Adaptive time-domain pre-emphasis techniques for high-speed VLSI systems

Abstract

This paper presents a different approach to the implementation of a transmitter pre-emphasis. The digital transmitter pre-emphasis techniques are commonly based on conventional FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filtering methods which can be insufficient for future sub-micron CMOS design, where the voltage headroom will become lower, and the noise margin will become limiting factor. A very effective time-domain method based on pulse-width modulation is proposed to improve data signal quality of recent high-speed VLSI systems.