Current operational amplifiers: Basic architecture, properties, exploitation and future

Abstract

This review paper describes all major considerations of the design of current operational amplifiers (COAs). It is demonstrated, that the single-input, differential-output COA as the adjoint element to the differentialinput, single-output voltage operational amplifier (VOA) is employable in current processing circuits alike the VOAs in voltage processing circuits. On an example of a basic one-high-gain-stage current-operational-amplifier architecture the procedure and the strategy of the design is explained and the main first and second order properties of this device are described. The paper is concluded showing elementary approaches of the derivation of the exploitation of the COAs in current processing circuits interreciprocal to voltage processing circuits and discussing the considerations of the exploitation of the COAs in VLSI designs.