KQC7030 IC Design Assignment Brief 2026/27 | Universiti Malaya

KQC7030 Assignment Brief

Titles

Common Source Amplifier Performance Trade-off Analysis

Purpose

The objective of this assignment is to investigate the operation of several configuration of common source amplifier and its performance trade-off.

Upon completion of this investigation you should be able to:

• Recognize various performance trade-off in common source amplifiers.
• Optimize the performance trade-off in line to the load of application.
• Analyze and simulate various performance trade-off.

Instructions

Part I Performance Trade-Off Polygon

1. Refer to the generic performance trade-off polygon of a typical amplifier in Figure 1.

Part II Common Source Amplifier

1. Figure 2(a), Figure 2(b) and Figure 2(c) shows the typical common source amplifier with passive loading, diode connected loading and current source loading respectively.

Fig. 2. Common source amplifier with (a) resistive loading, (b) diode connected loading and (c) current source loading

2. By adopting an appropriate small signal model, analyse the circuit in Figure 2(a), Figure 2(b) and Figure 2(c) deriving the small signal performance metric in Figure 1.

3. The total current, I_total of the circuit in Figure 2 is computed as : & 𝐼!”!#$ = # 𝐼%
%’(,*,..

4. By setting the power dissipation constant, develop and simulate the circuit performance in Figure 2 using CADENCE in 130nm Silterra CMOS technology.

5. Construct an individual trade-off diagram for each of the circuit in Figure 2(a), Figure 2(b) and Figure 2(c) based on the performance metric polygon in Figure 1. You may refer to the performance polygon developed in Figure 8(a) of the reference [1] as guidance.

6. The assignment MUST be uploaded through SPECTRUM in PDF format . The file MUST be named with the matric number of the individuals, such as 17105465.pdf. The first page of the report should be attached with the assessment rubric given in the attachment, followed by the complete report.

7. The report should comply with standard format flow described in Figure 3

Fig. 3. Report format

Reference

Kishore Kumar Pakkirisami Churchill, Gabriel Chong, Harikrishnan Ramiah, Mohd Yazed Ahmad, Jagadheswaran Rajendran. (2020). Low-voltage capacitive-based step-up DC-DC converters for RF energy harvesting system: A review. IEEE Access, volume 8, pp. 186393-186407

KQC7030 Assessment Rubric – Total :20%

Questions	Weightage   (%)	1   (Very Poor)	2   (Poor)	3   (Satisfactory)	4 (Good)	5   (Excellent)
Describe the fundamental use  of CMOS transistor for amplifier design	2	The description of the fundamental use  of CMOS transistor for amplifier design is poorly presented.		The description of the fundamental use  of CMOS transistor for amplifier design is well presented but lacks some detail.		Well presented description of the fundamental use  of CMOS transistor for amplifier design with concrete examples.
Explain qualitatively/quantitatively the architecture of the circuit with fundamentals of small signal analysis	5	Not able to explain the working principle of the circuit with fundamentals of small signal analysis		Partially able to explain the working principle of the circuit with fundamentals of small signal analysis but lacking some details.		Well presented explanation on the working principle of the circuit fundamentals of small signal analysis with complete illustration.
Presented DC/AC/transient analysis through the use of modern CAD tool like CADENCE.	8	Not      able      to        present DC/AC/transient analysis through the use of modern CAD tool like CADENCE.		Partially able        to                 present DC/AC/transient                 analysis through the use of modern CAD tool like CADENCE with lacking details.		Well                            presented DC/AC/transient analysis through the use of modern CAD tool like CADENCE.
Present quantitative analysis of the design in the form of trade-off flow diagram with emphasis on sustainable electronic design	10	Not able to present the quantitative analysis of the design in the form of trade- off flow diagram with emphasis on sustainable electronic design		Partially able to present quantitative analysis of the design in the form of trade-off flow diagram with emphasis on sustainable electronic design with lacking details.		Well presented quantitative analysis of the design in the form of trade-off flow diagram with emphasis on sustainable electronic design