In this thesis, a CMOS tunable second-order log-domain filter using pseudo-exponential approximation is proposed. MOSFETs in the circuit are working in the saturation region. This filter has higher frequency response than that of weak inversion CMOS filter. The circuit has been fabricated with 0.35um CMOS technology. It operates with a supply voltage 3V, internal capacitance C is 1pF, the biasing current varies from 2uA~10uA. The cutoff frequency can be turned from 2MHz~37.5MHz. The harmonic distortion is 0.93% and the power consumption is 772uW.

Traditionally, the design of continuous time active filters usually has a trade offbetween low-voltage and high dynamic range. One way to solve this problem is companding technology. There are two methods for companding filters. The first method utilizes the exponential I-V characteristics of BJT in the saturation region. In order to reduce the cost andintegrate the analog and digital circuits, the other method was exploited using CMOS process. In this project, a new first-order low pass log-domain filter based on CMOS parasitic vertical BJTwill be proposed. This filter has higher frequency response than previous circuits. We will first employ Hspice to simulate the log-domain filter to ensure the correctness of the circuit and make it a reliable reference with the circuit layout. After summarizing all the simulations and analyses, the chip will be fabricated with 0.35um CMOS technology.

The cochlea is an organ which extracts frequency information from the input sound wave. It also produces nerve signals, which are further analysed by the brain and ultimately lead to perception of the sound. An existing model of the cochlea by Fragni`ere is first analysed by simulation. This passive model is found to have the properties that the living cochlea does in terms of the frequency response. An analog VLSI circuit implementation of this cochlear model in CMOS weak inversion is proposed, using log-domain filters in current domain. It is fabricated on a chip and a measurement of a basilar membrane section is performed. The measurement shows a reasonable agreement to the model. However, the circuit is found to have a problem related to transistor mismatch, causing different behaviour in identical circuit blocks. An active cochlear model is proposed to overcome this problem. The model incorporates the effect of the outer hair cells in the living cochlea, which controls the quality factor of the basilar membrane filters. The outer hair cells are incorporated as an extra voltage source in series with the basilar membrane resonator. Its value saturates as the input signal becomes larger, making the behaviour rather closer to that of a passive model. The simulation results show this nonlinear phenomenon, which is also seen in the living cochlea. The contribution of this thesis is summarised as follows: a) the first CMOS weak inversion current domain basilar membrane resonator is designed and fabricated, and b) the first active two-dimensional cochlear model for analog VLSI implementation is developed.

The cochlea is an organ which extracts frequency information from the input sound wave. It also produces nerve signals, which are further analysed by the brain and ultimately lead to perception of the sound. An existing model of the cochlea by Fragni`ere is first analysed by simulation. This passive model is found to have the properties that the living cochlea does in terms of the frequency response. An analog VLSI circuit implementation of this cochlear model in CMOS weak inversion is proposed, using log-domain filters in current domain. It is fabricated on a chip and a measurement of a basilar membrane section is performed. The measurement shows a reasonable agreement to the model. However, the circuit is found to have a problem related to transistor mismatch, causing different behaviour in identical circuit blocks. An active cochlear model is proposed to overcome this problem. The model incorporates the effect of the outer hair cells in the living cochlea, which controls the quality factor of the basilar membrane filters. The outer hair cells are incorporated as an extra voltage source in series with the basilar membrane resonator. Its value saturates as the input signal becomes larger, making the behaviour rather closer to that of a passive model. The simulation results show this nonlinear phenomenon, which is also seen in the living cochlea. The contribution of this thesis is summarised as follows: a) the first CMOS weak inversion current domain basilar membrane resonator is designed and fabricated, and b) the first active two-dimensional cochlear model for analog VLSI implementation is developed.