"Stability of a Continuous-Time State Variable Filter with Op-amp and OTA-C Integrators"

Authors:  Tim Bakken and John Choma, Jr.
Source:  Proc. IEEE Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI, pp77-82, February, 1998.

Abstract:
The stability of a continuous-time state variable filter is analyzed using the Routh-Hurwitz criterion.  This criterion assesses stability by indicating the number of poles that lie in the right-half plane.  The filter is examined separately with integrators implemented with an op-amp and an OTA-C.  Both amplifier types are characterized by a dominant-pole frequency response, and the stability of each implementation is compared.  HSPICE simulations confirm the theoretical analyses, which indicate that the gain-bandwidth product of the op-amps and the bandwidth of the OTAs must be much larger than the desired frequency of operation to ensure stability.  Since the analyses assume a dominant-pole response, all higher-order poles of the actual amplifier must also be much greater than the unity-gain frequency to minimize excess phase.
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Tim Bakken
tim@bakken.org