptive DFE in 12-nm FinFET CMOS technology

Abstract

This paper introduces a 3-tap half-rate adaptive decision feedback equalizer (DFE) and a 2-D eye-opening monitor (EOM). A newly developed regenerating sampler (RG-sampler) with smaller setup time and ck2q time is integrated into the proposed DFE, enhancing its performance. To ensure greater robustness, the sign-sign least-mean-squares (SSLMS) algorithm with a pattern filter is employed to adapt DFE tap coefficients. The proposed 2-D EOM accurately captures the shape of the eye diagram using adjustment steps of 1.95ps and 7 mV in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. Additionally, by reusing analog components within the adaptive DFE and 2-D EOM modules, significant reductions in silicon area and power consumption are achieved. Implemented in 12-nm FinFET CMOS technology, the transceiver integrated with adaptive DFE and 2-D EOM operates at a data rate of 16 Gb/s over a channel with 30 dB loss at 8 GHz frequency. The proposed adaptive DFE and 2-D EOM occupy a total area of 0.00808 mm2. Measurement results demonstrate that following DFE adaptation, the eye height is 77 mV, and the eye width is 29.25ps at 16 Gb/s.