Low Drop-Out Voltage Regulators: Capacitor-less Architecture Comparison Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Demand for system-on-chip solutions has increased the interest in low drop-out (LDO) voltage regulators which do not require a bulky off-chip capacitor to achieve stability, also called capacitor-less LDO (CL-LDO) regulators. Several architectures have been proposed; however comparing these reported architectures proves difficult, as each has a distinct process technology and specifications. This paper compares CL-LDOs in a unified matter. We designed, fabricated, and tested five illustrative CL-LDO regulator topologies under common design conditions using 0.6?m CMOS technology. We compare the architectures in terms of (1) line/load regulation, (2) power supply rejection, (3) line/load transient, (4) total on-chip compensation capacitance, (5) noise, and (6) quiescent power consumption. Insights on what optimal topology to choose to meet particular LDO specifications are provided. 2001-2012 IEEE.

published proceedings

  • IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

altmetric score

  • 6

author list (cited authors)

  • Torres, J., El-Nozahi, M., Amer, A., Gopalraju, S., Abdullah, R., Entesari, K., & Sanchez-Sinencio, E.

citation count

  • 75

complete list of authors

  • Torres, Joselyn||El-Nozahi, Mohamed||Amer, Ahmed||Gopalraju, Seenu||Abdullah, Reza||Entesari, Kamran||Sanchez-Sinencio, Edgar

publication date

  • January 2014