BACKGROUND

Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to amplifiers, and more particularly, to sense amplifiers.

Background

Sense amplifiers are used in a wide range of applications including memories, analog-to-digital converters, and data samplers in high-speed serializer/deserializer (SerDes). In the case of a data sampler, a sense amplifier may include a regeneration circuit that provides the sense amplifier with regenerative feedback to quickly resolve incoming data bits in the data sampler. It is desirable to increase the regenerative gain of the regeneration circuit to increase the speed and sensitivity of the sense amplifier.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more implementations in order to provide a basic understanding of such implementations. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated implementations and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all implementations nor delineate the scope of any or all implementations. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more implementations in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

A first aspect relates to a regeneration circuit. The regeneration circuit includes a first inverting circuit having an input and an output, and a second inverting circuit having an input and an output. The regeneration circuit also includes a first transistor coupled to the input of the second inverting circuit, wherein a gate of the first transistor is configured to receive a first input signal, and a second transistor coupled to the input of the first inverting circuit, wherein a gate of the second transistor is configured to receive a second input signal. The regeneration circuit further includes a first switch coupled between the first transistor and the output of the first inverting circuit, wherein a control input of the first switch is configured to receive a timing signal, and a second switch coupled between the second transistor and the output of the second inverting circuit, wherein a control input of the second switch is configured to receive the timing signal.

A second aspect relates to a sense amplifier. The sense amplifier includes an input circuit and a regeneration circuit. The input circuit includes a first transistor, wherein a gate of the first transistor is configured to receive a first input signal, and a drain of the first transistor is coupled to a first output of the input circuit, and a second transistor, wherein a gate of the second transistor is configured to receive a second input signal, and a drain of the second transistor is coupled to a second output of the input circuit. The regeneration circuit includes a first inverting circuit having an input and an output, and a second inverting circuit having an input and an output. The regeneration circuit also includes a third transistor coupled to the input of the second inverting circuit, wherein a gate of the third transistor is coupled to the second output of the input circuit, and a fourth transistor coupled to the input of the first inverting circuit, wherein a gate of the fourth transistor is coupled to the first output of the input circuit. The regeneration circuit also includes a first switch coupled between the third transistor and the output of the first inverting circuit, wherein a control input of the first switch is configured to receive a timing signal, and a second switch coupled between the fourth transistor and the output of the second inverting circuit, wherein a control input of the second switch is configured to receive the timing signal.

A third aspect relates to a method of operating a regeneration circuit of a sense amplifier. The regeneration circuit includes a first inverting circuit having an input and an output, a second inverting circuit having an input and an output, a first transistor coupled to the input of the second inverting circuit, and a second transistor coupled to the input of the first inverting circuit. The method includes, in a reset phase, decoupling the output of the first inverting circuit from the first transistor, and decoupling the output of the second inverting circuit from the second transistor. The method also includes, in a sensing phase, coupling the output of the first inverting circuit to the first transistor, and coupling the output of the second inverting circuit to the second transistor.

