RELAXATION OSCILLATOR OF REDUCED COMPLEXITY USING CMOS EQUIVALENT OF A FOUR-LAYER DIODE

摘要

A relaxation oscillator of reduced complexity is described which can be constructed as part of a silicon integrated circuit. The current controlled oscillator includes complementary field effect transistors operating in enchancement mode. The drain of one FET is connected to the gate of the other FET and vice versa. The resulting CMOS circuit functions as a four-layer diode. A resistor is connected between the drains of both transistors. A storage capacitor is connected between the sources of both transistors. A current source is connected to charge the storage capacitor such that the frequency of an oscillator output signal is determined by the current generated by the current source.