Abstract: A 5V, 14-bit high speed segmented current steering digital-to-analog converter(DAC) for telecommunication applications implemented in a 0.35μm, 5V SPTM TSMC CMOS process is described. A 5-4-5 thermometer coder, a new switch sequence and a swithc-current driver are described. Based on the TSMC 0.35μm mixed-signal CMOS technology, the DAC is simulated by teh Hspice. The DAC can deliver up to 20mA full-scale current into a 50Ω load. Power dissipation with a 5V supply and a full-scale 20mA is 270mW at a 125 MSPS clock rate. The INL of 14-bit DAC is ±1.5LSB, and DNL is ±0.75LSB. Spurious-Free Dynamic Range(SFDR) is 72dBc at a 125 MSPS clock rate and a 10MHz output frequency.

Key words: current steering DAC, thermometer coder, switch sequence, current switch driver, dynamic performance