Recent developments in current conveyors and
current-mode circuits
B. Wilson
Indexing terms: Reviews ofprogress
Abstract: Current conveyors and related current-
mode circuits have begun to emerge as an impor-
tant class of circuits with properties that enable
them to rival their voltage-mode counterparts in a
wide range of applications. The use of current
rather than voltage as the active parameter can
result in higher usable gain, accuracy and band-
width due to reduced voltage excursion at sensi-
tive nodes. A current-mode approach is not just
restricted to current processing, but also offers
certain important advantages when interfaced to
voltage-mode circuits. This paper sets out to
survey developments in conveyors and current-
mode circuits from both an historical and techni-
cal viewpoint and to act as a useful source of
reference material.
1 Introduction
From their introduction in 1968 by Smith and Sedra [l]
and subsequent reformulation in 1970 by Sedra and
Smith [Z], current conveyors have proved to be function-
ally flexible and versatile, rapidly gaining acceptance as
both a theoretical and practical building block. However,
it is only in the last five years that high performance
implementations have emerged, to enable conveyors now
to challenge successfully traditional voltage operational
amplifier circuits in areas such as active filters, oscillators
and amplifiers. In addition, a number of novel circuit
functions and topologies have been explored on the
broader front of current-mode analogue circuits, opening
up wider areas of interest. Consequently the time seems
opportune for a comprehensive and up-to-date tutorial
review of concepts and new developments in current con-
veyors and associated current-mode circuits, especially as
many of these developments have occurred since earlier
reviews were compiled [3, 41 or have only been outlined
in necessarily brief conference papers [>7] or less acces-
sible educational publications [SI. The scope of this
review will include current conveyors and their applica-
tions as well as related current-mode circuits, but will
exclude operational transconductance amplifiers since
they have been commercially available as integrated cir-
cuits for some time.
Paper 71466 (E10, E16), received 23rd August 1989
The author is with the Digital Communications Sub-Group, Depart-
ment of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, University of Manches-
ter Institute of Science and Technology, PO Box 88, Manchester
MM) IQD, United Kingdom
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pi. G , No. 2, A P R I L 1990
2 Conveyor proposals and implementations
A class I1 current conveyor has defined properties which
[;I=[; :I:;[]:
may be expressed in the relationship
0 *1 0 U,
The output current i, thus depends only on the input
current at terminal X, in Fig. 1. This current may be
Fig. 1 C U I + current conveyor
v, = y,
I, =I,
injected directly at X, or it may be produced by the copy
of the input voltage V,, from terminal Y, acting across
the impedance connected at X. In a class I1 current con-
veyor input Y draws no current, whereas, for the older
class I formulation, the impedance connected at X is also
reflected at Y.The +
sign indicates whether the conveyor
is formulated as an inverting or noninverting circuit,
termed CCII- or CCII+. By convention, positive is
taken to mean i, and i, both flowing simultaneously
towards or away from the conveyor.
Adopting a nullor approach [9] for ease of functional
synthesis [lo], a class I1 current conveyor may be rep-
resented by a nullator and norator [ l l , 121, as in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Nullator-norator representation of CCII + conueyor
Other conveyor functions have also been proposed,
namely current-voltage [13], generalised [14], 3 port
immittance types [lS, 161, voltage inverting type I1 [17],
and, most recently, a conveyor with an electronically
programmable current transfer ratio [18]. However, the
type I1 current conveyor continues to prove its dura-
bility, probably due to a favourable balance of simplicity
and versatility.
Smith and Sedra [l] themselves produced the first
conveyor circuit implementation, based on an emitter
driven current mirror approach, followed closely by an
improved version using a greater number of transistors in
1969 [19]. The first implementation to use an operational
63
amplifier was reported by Black et al. [20] in 1971 where
the uncommitted output transistors of a pA749 were con-
figured with additional transistors to produce a current
output. Both positive and negative conveyors were avail-
able using their approach, but with restricted frequency
response and accuracy. Additional transistors were dis-
pensed with in Bakhtiar and Aronhime’s [21] realisation
in 1978 which used no less than five operational ampli-
fiers and a number of tightly matched resistors, again
resulting in only moderate bandwidth. Two years later in
1980 Senani [22] proposed a simpler realisation using
only one operational amplifier, two resistors and a trans-
conductance amplifier. No practical results were present-
ed for the proposed circuit, however the inclusion of an
early integrated transconductance amplifier would most
probably have resulted in modest performance. In the
same year Huertas [23] reported a conveyor structure
that loosely followed Senani’s synthesis, but employed
two operational amplifiers and six resistors instead, to
overcome the well known limitations of trans-
conductance amplifiers. Until the time of the compilation
of Kumar and Shukla’s review [4], this was the most
promising line of development, even though the closed-
loop response of the operational amplifiers restricted the
frequency performance of the resulting conveyor.
Meanwhile, developments had been taking place in
current mirror design that would eventually prove to be
useful for current conveyors. The traditional two tran-
sistor current mirror circuit exhibited two weaknesses;
poor accuracy beyond approximately 1 mA and a strong
dependence of output current on output voltage [24].
The addition of a third transistor on the output side of
the mirror [25] assisted in buffering the primary pair
against output voltage changes, resulting in improved
performance that could be quantified and predicted ana-
lytically [26]. Finally, errors in the current transfer ratio
over a wide range of currents were minimised by the
inclusion of a fourth transistor in the input side of the
mirror [27], Fig. 3. This four transistor version of the
input
Y OiPUt in out
h
common
Fig. 3 Four-transistor current mirror and symbol
current mirror has become the accepted building block in
precision applications. The symbol most often used to
denote a current mirror (no matter how many transistors
are used) is also shown in Fig. 3, with the arrow indicat-
ing both the input terminal and mirror polarity.
A number of attempts were made to improve the fre-
quency response of early pnp mirrors, but all involved
additional operating restrictions [28-301 or required an
operational amplifier to be included [31, 321. Fortu-
nately, currently available pnp transistors display SUE-
ciently improved performance to complement the
frequency response of most standard operational ampli-
fiers.
Combining the improvements in current mirror for-
mulations and voltage to current convertor design [33-
64
371, Wilson [38] introduced a new style of conveyor
implementation in 1984 with greatly increased per-
formance over earlier circuits. The approach utilises four
transistor current mirrors and operational amplifier
supply current sensing [34, 361 as an alternative to dupli-
cating the inaccessible output of the amplifier transistors
to provide a copy of output current. Unimpaired access
to all the terminals of the operational amplifier results in
a precision class I1 + current conveyor, Fig. 4. Input Y is
Fig. 4 High-performance conveyor implementation
a short-circuit stable voltage input of very high imped-
ance that draws only the operational amplifier bias
current, and input X reflects the voltage at Y and per-
forms as an open-circuit stable current terminal. A class
I1 - conveyor can be realised by simply adding a second
pair of mirrors, crosscoupled to produce a phase inver-
sion between input and output current [39]. Reported
results include bandwidths in excess of 3 MHz, terminal
capacitances of 1.5 p F [40] and transfer distortions less
than -70 dB with output currents up to & 10 mA [41].
The method is equally suitable for both discrete construc-
tion and integrated fabrication, with potentially superior
performance available from the benefits of tighter active
device matching and direct access to the currents from
the output transistors.
In 1985 both Fabre [42] and Normand [43] indepen-
dently proposed a conveyor based around a Gilbert
translinear cell [44], as in Fig. 5. The translinear current
1 t l I
I I I
I- v
Fig. 5 Translinear conveyor
equation (outlined in Section 4.1) and mirror arrange-
ments force the current out of Z to be equal to the
current out of X, while the voltage at X will faithfully
track Y; exactly the properties of a class 11+ current
conveyor. Unfortunately the effective input resistance
presented at Y is relatively low and strongly dependent
upon the accuracy and matching of the constituent
mirrors [42]. Modifying the circuit, as suggested by
Wilson [8,451, with the addition of a long tailed pair, or
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pi. G, N o . 2, APRIL I990
incorporating an operational amplifier, improves both
the magnitude and predictability of input resistance.
However, to realise conveyors from discrete components,
the circuits require a greater number of transistor array
ICs than the operational amplifier and mirror approach,
without producing any performance advantage. In inte-
grated form both the modified translinear conveyor, with
a suitable high input impedance section, and the oper-
ational amplifier and mirror conveyor should produce
comparable performances.
Surakampontorn and Thitimajshima [18] have very
recently proposed a design for an integrable conveyor
featuring variable transfer gain designed around a Gilbert
current amplifier and using oniy npn mirror structures.
Preliminary results reported from breadboarding of the
circuit from transistor arrays indicate the promise of
wideband gain errors of less than 1%, but unfortunately
restricted to output currents of less than 1 mA. Research
on MOS current mode circuits has traditionally been
restricted by the poor matching available from discrete
MOSFET devices. However, Nishio et al. [46] have
demonstrated a discrete conveyor composed of an oper-
ational amplifier and multiple MOSFET mirrors in a
topology intended for integration and very similar to the
style of early bipolar voltage to current convertors in
which the output section of the amplifier is duplicated to
access currrent [35]. (Related developments specific to
MOS technology are discussed in section 4.3).
3 Conveyor applications
3.1 Immittance conversion
3.1.1 Inductance synthesis
Because of the desirability of producing solid state filters
without the use of physical coils, attention soon became
focused on the impedance transforming capabilities of
current conveyors, especially since an operational ampli-
fier approach had so far required extensive component
matching [47]. Developments occurred primarily along
two lines: one aiming ultimately at a satisfactory single
conveyor configuration for discrete component imple-
mentation and the other moving towards a multi-
conveyor structure to take advantage of integrated
fabrication.
The first reported conveyor scheme by Black [20] in
1971 employed two conveyors, but only exhibited a mod-
erate Q factor at low frequencies. In 1977 Nandi [48]
presented a pair of single conveyor circuits for realising
both bilinear and series RL impedances with the
restriction of a dependent relationship between L and Q.
This was partially overcome by limiting the single con-
veyor circuits to moderate Q applications and proposing
a new simplified two conveyor design for higher Q
regimes [49]. Senani [SO] then published a series of three
circuits, the first two of which simulated a grounded RL
impedance using a single conveyor with three and four
passive components respectively. In the two conveyor
design a floating RL impedance was available for the first
time. However, all three circuits required tight resistor
tolerances, as discussed by Nedungadi [Sl] in his com-
munication, to improve the range of floating inductance
available.
By adopting a conveyor version of the Ford-Girling
circuit Soliman [52] was able to produce a grounded
parallel RL impedance without critical component
matching, followed shortly by a single conveyor gyrator
formulation of an ideal grounded inductor, which still
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P f . C , No. 2, A P R I L 1990
required component matching [53]. Senani [54] over-
came matching constraints in his single conveyor realis-
ation of a lossy floating inductance at the expense of
using a nongrounded capacitor. Almost simultaneously
Nandi [55] reported a two conveyor circuit employing
two resistors and a grounded capacitor to simulate a
grounded lossy inductance whose Q was both high
and independently adjustable. Singh's first proposal [56]
was essentially the same as Senani's circuit from the pre-
vious year [SO], whereas his second contribution [57]
adopted a single conveyor approach to simulate a float-
ing lossy inductance without component matching,
unfortunately with the disadvantage of Q and L depen-
dence. Rathore and Singhi [58] had during the course of
the year also described a synthesis procedure for
grounded lossy inductance simulation which, when
implemented practically, resulted again in configurations
identical to those first presented by Senani for both
current conveyors [SO] and operational amplifiers [59].
Two new lossy floating inductive simulations
(series and parallel RL), requiring no component match-
ing, and exhibiting independent resistive control of L and
Q,were introduced in 1980 by Senani [60] in a two con-
veyor configuration, subsequently reformulated [61] to
reduce the number of passive components. Patranabis
and Paul [62], meanwhile, had devised a two conveyor
circuit to produce a floating inductance in series with a
negative resistance, a possibility not previously exploited.
At this point Rathore [63] proposed a new two conveyor
simulation of an RL impedance with independent
resistive control of L and Q and utilising for the first time
a grounded capacitor, as a result of his generalised form
of lagging current analysis. Pal [64] brought 1980 to a
close with three multiconveyor proposals for lossless
floating inductor simulation, all requiring triple resistor
matching, along with a floating capacitor. The first
scheme employed four identical conveyors, where the
other two schemes featured three conveyors in loss com-
pensated versions of earlier circuits, due to various
authors [SO, 54, 571.
The single conveyor circuit proposed by Paul and
Patranabis [65] in 1981 for a range of inductive applica-
tions was later shown by Soliman [66] to be identical to
that published by himself three years earlier [53], albeit
with a less detailed analysis. In a series of four papers,
Pal describes initially [67] a two conveyor circuit featur-
ing single resistor control of an ideal grounded induc-
tance, and a floating single conveyor RL impedance, both
employing a floating capacitor and requiring resistor
matching. Secondly, two multiple conveyor circuits are
suggested [68] for grounded inductance realisation with
the advantage of using unmatched resistors and
grounded, rather than floating, capacitors. The next pub-
lication [69] outlined a four conveyor ideal floating
inductance scheme reverting to two sets of matched
resistors with a single controlling grounded capacitor.
However, Singh [70] soon proposed a simple modifi-
cation to allow the more favoured resistive control
method at the expense of a single matching condition,
while retaining the grounded capacitor. In the final paper
of the series Pal [71] reduced the passive component
count to a pair of matched grounded resistors, a
grounded capacitor and a floating control resistor. In
addition, a four conveyor floating capacitance multiplier,
requiring no component matching, is described.
Shortly afterwards Senani [72] published a four con-
veyor contribution that overcame the disadvantages of
the previous three proposals by removing the require-
65
ment of component matching completely. The resulting
circuit employs a minimum number of passive com-
ponents, uses a grounded capacitor for ease of micro-
fabrication and features grounded resistor control, Fig. 6.
CCII. z CCII. 2
Fig. 6 Floating inductance synthesis
By a suitable interchange of passive components, the
circuit also acts as a floating capacitance multiplier using
a grounded capacitor. In 1983 Nandi [73] contributed a
two conveyor simulation of a grounded ideal inductance
employing two matched resistors and a floating capa-
citor, and exhibiting floating resistive control. Finally,
employing their own previously published synthesis tech-
nique [ l l , 743 Higashimura and Fukui have recently
reported [75] a floating lossless inductance implementa-
tion using two conveyors, one transconductance ampli-
fier, a grounded capacitance and a single resistor. The
resultant inductance is electronically tunable over a range
of approximately three decades by varying the trans-
conductance amplifier bias current.
Since 1983 attention has increasingly focused on a
more general approach involving frequency dependent
negative resistance (FDNR) and generalised immittance
convertors that are also suitable for inductance simula-
tion. However, a number of papers have appeared [39,
761 presenting practical results for inductance synthesis
resulting from the adoption of Wilson's high-performance
conveyor implementation [38], a preliminary attempt at
a MOSFET conveyor [46], and a conveyor with elec-
tronically variable gain [18]. In related developments
operational transconductance amplifiers, which in
general display an inferior performance compared to con-
veyors, have been proposed for a current controlled
capacitance multiplier [77]. Senani [78] has also recently
described a floating inductance synthesis employing a
pair of standard voltage operational amplifiers, but with
the disadvantage of requiring 12 resistors (two matched)
and a floating capacitor.
In parallel with the general shift of interest from purely
inductive simulation to the more general FDNR circuits
for continuous time analogue filter synthesis there has
been a corresponding increase in the number of pub-
lications concerning a current-mode approach to the
design of GaAs amplifiers for switched capacitor filters
(Section 4.3).
3.1.2Frequency dependent negative resistance
The function of frequency dependent negative resistance
(FDNR), occasionally referred to as a super capacitance,
is an additional synthetic circuit element that is often
required in active filter design. Early single conveyor for-
mulation by Soliman [52], using a conveyor equivalent
of the Ford-Girling circuit, and Nandi [79], resulted in
high loss resonators rather than an FDNR relationship,
TWOfurther contributions by Soliman [80, 811, describe
a three conveyor circuit with a suggested FDNR capabil-
ity and a single conveyor circuit for realising both an
66
ideal and lossy FDNR respectively, but requiring
extensive component matching. A reduction in the
number of passive components was achieved by Pal [82]
in his two conveyor frequency dependent negative con-
ductance configuration, employing two equal-valued
grounded capacitors and a single resistor, an advantage
that was not obtainable with Salawu's [83] later two
conveyor proposal needing six passive components. Pal's
[64] introduction of a four conveyor FDNR structure in
1981 also required a high passive component count with
equality constraints on both capacitors and resistors.
However, this trend was reversed in his next publication,
containing two FDNR simulations [68]. The proposal of
a four conveyor implementation for the first time
imposed no equality constraints on the passive com-
ponents, while the three conveyor circuits employed only
two grounded capacitors, of equal value, and a single
resistor. Nandi's [84] contribution required only two
conveyors, but at the cost of indirectly involving all five
passive components in the balance equation for lossless
behaviour.
All the previous conveyor FDNR configurations had
been grounded realisations and it was not until two pub-
lications by Nandi [85, 861 that a floating FDNR imple-
mention first became available. The two formulations
were closely related, both employing three conveyors
along with two floating capacitors and a single resistor,
with no component matching required. A minor modifi-
cation was later suggested by Abdalla [87] to the second
circuit to make use of conveyors of the same polarity
throughout. Meanwhile, Senani [88] had also presented
a two conveyor floating FDNR not requiring any com-
ponent matching that could also implement a range of
other circuit functions, Fig. 7. Practical results for this
I cll --Tl I
pw: CCII-z
Z=-(w*C C R
PI
1 3 p 4
/R )-'
1
I I
Fig. 7 Floating F D N R synthesis
formulation were reported by Wilson [39] in his pub-
lication of a high performance inverting conveyor
employing an operational amplifier and two current
mirrors.
Two further floating FDNR circuits, utilising only two
conveyors, a voltage buffer and three unmatched passive
components, were outlined by Higashimura and Fukui
[89] in 1986 that avoided the problem of parasitic capac-
itive components degrading performance. This line of
development has been continued by them with the recent
introduction [90] of four new floating FDNR simula-
tions, ostensibly needing only two conveyors, but also
requiring a current inverting negative immittance conver-
tor, which is itself usually implemented with a conveyor.
Whilst a great amount of attention has been focused
on a range of frequency dependent negative resistance
simulations, little work has been reported on frequency
dependent positive resistance (FDPR) circuits, possibly
because of stability problems. The only conveyor FDPR
appears to be a publication by Pookaiyaudom and
Srisarakham [91] in which they describe a two conveyor
implementation using three unmatched grounded passive
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P t . G , No. 2, A P R I L 1990
components, complete with practical results obtained
from their own conveyor realisation.
3.1.3 General immittance convertors
The first publication to consider the use of conveyors for
general immittance synthesis was that by Soliman [92] in
1972 in which he presented a range of multiconveyor cir-
cuits capable of producing transfer functions of a single
specified order, either as positive or negative convertors.
This procedure was extended in his next contribution
[93] to the wider problem of transfer functions realisable
through two general power series by adopting a nested
configuration employing positive voltage generalised
immittance convertors constructed from conveyors. The
third paper in the series [94] described a number of four
conveyor realisations for generalised immittance
invertors that offered, for the first time, the advantage of
using only grounded impedances. Conversion from a
grounded to a floating immittance synthesis was made
possible by Senani [14] with the introduction of his
immittance floatator using a generalised current convey-
or [23], in this case constructed from standard voltage
and transconductance operational amplifiers.
The application of current conveyors to grounded
negative immittance conversion was first outlined by
Sedra and Smith [2] in their introduction of class I1 con-
veyors, and illustrated later by Surakampontorn [95] in
a translinear conveyor. In 1983 a floating negative immit-
tance convertor composed of a pair of crosscoupled con-
veyors, was published by Paul et al. [96], and later
implemented practically by Toumazou and Lidgey [76]
in a general impedance convertor, that required no
passive components except the load impedance. The
analysis includes a method to compensate for the effects
of conveyor transfer ratio errors by the expedient of a
single additional impedance, assuming that the precise
nature of the transfer errors is known and invariant. This
work stimulated two closely related negative immittance
convertors and error compensation schemes by Nandi
[97, 981 differing only in the particular nature of their
cross-symmetry and conveyor polarities. A practical
realisation of a general immittance convertor using a dif-
ferential current mirror structure shared by two oper-
ational amplifiers has been described by Normand [99]
in an attempt at component minimisation. Khan and
Ahmed [lo01 have also demonstrated a dual trans-
conductance amplifier circuit for the synthesis of a float-
ing negative resistance, tunable by an external control
current.
Higashimura and Fukui’s [ll] contribution of a for-
malised nullator-norator conveyor model to assist with
the process of immittance synthesis, shown by Senani
[I21 to have been employed previously in a similar
context, has proved fruitful. The adoption of such a for-
malised method has allowed them to identify a great
number of possible multiconveyor configurations to
implement specific higher order immittance functions
[lOl, 1021, along with practical results for third order
Butterworth low and highpass conveyor filters [74].
3.2 Filters
Much of the early work on conveyor filters focussed on
single conveyor allpass formulations, like the second
order implementations reported by Soliman [103, 1041 in
1973 and modified by Gopal [81] to remove the dis-
advantage of constant loss with respect to phase. Aron-
hime [I051 soon demonstrated the generality of the
conveyor approach for any real rational voltage transfer
I E E PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P f . G, N o . 2, A P R I L I990
functions, with Rathore [lo61 developing a systematic
synthesis procedure, illustrating that previous circuits
[U, 103, 1041 were special cases of a more general
approach. In a parallel development Nandi [I071 sug-
gested in his comments on a publication by Ganguly
[lo81 the use of conveyors in realising noninverting
bilateral transfer functions with a high input impedance.
Salawu [I091 attempted in 1980 to reduce the com-
ponent count of Soliman’s original circuit [103], an
attempt that was later discovered by Salawu [llO]
himself to be restricted to a first order function and not
the original second order allpass function, as noted by
Soliman [Ill] and, later, Rathore [112] in a more
general context. Pal [113] contributed three allpass
multiple conveyor filters in 1981, the last of which was
found by Rathore [114] to contain an error, a point soon
corrected by the original author himself [ll5]. Mean-
while, Pal [I161 had also published a multiple conveyor
allpass filter structure that for the first time employed
only grounded capacitors. Two single conveyor first
order allpass conveyor formulations, exhibiting high
input impedance for ease of cascading, have been recently
reported by Higashimura [I 171, but neither unfor-
tunately has the advantage of utilising a grounded capa-
citor.
In his conveyor implementation of a Ford and Girling
style circuit, Soliman [52] illustrated its use as a lowpass
filter with zeros in the open left half plane. Soliman’s
[I181 next paper concentrated on two realisations of
bandpass functions using resonators, in contrast to
Nandi [49] whose approach was through the use of
grounded conveyor inductance simulation as a nested
element within a separate conveyor resonator. Similarly,
Pal [67] also described bandpass and reject filters
designed around conveyor inductance simulation. Naqsh-
bendi’s [I 191 improved configuration offered high input
impedance and single resistor parameter adjustment in a
conveyor bandpass filter for the first time.
Turning to more classical forms, Soliman’s [92] syn-
thesis procedure for generalised immittance convertors
has made it possible to design various types of Butter-
worth filters. However, the circuit originally due to
Nandi [120], simplified by Stephenson [121] and later
modified by Dunning-Davies [122], has proved to be
more attractive owing to the use of grounded capacitors
and equal valued components. Patranabis [62] has
implemented a third order Butterworth lowpass filter by
the alternative route of using conveyors to simulate nega-
tive resistance inductors. Higher order conveyor filters
may also be obtained, as shown by Senani [123] in his
novel impedance scaling scheme where single conveyors
with no component matching whatsoever are used to
simulate a lossy inductance per stage in an example
of a fourth order Butterworth lowpass filter.
During early 1986 Nawrocki and Klein [124] pro-
posed a universal biquad formulation involving eight
transconductance amplifiers and two grounded capa-
citors that allowed all major filter functions to be imple-
mented from the same structure, an improvement on
earlier designs where only a single filter function had
been available from each biquad circuit [125, 1261.
Within six months Nawrocki and Klein’s implementation
was modified by Toumazou and Lidgey [127] who
replaced all the operational transconductance amplifiers
by current conveyors and resistors, Fig. 8.
In late 1986 Chong and Smith [17] introduced
another variant on the conveyor theme which included a
voltage inversion between the input terminals, realising
61
what they termed a CCII & 2 type conveyor. The
purpose of the voltage inversion was to enable lowpass,
highpass and bandpass filters with independently control-
lable properties to be designed using a biquad style func-
tion implemented through a single conveyor. Since that
"I" -
Fig. 8 Current conueyor biquadfilter
time attention has become increasingly focussed on
switched capacitor filter design, as previously noted, with
the exception of a recent publication by Roberts and
Sedra [128] employing conveyors with current gain
('operational' conveyors [40]) as a general filter design
element.
3.3 Oscillators
The negative impedance transformation properties of
current conveyors make them a natural candidate for
oscillator circuits. However, most of the early approaches
outlined in the review by Kumar and Shukla [4] suffer
from one or more non-optimum characteristics.
The first conveyor oscillator proposal by Soliman
[129] in 1975 was effectively limited to the audio fre-
quency range, exhibiting linked sustainability and fre-
quency in the two conveyor form and also requiring
extensive component matching in the single conveyor
version. Nandi's [1301 contribution separated the fre-
quency and sustainable equations in his two conveyor
configurations with grounded frequency control, but still
required a floating capacitance. In the same year Nandi
[131] also reported two Wien bridge conveyor oscillator
formulations that displayed an improved frequency sta-
bility at the expense of using an increased number of
passive components. The first single conveyor oscillator
circuit, introduced by Soliman [132], had the disadvan-
tage of using a capacitor for frequency control. This
inconvenience was later avoided by both Soliman himself
[1331 and Senani [1341 in closely related single conveyor
circuits featuring grounded resistive control, but with the
inconvenience of having to use floating capacitors and
matched components.
For an integrable conveyor oscillator realisation it is
important that all capacitors in the circuit should be
grounded and that the frequency of operation should be
determined by a single grounded resistive element to
open the way for voltage or current frequency control.
The first such design using a single conveyor and ful-
filling these desirable criteria was published in 1984 by
Jana and Nandi [135] following earlier work by Nandi
[84] on a two conveyor oscillator. This implementation
remained the preferred formulation until 1987 when
Chong and Smith [136] published a comparative
analysis of single conveyor oscillators, suggesting an
68
improvement to reduce its sensitivity to conveyor offsets
and potential latch-up problems, Fig. 9.
Additional current-mode oscillator formulations have
also been investigated using operational trans-
conductance amplifiers. Nandi's proposal [137], employ-
7
Fig. 9 Conveyor oscillator
ing one such amplifier along with two voltage buffers,
was soon superseded by an implementation involving
only two transconductance amplifiers with two grounded
capacitors and single floating resistor tuning [138]. Later
developments from Senani [139, 1401 and Abuelma'atti
[141] have centred around the use of electronic frequency
control by adjustment of the transconductance amplifier
bias currents and a progressive reduction in the number
of passive components to a single grounded capacitor.
The development of differential current mirrors by
Normand [99] and Wilson [142] has also led to an oscil-
lator based on a current mirror phase shifting circuit by
Pookaiyaudom and Samootrut [143], but with the dis-
advantage of requiring twin tuning resistors.
3.4 Conveyor amplifiers
By definition a current conveyor is also a current fol-
lower with an accurately defined unity current gain, but
with the added advantage that the input may be refer-
enced to any voltage by using terminal Y. A trans-
resistance amplifier can therefore be constructed using a
conveyor as a current follower, feeding a known resist-
ance, followed by a voltage buffer. Both inverting and
noninverting transconductance amplifiers are also easily
formulated using the conveyor current input and a single
resistor to define the conversion gain. Current amplifiers
may be obtained either by modifying the basic conveyor
circuit to attenuate the feedback current [41], effectively
producing an 'operational' conveyor [e], or by employ-
ing two cascaded conveyors with an intermediate resistor,
equivalent to a voltage follower sandwiched between two
current followers [144]. Similarly, a voltage amplifier can
be configured from a conveyor arranged as a trans-
conductance amplifier with a specific load resistance, fol-
lowed by a voltage buffer. The absence of overall
feedback, whether the voltage amplifier is composed of
conveyors or separate voltage and current followers,
results in wider bandwidths at higher gains [145, 1461.
Current conveyors are also equally applicable to
voltage feedback amplifier formulations, where they
exhibit certain advantages compared to traditional oper-
ational amplifiers [146, 1471. For example, it has become
generally accepted that feedback voltage amplifiers
exhibit a constant gain-bandwidth product. However,
this has recently been shown to be simply a result of the
way in which feedback voltage amplifiers have habitually
been designed [147, 1481. In the traditional approach the
loop gain of the amplifier is equivalent to the forward
voltage gain divided by the demanded closed-loop
voltage gain. For a specific operational amplifier there-
I E E PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pf.G , No. 2, A P R I L 1990
fore, the loop gain available at any frequency is deter-
mined solely by the desired closed-loop gain of the
system, resulting in a constant gain-bandwidth product.
This restriction can only be avoided by making the loop
gain of a topology independent of its closed-loop gain, in
which case the bandwidth would be the same for all
values of closed-loop gain.
Such a situation may conveniently be achieved by
designing a voltage amplifier using feedback around a
current conveyor, as in Fig. 10, for the inverting and non-
R2
* “ o
G, =-R2/(2flq)
vlnTFf
G:I+Rz/(ZR~)
a b
Fig. 10 Feedback voltage ampl@ers wing conveyors
a Inverting
b Noninverting
inverting cases respectively. The performance available
from the new style of conveyor amplifier topology is
impressive, with bandwidths greater than 3 MHz at all
gains up to 40dB being reported by Wilson [40, 1493,
behaviour equivalent to a gain-bandwidth product
beyond 300MHz at 1OV ppk from an operational
amplifier advertised as having a unity-gain bandwidth of
only 4 MHz. In addition voltage slew rate is also remark-
ably improved, especially in the inverting version, since
the output from the operational amplifier is connected as
a virtual earth, and so does not move through any signifi-
cant voltage whatsoever, leaving that task to the current
mirrors. The main limitations on high-gain behaviour
have been found to be determined by the high-frequency
deviation in the X terminal impedance of the conveyor
[l50].
A universal conveyor instrumentation amplifier has
recently been demonstrated by Wilson [40, 149, 1511
through the adoption of a generalised dual conveyor
approach to a current-mode configuration originally pro-
posed by Nedungadi [152] in 1980 and subsequently
revised by Toumazou and Lidgey [7, 153-1551. The sym-
metrical nature of the input circuit, as shown in Fig. 11,
CCII.
V2 I described by Barker and Hart [162].
Fig. 11 Universal conveyor instrumentation ampl@er
V, = ( I . - I J R ,
5 , =U‘, - VJRJR,
ensures a differential input voltage capability with an
intrinsically high common-mode rejection ratio without
the need for any resistor matching whatsoever, unlike the
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pt. G , No. 2, A P R I L 1990
traditional triple operational amplifier instrumentation
amplifier. Current inputs can also be catered for by remo-
ving R I and using the conveyor X terminals directly.
Bandwidths greater than 1.5 MHz at all gains up to
40dB have been reported using general purpose oper-
ational amplifiers with a common-mode rejection ratio of
more than 100 dB at low frequencies, falling progressively
to 40 dB at around 1 MHz [40, 1491. Performance limi-
tations are due primarily to amplifier gain-bandwidth
product mismatch (as with the traditional circuit) and
residual capacitance at the conveyor X terminal [149,
1511.
VO
4 Developments in current-mode circuits
A current-mode circuit may be taken to mean any circuit
in which current is used as the active variable in prefer-
ence to voltage, either throughout the whole circuit or
RI only in certain critical areas. In addition to current con-
veyors themselves, such circuits range from voltage to
current convertors through translinear circuits and
current-mode rectifiers to neural computation and many
new amplifier topologies. For many of the applications
described a current-mode approach enables superior per-
formance to be achieved, even in cases where circuits
have been synthesised from voltage-mode components
due to the lack of suitable alternatives.
4.1 Current convertors, amplifiers and translinear
circuits
Early experimental designs of integrated voltage to
current convertors as instrumentation subsystems offered
good linearity, but were only optimised for a relatively
narrow range of conversion gains [156, 1571. At that time
discrete formulations of voltage to current convertors
were either designed around an operational amplifier
[33], a voltage follower [35] with an additional output
stage consisting of current mirrors of various complexity
or a form of crosscoupled compensated mirrors [l58].
The reintroduction in 1979 by Haslett and Rao [36] and
independently by Hart and Barker [34] of an operational
amplifier supply current sensing technique, first explored
by Graeme [159] a number of years earlier, permitted
greater circuit flexibility and performance to be obtained
in the design of convertors [34]. Nedungadi [152]
extended the scheme to encompass differential input
signals whilst Huijsing and Veelenturf [32] produced a
convertor in which the limitations of early pnp mirrors
were overcome by synthesis from npn devices and an
additional amplifier. Distortion performance was signifi-
cantly improved in 1981 with the publication by Wilson
[37, 411 of a new feedback convertor topology. Conver-
tors with extended output capability were demonstrated
by Nedungadi [160] employing a separate high-power
output stage and by Wilson [161] using an error feed-
forward technique to achieve low distortion with
unbiased output transistors. A convertor design suitable
for single supply operation has also recently been
After the renewal of interest in current followers and
amplifiers by Jager and Smit [163] their evolution has
traced a path similar to that of current convertors (since
most convertor circuits were essentially followers with
added conversion stages), but with only a limited amount
of theoretical material being published [148, 163, 1641.
The unipolar current amplifiers introduced by Hart [165]
and Nedungadi [166] were soon modified to accommo-
date supply current sensing and bipolar capability by
69
Nedungadi [152] and by Wilson [41, 1671 to operate
with feedback mirrors for lower distortion. Meanwhile,
with the exceptions of early implementations by
Nedungadi [168, 1691 and Bel [170], very similar topol-
ogies were being employed by Haslett and Rao [36], and
later Lidgey and Toumazou [la,1451, to produce accu-
rate current followers. At this stage, related developments
in translinear circuit theory began to influence the design
of current-mode circuits.
In 1975 Gilbert [MI, drawing on earlier work of his
own [171] and of others [172], unified several areas of
circuit theory with the publication of his translinear
circuit principle, later modified slightly by Hart [173].
One of the many possible variations of a translinear
arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 12, where a set of four
6 By 10 kHz, distortion is a major contributory factor to
13 14
Fig. 12 Four transistor translinear cell
:,I, = I, I,
transistors arranged in a ring bears a strong resemblance
to a pair of back-to-back transistor mirrors. Assuming
we have matched devices, operating at the same tem-
perature, the translinear principle produces the current
balance I , I , = 121.,. Many different functions, like
multiplication, division and squaring, can be achieved by
a suitable choice of driven currents. More complicated
analogue computational functions, square and other
roots for example, may be obtained by using more
complex topologies [172, 174, 1751.
The translinear approach was soon adopted by Fabre
in a series of papers concerning voltage to current con-
vertors with single class A [176], class AB [177] or
multiple [178] outputs. By extracting the design of the
central current follower from the convertor Fabre was
able to produce a differential current follower [179] and
a range of suggested applications [l80]. The original four
transistor translinear ring was extended by Toumazou
and Lidgey E1811 to form a six transistor chain acting as
the input stage of a fully differential current amplifier
with a gain of two. By using controllable bias currents
within the translinear gain cell Fabre [182] has also
demonstrated a current amplifier with a similar gain, but
programmable over a restricted range. Returning to the
basic four transistor translinear ring, Toumazou and
Lidgey [7, 1831 have very recently added an operational
amplifier to produce a single ended current amplifier with
a moderate open-loop gain and bandwidth. The
approach would seem to have scope for extension as an
operational conveyor by a suitable minor circuit modifi-
cation to gain access to the noninverting terminal of the
operational amplifier.
In 1980 Nedungadi E1521 reported a general current-
mode amplifier configuration, based on two operational
amplifiers and a pair of current mirrors, capable of per-
forming a number of related functions. By suitable
choices of component values, a differential voltage to
70
current convertor, a current to voltage convertor and a
full instrumentation amplifier displaying a high common-
mode rejection ratio, without component matching,
could be obtained. Because of its versatility Nedungadh
approach has proved to be popular [7, 150, 153, 1551
and has also led to the development of a conveyor
version of an instrumentation amplifier [40,149, 1511, as
noted previously in Section 3.4.
More sophisticated current-mode behaviour involving
fully differential input and output capabilities has also
been proposed from time to time by various authors,
whether as current amplifiers [7, 81, simple or composite
seven terminal amplifiers [ 5 , 761 or operational floating
amplifiers [184, 1851 in attempts to produce new basic
building blocks from which both novel and traditional
electronic functions may be implemented.
4.2 Signal processing computing and neural
networks
4.2.1 Precision rectification
The traditional design of a precision rectifier, composed
of two operational amplifiers, closely matched resistors,
diodes and multiple feedback [186], can result in undesir-
able distortion becoming noticeable at frequencies as low
as 1 kHz due to various open-loop waveform transitions.
error in measurements made with such circuits. Barker
and Hart [187] overcame these problems in 1977 with a
current-mode precision full wave rectifier circuit employ-
ing two voltage to current convertors and a current
mirror that exhibited a wide dynamic signal handling
capability. Retaining the same overall topology Touma-
zou and Lidgey [188, 1891 have recently updated the
voltage to current convertors by using Hart and Barker's
[34] own supply current sensing technique to produce a
m,,
fast precision current-mode rectifier, Fig. 13. A positive
I , .v
RPb R
IYI
I- V
Fig. 13 Current-mode rectifiation
input voltage causes a current, determined by R,, to flow
in the positive supply lead of A, and the negative lead of
A,. When the input polarity is reversed, the opposite
occurs. The two split phases are then recombined at the
input to the current mirror and finally converted back to
a voltage by a resistor and buffer amplifier. Only a single
npn current mirror is employed to avoid frequency
restrictions imposed by pnp transistors. Even using a low
peak-to-peak input voltage of 500mV Toumazou and
Lidgey [188] report excellent results with no perceptible
distortion up to 1 MHz.
4.2.2 Analogue computing
Analogue computation is an additional area of applica-
tion of current conveyors and current-mode circuits,
since current can be conveniently summed at a single
point without the need for an extra summing amplifier.
Linear programmable gain blocks may be obtained using
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P i . G , No. 2, A P R I L 1990
either a feedback current amplifier [45] along with float-
ing controllable resistors [190, 1913, gain programmable
current amplifiers [182] or electronically tunable current
conveyors [18]. Both current differentiation and integra-
tion are also available using conveyor circuits [Z]. in
addition to current-mode frequency selective circuits
[128] and current processing phase control schemes
[192]. Root and power-law functions are achievable
using the translinear circuits described previously.
Complex waveforms may also be synthesised by virtue of
the ease with which currents can be summed. A certain
amount of hardware reduction is possible when multiple
conveyors are employed since a single set of mirrors
may be used to sum the currents from the constituent
operational amplifiers [7]. Alternatively a differential
conveyor structure may be employed [142].

4.2.3 Neural networks

Artificial neural networks are presently attracting a great
amount of interest since they offer the possibility of pro-
viding solutions to problems inherently unsuited to
sequential machines. Any electronic neuron must essen-
tially be able to sum and filter the outputs from neurons
feeding it and respond with a soft limited output. The
links between neurons are formed by synapses which may
be excitatory or inhibitory, increasing or decreasing the
influence of presynaptic neuron activity on postsynaptic
activity.
The most promising continuous-time line of develop-
ment appears to be the current-mode approach of House-
lander et al. [193, 1941, which has supplanted the earlier
circuits of Tsividis and Satyanarayana [195]. In their
implementation, a copied presynaptic neuron current is
acted upon by the steering effect of a synaptic strength
signal at the base of a long tailed pair, resulting in a
modulated postsynaptic neuron output current. The cas-
cadable structure suggested is well suited to integration,
enabling a large neural matrix to be developed along the
lines demonstrated by Boahen et al. [I961 in their
current-mode heteroassociative memory. Alternative
approaches involving analogue multipliers and digitally
selected binary weighted current sources [197], multiple
input transconductance amplifiers [1981 and CMOS
neural oscillators [199] have also been reported.
However, in an attempt to reduce the number of pinouts
required for chip interconnections Houselander and
Taylor [200] have recently focussed their attention on a
time multiplexed scheme that sequentially programmes
synaptic activity.

4.3 MOS, GaAs and optical

It is, of course, feasible to construct the full range of
current mirrors from MOS devices using similar topol-
ogies to bipolar designs. The use of discrete MOS
devices, however, usually results in a significant reduction
of accuracy due to individual threshold voltage varia-
tions, effectively restricting MOS mirrors to integrated
designs. Advantage may then be taken of precise geomet- 53
ric control to produce accurate nonunity mirror transfer
ratios, especially if several mirror stages are cascaded to I
avoid bandwidth reduction problems [201]. Wang and I I
Guggenbiihl [202] have very recently demonstrated an I , I
M I
improved bipolar current capability by formulating a * I
I
mirror with an adjustable transfer ratio from a closed-
loop CMOS transconductance amplifier with a dupli-
cated output stage.
yg I==
I
c, I
I
Early formulations of MOS floating resistances and
transconductors (required to substitute for the impracti-
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pt. G , No. 2, A P R I L 1990 71
copy of the input current available to the load. A number
of circuit refinements are added to isolate and stabilise
the MOS copier cell operating conditions as well as to
minimise charge feedthrough to the gate capacitor from
the MOS switching elements. Transfer ratio errors of
around several hundred parts per million are predicted
for this approach compared to approximately 1 % for
standard current mirrors under similar mismatch condi-
tions [216], confirmed by measurements taken from the
first practical implementation of the scheme reported by
Wegmann and Vittoz [217]. Such a level of accuracy and
the noncritical nature of the technique clearly indicate
that it will eventually have a strong impact in a number
of areas.
Closely related developments by Hughes et al. [219,
2203 promise to extend the concept of switched or
sampled currents firmly into the arena of VLSI digital
signal processing and provide a unification of analogue
and digital current-mode concepts. In their scheme
similar single, or more commonly, dual MOS transistor
switched mirrors have been extended to perform a
memory function by using each clock cycle to step the
copied bipolar current through a series of cascaded
mirrors and so produce defined delays, as in Fig. 15.
Current integration can then be performed by feeding
back a copy of the delayed output current, scaled as
required, to produce a varied range of transfer functions.
Minor circuit modifications, such as the use of cascode
Q: 8" QJ
M A current-mode approach has also started to appear
Fig. 15 Current memory using dynamic mirrors
transistor current cells are again suggested for practical
implementations of the basic method. Initial results, both
for CAD simulation of a sixth order 1 MHz Chebyshev
lowpass lilter and measurements on a current memory
module, confirm the potential of the method [219, 2201.
As pressures increase on VLSI designers to use a lower
supply voltage of 3.3 V rather than the present 5 V, such
current-mode digital signal processing techniques will
surely become increasingly important and attractive.
Yet another area in which current-mode techniques
are playing an important rBle is that of analogue to
digital convertors. Using current rather than voltage as
the signal variable Nairn and Salama [221, 2221 have
implemented a 6 bit algorithmic analogue to digital con-
verter using a standard 3 pm CMOS process requiring
approximately 0.4 mm2 of chip area, consuming less than
5 mW and operating at a sampling rate of 200 kHz. The
internal structure of the convertor utilises bit cells based
on standard CMOS mirror and comparator structures
cascaded up to the required number of bits. Replacing
the standard mirror formulation by a more accurate
active mirror [223], in which an auxiliary low-gain oper-
ational amplifier is inserted between the drain and gate of
the mirror input transistor (effectively turning the mirror
72
into a current conveyor), has enabled the same authors to
achieve 8 bit resolution at a higher sampling rate of
500 kHz [224], but with an increase in chip size to just
over 0.7 mm2 and a power consumption of 65 mW.
Utilising the new concept of switched, or dynamic,
mirrors has permitted even greater resolution by remo-
ving the main limitation of mirror accuracy. Nairn and
Salama [141, 2251 have very recently reported a 10 bit
convertor operating at 25 kHz and occupying only
0.2 mm2 using a 3 pm process in which each bit cell oper-
ates on a four phase clock cycle. In a parallel develop-
ment Roberts et al. [226] have adopted a six phase clock
cycle for their proposed pipelined architecture on
dynamic mirrors that they predict will achieve 12 bit
resolution with a chip area of around 2 mm2.
A current-mode approach has been very successful in
the last two years when applied to problems posed by the
low mutual conductance of GaAs devices, helping to
realise the potentially high gain-bandwidth products
available with this technology. Martin [227] has demon-
strated the improved amplifier gain obtainable by using a
bootstrapped input differential pair to improve interstage
matching. However, perhaps the most significant devel-
opment has been the proposal by Toumazou and Haig
[228] of a single-stage double cascode type of amplifier
architecture employing a crosscoupled transistor pair to
achieve a push-pull output, resulting in an amplifier opti-
mised for a switched capacitor filter design expected to
operate at a switching rate of 500 MHz [229, 2301. The
single-ended nature of the topology has also been con-
verted to a differential input by the same authors [231].
For slightly less demanding applications a simplified
output structure has been suggested by them in their
1988 review of GaAs design techniques [232]. In later
optimisations [233,234] they have reduced the simulated
settling time of the original design to 360 ps, with a modi-
fied design of negative mirror [235] enabling this to be
further reduced to 230 ps for a push-pull configuration;
an encouraging step towards switched-capacitor filters
operating with switching frequencies approaching 1 GHz.
in the design of both low-noise and high-speed trans-
impedance amplifiers intended for use with optical fibre
communication systems. Wilson and Darwazeh [236,
2371 have regarded the amplifier as a true trans-
impedance amplifier, rather than as a voltage amplifier,
and designed it to exhibit a low input impedance in order
to remove source capacitance constraints. Van den Brink
[238] has reported significant noise benefits attainable by
actively generating feedback current in an optical fibre
transimpedance receiver instead of relying on the output
voltage acting across the feedback element as is usually
the case. Taking this concept a step further, a number of
authors [239-2421 have used an optical emitter driven
directly from the voltage to current convertor to produce
an optical feedback signal, with subsequent noise
improvements.
5 Conclusions
This paper has sought to review historical and technical
developments in current conveyor and related current-
mode developments over the last twenty years. Evidence
that the area is experiencing a sustained and dramatic
growth is highlighted by the fact that over one sixth of
the references were published during the first six months
of 1989. One striking feature that has emerged from such
a wide range of publications is that with a careful reading
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P t . G, No. 2, APRIL 1990
many of the seeds of later principles and circuits could be
discovered already embedded in earlier material. What
seems to have changed is the ‘way of seeing’ such circuits,
comparable to the manner in which other subjects
periodically undergo a shift of perception or change of
paradigm. We now have a number of different and
related ways in which fundamental building blocks can
be both viewed and used to implement all the old, and
many new, circuit functions.
Pressure from a number of circuit designers to per-
suade various manufacturers to produce one or other
integrated current-mode circuits seems largely to have
been in vain, except that now a limited range of ampli-
fiers employing current-mode feedback are becoming
available. The semiconductor industry can be both inno-
vative and strangely conservative at the same time! There
would seem to be a strong case now for a joint concerted
research and development programme between uni-
versities and industry to decide on a series of current-
mode circuits for monolithic fabrication, whether they be
current conveyors, operational conveyors, differential
current amplifiers, seven terminal operational amplifiers
or operational floating amplifiers.
It is inevitably in any undertaking of this nature that a
number of references will have been overlooked.
However, it is to be hoped that the method of cross-
checking adopted during compilation has resulted in only
minor lapses. No doubt aggrieved authors will inform me
of any bibliographical shortcomings.
6 Acknowledgments
It is with pleasure that I acknowledge many interesting
and stimulating discussions with Dr. Lidgey and Dr.
Toumazou and other research workers and students too
numerous to mention individually. I am also indebted to
Linda Morris for her continued patience and painstaking
efforts in helping to prepare the text.
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50 SENANI, R.: ‘Active simulation of inductors using current convey-
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52 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘Ford-Girling equivalent circuit using CCII’,
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53 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘New active-gyrator circuit using a single
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55 NANDI, R.: ‘Simulation of grounded inductors using current con-
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56 SINGH, V. : ‘Realisation of floating inductance using current con-
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57 SINGH, V. : ‘A new active-RC circuit realisation of floating induc-
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58 RATHORE, T.S., and SINGHI, B.M.: ‘Simulation of RL imped-
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59 SENANI, R., and TIWARI, R.N.: ‘New canonic active RC realis-
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60 SENANI, R.: ‘Novel active RC realisations of tunable floating
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61 SENANI, R.: ‘New tunable synthetic inductors’, Electron. Lett.,
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62 PATRANABIS, D., and PAUL, A.N.: ‘Floating inductor with two
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63 RATHORE, T.S.: ‘Groundedcapacitor synthesis of RL imped-
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65 PAUL, A.N., and PATRANABIS, D.: ‘Active simulation of
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66 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘Comment on “Active simulation of grounded
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69 PAL, K.: ‘Novel floating inductance using current conveyors’,
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70 SINGH, V.: ‘Active RC single-resistance-controlled lossless float-
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71 PAL, K.: ‘New inductance and capacitor floatation schemes using
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73 NANDI, R., and NANDI, S.: ‘New insensitive active ideal induc-
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77 KHAN, LA., and AHMED, M.T.: ‘OTA-based integrable voltage/
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78 SENANI, R.: ‘Generation of new two-amplifier synthetic floating
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79 NANDI, R.: ‘A new equal-valued grounded-capacitor resonator
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80 SOLIMAN, A.M.: Two new LC mutators and their realisations’,
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81 GOPAL, K.: ‘Comment on inductorless realisation of an all-pass
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82 PAL, K. : ‘Novel FDNC simulation using current conveyors’, Elec-
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85 NANDI, S., JANA, P.B., and NANDI, R.: ‘Floating ideal FDNR
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86 NANDI, S., JANA, P.B., and NANDI, R.: ‘Novel floating ideal
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87 ABDALLA, Y.A.N.: Comment on “Novel floating ideal tunable
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88 SENANI, R.: ‘Floating ideal FDNR using only two current con-
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91 POOKAIYAUDOM, S., and SRISARAKHAM, W.: ‘Realisation
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92 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘New generalised-immittance converter circuits
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93 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘Active RC realisation of current transfer func-
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94 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘Generalised immittance inverters and their
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95 SURAKAMPONTORN, W.: ‘Intepable wide-dynamic-range
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96 PAUL, A.N., DEY, A.N., and PATRANABIS, D.: ‘A floating NIC
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97 NANDI, R.: ‘Precise realisation of an insensitive floating negative
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98 NANDI, R.: ‘Novel floating negative immittance convertor’, IEE
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101 HIGASHIMURA, M., and FUKUI, Y.: ’Novel method for reali-
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102 ISHIDA, M., HIGASHIMURA, M., FUKUI, Y., and EBISU-
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103 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘Inductorless realisation of an all-pass transfer
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104 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘Another realisation of an all-pass or a notch
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105 ARONHIME, P.: ‘Transfer-function synthesis using a current con-
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106 RATHORE, T.S., and DASGUPTA, S.M.: ‘Current-conveyor
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107 NANDI, R.: ‘Comments on “Precise non-inverting operator realis-
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108 GANGULY, U.S.: ‘Precise non-inverting operator realisation with
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I10 SALAWU, R.I.: ‘Reply to Comments by A.M. Soliman on Realis-
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114 RATHORE, T.S.: ’Comments on Realisation of current conveyor
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115 PAL, K.: ‘Reply to Comments on Realisation of current conveyor
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118 SOLIMAN, A.M.: Two novel active RC canonic bandpass net-
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119 NAQSHBENDI, S.F.H., and SHARMA, R.S.: ‘High input imped-
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130 NANDI, R.: ‘New RC oscillators using current conveyors’, Int. J .
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131 NANDI, R.: ‘Wien bridge oscillators using current conveyors’,
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132 SOLIMAN, A.M.: ‘A novel variable frequency sinusoidal oscillator
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135 JANA, P.B., and NANDI, R.: ‘Single current conveyor tunable
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136 CHONG, C.P., and SMITH, K.C.: ‘Sinusoidal oscillators employ-
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139 SENANI, R., and KUMAR, B.A.: ‘Linearly tunable Wien bridge
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145 LIDGEY, F.J., and TOUMAZOU, C.: ‘Accurate current follower’,
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146 WILSON, B.: ‘A new look at gain-bandwidth product’, Electron.
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147 WILSON, B.: ‘Constant bandwidth voltage amplification using
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151 WILSON, B.: ‘Universal conveyor instrumentation amplifier’,
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166 NEDUNGADI, A.: ‘Improved low-frequency current amplifiers’,
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179 FABRE, A.: ‘The translinear operational current amplifier: a new
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192 FABRE, A., and LONGUEMARD, J.P.: ‘High performance
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194 HOUSELANDER, P.K., and TAYLOR, J.T.: ‘Implementation of
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198 REED, R.D., and GEIGER, R.L.: ‘A multiple-input OTA circuit
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202 WANG, Z., and GUGGENBOHL, W.: ‘Adjustable bidirectional
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