SYNTHESIS OF TRANSCONDUCTOR MULTIPLIER CIRCUITS FOR GALLIUM-ARSENIDE TECHNOLOGY

A class of circuits is defined having transconductor/multiplier type response functions, which can be synthesized by making use of the square-law drain current versus gate-source voltage characteristic of depletion-mode GaAs MESFET's, and which includes generalized transconductors and multipliers as special cases. Implementation is based on a general current differencing architecture in conjunction with voltage processing building blocks. The synthesis procedure we present generates a multitude of circuits, can allow equivalent circuits of alternative topology to be easily generated, and provides an increased understanding of different classes of transconductor/multiplier-type response functions and the relationship between these functions and circuit realizations. The analysis of the effect of nonideal component parameters, in particular MESFET finite channel-length modulation parameter-lambda, and the development of suitable cascoding techniques to yield precision performance remain for further work.