A simple and effective method to achieve the successful start-up of a current reference

Abstract

Start-up design is a critical issue in current reference as it is very closely related to production yield. However, its function is difficult to predict using normal transaction simulations before the device is put into diffusion. In this paper, we discuss a simple and effective simulation approach which ensures a successful start-up process in a self-biased temperature independent current reference. The circuit is implemented in a class-D power amplifier with a 0.35 μm BiCMOS process and the experimental result validates that, by using this method, the start-up success rate can be greatly improved to 100%.