A Pitch-Matched Transceiver ASIC for 3D Ultrasonography with Micro-Beamforming ADCs based on Passive Boxcar Integration and a Multi-Level Datalink

• Published in: 2023 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits (VLSI Technology and Circuits) pp. 1 - 2
• Main Authors: Guo, P., Chang, Z.Y., Noothout, E., Vos, H.J., Bosch, J.G., Jong, N. de, Verweij, M.D., Pertijs, M.A.P.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: JSAP 11.06.2023
• Subjects: Filtering; MOS capacitors; Multiplexing; Three-dimensional displays; Transducers; Ultrasonography; Very large scale integration
• ISSN: 2158-9682
• DOI: 10.23919/VLSITechnologyandCir57934.2023.10185159

This paper presents a pitch-matched transceiver ASIC integrated with a 2-D transducer array for a wearable ultrasound device for transfontanelle ultrasonography. The ASIC combines 8-fold multiplexing, 4-channel micro-beamforming (\mu BF) and sub-array-level digitization to achieve a 128-fold channel-count reduction. The \mu BF is based on passive boxcar integration and interfaces with a 10-bit 40 MS/s SAR ADC in the charge domain, thus obviating the need for explicit anti-alias filtering and power-hungry ADC drivers. A compact and low-power reference generator employs an area-efficient MOS capacitor as a reservoir to quickly set a reference for the ADC in the charge domain. A low-power multi-level data link concatenates outputs of four ADCs, leading to an aggregate 3.84 Gb/s data rate. Per channel, the RX circuit consumes 2.06 mW and occupies 0.05 mm 2 .