Abstract
This paper presents a configurable driver with programmable impedance, output slew rate and de-emphasis control scheme. The proposed driver is implemented using 45 nm CMOS technology which can be configured as a differential push-pull driver or differential current-mode driver. In push-pull mode, the driver can operate with mid-rail swing. In current-mode, it can support 400 mV and 500 mV low voltage swing. Configurable driver provides multiple impedances of 50, 75 or 150 Ω that can be selected for transmit impedance and receive terminator. Besides that, with slew rate control scheme, the driver slew rate can be programmed at 2 - 5 V / ns for data rate below 4 Gbps. However, slew rate control scheme is bypassed and de-emphasis control scheme is activated to gives 6 dB de-emphasis to equalize ISI losses at date rate above 4 Gbps and thus, improving signal integrity.
