A low power and small area analog adaptive line equalizer for 100 Mb/s data rate on UTP cable

The cable length in wired serial data communication is limited because the limited bandwidth of a long cable introduces ISI (Inter Symbol Interference). A line equalizer can be used at the receiver to extend the channel bandwidth. This paper proposes a low-power and small-area analog adaptive line equalizer for 100-Mb/s operation on UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable up to 100 m. The proposed adaptive line equalizer is fabricated with 0.35-μm CMOS process, consumes 19 mW and occupies only 0.07 mm² Measurement results show that the prototype can operate at data rate of 100 Mb/s on a 100-m cable and 155 Mb/s on a 50-m cable.