International Scholarly Research Network

ISRN Electronics
Volume 2012, Article ID 890615, 7 pages
doi:10.5402/2012/890615

Research Article
Single OTRA Based Analog Multiplier and Its Applications
Rajeshwari Pandey,1 Neeta Pandey,1 B. Sriram,1 and Sajal K. Paul2
1 Department
2 Department

of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi 110042, India
of Electronics Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India

Correspondence should be addressed to Neeta Pandey, [email protected]

Received 30 August 2012; Accepted 2 October 2012
Academic Editors: H. A. Alzaher and E. Tlelo-Cuautle
Copyright 2012 Rajeshwari Pandey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
This paper presents an analog multiplier using single operational transresistance amplifier (OTRA). The proposed circuit is suitable
for integration as it does not use any external passive component. It can be used as a four-quadrant multiplier. Theoretical
propositions are verified through PSPICE simulations using 0.5 m CMOS parameters provided by MOSIS (AGILENT). The
simulation results are in close agreement with theoretical predictions. The workability of the proposed multiplier is also tested
through two applications, namely, a squarer and an amplitude modulator.

1. Introduction
Analog multipliers find extensive application in the field
of telecommunication, control, instrumentation, measurement, and signal processing [1]. A number of circuits are
reported in literature relating to analog multipliers [112].
Circuits presented in [27] are based on Gilbert multiplier
[12] and are suitable for CMOS integrated technology. The
other class of the circuits is implemented using active analog blocks such as operational transconductance amplifier
[1], dierential dierence current conveyors [8], current
feedback amplifiers [9], current-controlled current conveyor
[10], and current dierence buered amplifier [11].
Recently the OTRA has emerged as an alternate analog
building block [1326] which inherits all the advantages of
current mode techniques. The OTRA is a high gain current
input voltage output device. The input terminals of OTRA
are internally grounded, thereby eliminating response limitations due to parasitic capacitances and resistances [13] at the
input. Several high performance CMOS OTRA topologies
have been proposed in the literature [1316]. In the recent
past OTRA has been extensively used as an analog building
block for realizing a number of analog signal processing
[1721] and generation circuits [2224]. This paper presents
a single OTRA based low voltage analog multiplier which
does not use any external passive components and hence

is suitable for integration. The proposed circuit can be

used as a four quadrant multiplier without any change
of topology. The workability of the proposed multiplier is
demonstrated through two applications, namely, a squarer
and an amplitude modulator.

2. The Proposed Multiplier Circuit

2.1. OTRA. OTRA is a three-terminal device, shown symbolically in Figure 1 and its port relations are characterized
by the following matrix:

Vp
0
0 0 Ip


0 0
Vn = 0
In ,
VO
Rm Rm 0 IO

(1)

where Rm is transresistance gain of OTRA. For ideal operations Rm approaches infinity and forces the input currents to
be equal. Thus OTRA must be used in a negative feedback
configuration.
Figure 2 Shows the CMOS realization of OTRA [15]
which consists of the cascaded connection of the modified
dierential current conveyor (MDCC) [8] and common
source amplifier. MDCC performs the current dierencing
operation and forces the two input terminals to be virtually
grounded whereas the common source amplifier provides
high gain.

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VC1

Ip

Vp

+
M3

VO
Vn

v1 + VDC

IO

In

M1

Figure 1: OTRA circuit symbol.

+
vo

v2
MO9

MO10

VDD
MO11

MO8

M2
MO12
MO1

IB

MO5

VC2

VO

In
MO4

M4

MO14

MO2
MO3

VB

VDC

MO13

Figure 3: Proposed OTRA based multiplier structure.

Ip
MO6

MO7

VC

VSS

Figure 2: Figure 6 CMOS implementation of OTRA [15].

MP1

2.2. Basic Multiplier Circuit. Figure 3 Shows OTRA based

multiplier structure. The transistors M1 , M2 M3 , and M4
are matched transistors and operate in the linear region. In
this paper v1 and v2 represent small signals, whereas VC1 ,
VC2 , and VDC are the bias voltages. OTRA inputs keep the
sources of the two transistors M1 and M2 virtually grounded.
The drain current for the MOS transistor operating in triode
region is given by [27]
ID = k

(2)

W
v
((VDC + v1 ) VT ) 2 v2
L
2


W
v
(VC1 VT ) o vo ,
+ Kn
L
2
in = Kn

MP2

vx

V
W
(VGS VT ) DS VDS ,
L
2

where k is transconductance; W and L respectively represent

the channel width and length of the of the MOSFET. The
other terms have their usual meaning.
Using (2) the currents through p and n terminals of
OTRA, that is, i p and in respectively, can be expressed as
i p = Kn

(3)

W
v
(VDC VT ) 2 v2
L
2


W
v
(VC2 VT ) o vo .
+ Kn
L
2

(4)

As Rm approaches infinity the input currents are forced to be

equal resulting in
v1 v2
= Kv1 v2 ,
vo =
(5)
(VC2 V C1 )
where K is a proportionality constant and is the inverse of
dierence of gate voltages of M3 and M4 .

Figure 4: Scheme for implementing an ac superimposed on dc bias.

2.3. Implementation Scheme for Superimposition of a Small

Signal on DC Bias. As can be seen from Figure 3 the
gate voltage of M1 is (VDC + v1 ) which is a small signal
superimposed over a dc bias. This voltage addition can be
implemented using a scheme proposed in Figure 4 wherein
vx is a small signal voltage and VC is a bias voltage.
If MP1 and MP2 are matched transistors and are operating
in saturation then their drain currents will be equal resulting
in
2
2
1 W

1 W

(v VC ) Vt p = K p
(vx v) Vt p ,
Kp
2
L
2
L
(6)

which gives
v=

(VC + vx )
.
2

(7)

The voltage given by (7) can be used as the gate voltage

for transistor M1 of Figure 3. Similarly gate voltage for

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3
VC
VC1

M7

M6

M8
v2

v1

M3

100

M1

vo (mV)

M5

200

vo

M2

100

M4
VC2

200
300

Figure 5: Complete multiplier circuit.

200

100

0
v1 (mV)

100

200

300

(a) vo versus v1 with v2 = 250 mV

VC
M7

M6
v1

M8
v2

Non linearity (%)

VC1

M5

M3
M1
+

vo

M2
M4
M9

0
50

VC2

Figure 6: Complete multiplier circuit with Cgs compensation of

transistor M1 .

200
v1 (mV)

100

300

400

(b) Nonlinearity curve with v2 = 250 mV

100

Table 1: Aspect ratio of the transistors in OTRA circuit.

transistor M2 can be obtained from (7) by making vx = 0.

Substituting these values of gate voltages in (5) the output of
the multiplier gets modified to
vo = K  v 1 v 2 ,

where K  =

K
.
2

(8)

2.4. The Proposed MOS Based Multiplier Structure. The

complete MOS based multiplier structure is depicted in
Figure 5 which incorporates the voltage addition scheme of
Figure 4.

vo (mV)

50

W (m)/L (m)
100/2.5
10/2.5
30/2.5
10/2.5
50/2.5
100/2.5
50/0.5

Transistor
MO1 MO3
MO4
MO5 , MO6
MO7
MO8 MO11
MO12 , MO13
MO14

v2 = 150 mV

v2 = 150 mV

50

100
300

200

100

0
v1 (mV)

100

200

(c) vo versus v1 when v2 is varied from 150 mV to 150 mV

Figure 7: DC transfer characteristic.

300

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4

300

2.5

200

vo (mV)

vo (dB)

2.5
200
300

0.001

0.1

10
Frequency (KHz)

1000

10000

6
Time (s)

10

vin
vo

Figure 8: AC characteristic of the proposed multiplier.

(a) Time domain output of the squarer

100
0.2

vo (mV)

THD (%)

0.16
0.12

50

0.08
0.04
0
0

0
50

100

150

200
250
v1 (mV)

300

2
3
Frequency (MHz)

(b) Spectrum of squared sine wave

Figure 9: THD versus input signal amplitude.

Figure 11: Output of the squarer.

As the transistors M1 , M2 , M3 , and M4 need to operate in

the triode region for proper operation of the multiplier the
following conditions should be satisfied:

400

300
vo (mV)

400

(VC + v1 )
Vtn > v2 ,
2


200

VC
Vtn > v2 ,
2

(9)

(VC1 Vtn ) > vo ,

100

(VC2 Vtn ) > vo .

0
400

200

0
vin (mV)

200

Ideal
Simulated

Figure 10: Square transfer characteristics.

400

Now using (7) along with (9) the conditions for input
signals v1 and v2 can be computed as

Vt p < v1 < VC + 2V t p ,
v2 <

(VC + v1 )
Vtn .
2

(10)

These equations suggest that the dynamic input range of

the multiplier is controlled by VC .

ISRN Electronics

5
For high frequency applications the eect of transistor
capacitances needs to be considered. Taking this eect into
account the currents i p given by (3) modifies to

100

vo (mV)

i p = Kn
0

+ Kn

100

100

200
Time (s)

300

400

W
v
(VC1 VT ) o vo + v1 sCgs1 ,
L
2

W
v
(VDC VT ) 2 v2
in = Kn
L
2

50

W
v
(VC2 VT ) o vo + v1 sCgs1 .
+ Kn
L
2

40

(13)

where Cgs1 is the gate to source capacitance of M1 ; however,

the current in remains the same as (4). The eect of Cgs1
can be compensated by adding a MOSFET M9 , operating in
triode region, at the inverting terminal of OTRA as shown
in Figure 6. The eective gate to source capacitance of M9
should be equal to Cgs1 . This would result in in as


(a) Time domain response

vo (mV)

W
v
((VDC + v1 ) VT ) 2 v2
L
2

(14)

The third term in (14) results due to gate to source

capacitance of M9 .
Substituting (12), (13), and (14) in (1), vo , the output of
multiplier can be evaluated as

20

vo =
0
0

40

80
120
Frequency (KHz)

160

200

v1 v2 /(VC2 VC1 )
.
1 + sC p / {Kn (W/L)(VC2 VC1 )}

(15)

And hence the 3 dB bandwidth of the multiplier can be

expressed as

(b) Frequency spectrum

Kn (W/L)(VC2 VC1 )
.
Cp

Figure 12: Multiplication of two sinusoids.

(16)

4. Simulation Results
3. Nonideal Analysis
In this section the eect of finite transresistance gain
of OTRA on multiplier is considered and compensation
is employed for high frequency applications. Ideally the
transresistance gain Rm is assumed to approach infinity.
However, practically Rm is a frequency dependent finite value
[13]. Considering a single pole model for the transresistance
gain, Rm can be expressed as

Rm (s) =

R0
.
1 + s/0

(11)

For high frequency applications the transresistance gain

Rm (s) reduces to


Rm (s)

1
,
sC p

where C p =

1
.
R0 0

(12)

The performance of the proposed multiplier of Figure 5

is verified through SPICE simulation using 0.5 m CMOS
process parameters provided by MOSIS (AGILENT). CMOS
implementation of the OTRA [15] shown in Figure 2 is used
and supply voltages are taken as 1.5 V. Aspect ratios used for
dierent transistors of OTRA are the same as in [15] and are
given in Table 1. All the transistors M1 M8 were used with
equal aspect ratios having W/L = 1 /0.5 . Control voltage
is taken as VC = 2 V, VC1 = 1 V, and VC2 = 1.25 V.
Figure 7 depicts the dc transfer characteristics of the
proposed multiplier. The transfer curve vo versus v1 , with
v2 kept constant at 250 mV, is shown in Figure 7(a). It
is observed that vo varies almost linearly with v1 . The
nonlinearity curve representing maximum percent deviation
of the ideal transfer characteristic as a function of input
voltage v1 is shown in Figure 7(b). It is observed that the
maximum nonlinearity over the entire input range does not
exceed 2.05%. In Figure 7(c) vo is plotted with respect to v1
for dierent values of v2 . Voltage v1 is swept from 300 mV
to 300 mV while v2 is varied from 150 mV to 150 mV in
steps of 50 mV. It shows that the proposed circuit is a fourquadrant multiplier.

ISRN Electronics

The frequency response of the proposed multiplier is

shown in Figure 8 for which v1 is kept constant at 200 mV
whereas v2 is taken as an ac source having amplitude 250 mV.
The 3 dB bandwidth is found to be 8 MHz.
Figure 9(a) shows the total harmonic distortion (THD)
as a function of input signal amplitude when a constant dc
voltage (250 mV) is applied to v2 while a 1 KHz sinusoidal
signal is applied to v1 with varying amplitude. It can be
seen that the maximum THD remains under 0.2% for the
entire input range. Total power consumption of the proposed
multiplier is 0.83 mw when v1 = v2 = 0 V, VC = 2 V,
VC1 = 1 V, and VC2 = 1.25 V.

5. Applications
5.1. Squarer. The proposed multiplier can be used as a
squarer circuit if v1 = v2 = vin . The output of the multiplier
is given by
2
.
vo = K  vin

(17)

Figure 10 shows the square transfer characteristics

wherein vin is varied from 400 mV to 400 mV.
The observed output of the squarer is shown in Figure 11.
The input signal is taken as a 300 mV, 500 KHz sinusoid. The
squared output is shown in Figure 11(a) and the spectrum of
the squared output is shown in Figure 11(b).
5.2. Amplitude Modulator. The proposed multiplier, being
a four-quadrant multiplier, can be used as an amplitude
modulator (AM). A 5 KHz signal with 200 mV amplitude is
multiplied by 250 mV, 50 KHz signal. Figure 12 shows the
output of the proposed multiplier confirming the modulation function. The time domain response of the multiplier
is shown in Figures 12(a) and 12(b) displays the frequency
spectrum.

6. Conclusion
A single OTRA based analog multiplier is proposed which
can be used as a four-quadrant multiplier also. The circuit
does not require any passive element thus making it suitable
for integration. Its application as a squarer and an amplitude
modulator is also discussed. Theoretical propositions are
verified through PSPICE simulations using 0.5 m CMOS
parameters provided by MOSIS (AGILENT). Various performance parameters are analyzed through simulations and are
found in close agreement to theoretical predictions.

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