A 0.2%-THD Sinusoidal Signal Generator With First-Order Analog Interpolation Over More Than Three Frequency Decades for EIS Applications

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Authors: Francesco Gagliardi, Andrea Ria, Massimo Piotto, Paolo Bruschi
Cited by: 1
References: 46

Abstract

To develop miniaturized devices for electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), sinusoidal signal generators (SSGs) need to be fully integrated on chip. High spectral purity and wide frequency tunability are required. In this work, a novel approach to SSG design is proposed, leveraging first-order interpolation executed entirely in the analog domain. Compared to standard SSGs based on zero-order interpolation, lower distortion is obtained for the same clock frequency. Experimental testing of a 0.18-$\mu $m CMOS prototype, employing 32 samples for interpolation, yielded average total harmonic distortion (THD) equal to 0.225% across a 100 Hz–300 kHz frequency range, with 130-$\mu $A consumption. Performance is consistent across different amplitude settings and process–voltage–temperature (PVT) conditions. Such findings potentially lay the groundwork for further analog-interpolation-based waveform generation solutions.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Advanced Electrical Measurement Techniques Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design Digital Filter Design and Implementation

Publication details

Journal / source
IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Volume
34
Issue
6
Pages
1698–1711
Publication date
30 March 2026