1. Introduction
Undesired Operating Points in a complex analog electronic circuit, known as “Trojans”, “hardware Trojans”, “hardware traps” or “Trojan states”, can cause the designed device circuitry to fail to perform to its stated specification [
1,
2]. Operational amplifiers (Op-Amps) are the main active element used in modern analog systems (ADC/DAC, active filters, etc.), and can also suffer from the Trojan state problem, incl. when using general feedback [
1,
2]. In particular, circuit engineering methods of increasing the slew rate (SR), associated with a dynamic increase in the output currents of the input stage, lead to Trojan states of high-speed Op-Amps [
3,
4,
5,
6,
7]. In [
8,
9,
10,
11], several effective methods were proposed for detecting positive feedback loops (PFLs), as well as detecting all Trojan states in analog circuits. In [
12], a new method for identifying PFLs in an analog circuit is shown. The essence of the method [
12] is as follows: first, a list of circuit connections is created using graphs, and then the graphs are divided into strongly connected components. Graph theory methods are then used to detect all PFLs and identify unwanted operating points for associated components [
12].
The process of detecting and eliminating Trojan states in an Op-Amps can be divided into three stages [
1,
2]: identifying positive feedback loops in the Op-Amp and identifying undesired operating points; search for all Trojans in the Op-Amp; modification of the Op-Amp circuit to remove Trojan states.
Publications [
1,
2] present a method for eliminating Op-Amp Trojan state caused by large-signal operation of the circuit by eliminating PFLs and undesired DC modes.
In [
13], a high-speed Op-Amp modification was proposed with the inclusion of an additional capacitor, which temporarily increases the cascade currents, reducing the internal signal delay.
The results of the study [
14,
15] by scientists from Iowa State University presented several examples of dynamic analog hardware Trojans, both unintentional by design and intentionally built-in structures.
In [
16,
17,
18] the main stages of development and supply of microcircuits are presented, in which Trojans can be introduced (intentionally or not) during circuit design, creation of topologies, copying and counterfeiting, and provides an overview of some existing topological solutions that have Trojan states.
In [
19], a new circuit for determining the active current on a microcircuit chip was proposed, consisting of a current mirror, a current comparator with an adjustable threshold and a scanning register based on a multiplexer, which makes it possible to determine the beginning and termination of current switching in the power bus when temporary Trojans are triggered. When the Trojan state is activated during normal operation of the microcircuit, the measured characteristics of the power rails change dramatically, allowing anomalies to be detected. This on-site monitoring is especially useful for detecting complex Trojan conditions.
Changing the temperature of different areas of an analog microcircuit chip also makes it possible to detect some Trojan states [
20].
Thus, at present, the development of microcircuits in which the so-called “Trojan states” are excluded [
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16,
17,
18,
19,
20,
21,
22,
23,
24,
25,
26], incl. in operational amplifiers with increased speed, in which these effects and undesirable operating points may arise not due to “deliberate hardware traps ” [
23,
24], but due to high currents during the period of forcing the recharging process of the correction capacitor, causing after some time the destruction of thin connecting connections conductors and overheating of transistors.
2. Energy limitations for input stages Op-Amp with maximum speed
For operational amplifiers with a classical architecture (
Figure 1), the SR in large-signal mode is estimated using the equation [
27,
28]
where
is the unity gain frequency of the adjusted open-loop Op-Amp;
is limiting voltage of the transit characteristics of the input stage (IS).
Typical values of V
lim of input stages on bipolar transistors are millivolts [
29], and the small-signal slope of their transit characteristic y
21 is quite significant
where
is the maximum possible output current of the input stage, depending on the total current I
0 of the common emitter circuit of the IS [
29].
Figure 2.
Transit characteristic of a classic differential operational amplifier (1) and differential operational amplifier with nonlinear correction (2).
Figure 2.
Transit characteristic of a classic differential operational amplifier (1) and differential operational amplifier with nonlinear correction (2).
From (2) it follows that to increase SR it is necessary to increase V
lim, i.e., provide a linear mode of operation of the Op-Amp input stage over the entire range of changes in the input voltage v
s, which can vary up to the value V
s=E
(+)=E
(-)=E
supply, where E
supply is the Op-Amp supply voltage. Typically, “extension” of the transit characteristic of the IS is ensured by nonlinear correction circuits [
28,
30].
The stability of the Op-Amp will not deteriorate if, when “extending” the transit characteristic, the angles of its inclination are preserved for small and large signals y
1=y
2, i.e., the equality will be satisfied:
Consequently, the maximum output current of the input stage, which has an extended active operating range to increase SR, can reach
So, if the input stage has I0=1mA, Esupply=15V, Vlim≈50mV, then the numerical values of the maximum output current are mA.
Thus, the transistors of the input stage of a high-speed op-amp must provide, at the time of the front of the transient process tf (usually ns), an output current commensurate with the typical values of the Op-Amp load current. It should be expected that this conclusion will require a revision of the prevailing ideas that the input stage of an Op-Amp is a micro-mode subcircuit. If you want to achieve extremely high performance, you will have to put up with the fact that the maximum output current of the IS should (for a short time) be measured in tens and sometimes hundreds of milliamps. This is the first problem that is not always taken into account when designing high-speed Op-Amps.
The second problem is related to the fact that any Op-Amp operating in the structure of complex analog-digital devices can (in atypical modes) for a fairly long time be overloaded at the input with large signals (for example, when turning on the power). In this case, for a sufficiently long time , voltages close to the supply voltage will be applied to the inputs of the Op-Amp, and therefore a large output current of the IS can cause thermal destruction of the current-carrying paths, overheating and failure of the IS transistors.
Thus, Op-Amps with extreme speed in the absence of special protection against excessively large output currents of the input stage cannot have high reliability.
If we proceed from energy limitations, i.e., assume that the input stage of the Op-Amp will not fail due to overheating during prolonged input overload, then the value of its maximum output current becomes known
and therefore, the slope of the transit characteristic
where P
p is the permissible power dissipated in the elements of the input stage during its overload time t
p, and
where i
Cc is the recharging current of the integrating capacitor Cc.
Thus, the slope of the gain of the input stage of a high-speed Op-Amp (the slope of its transit characteristic) cannot be selected without taking into account the thermal effects in the microcircuit. However, this parameter (y
21) of the input stage has a significant impact on many dynamic parameters of the Op-Amp [
27,
28,
29], including:
where
is the small-signal slope of the base input stage before the introduction of a nonlinear correction circuit;
is small-signal frequency of unity gain of the Op-Amp;
is equivalent resistance connected in parallel with C
c;
is loop gain of the Op-Amp, numerically equal to the gain of the input stage.
Therefore, under the considered restrictions, the unity gain frequency of a reliable high-speed Op-Amp cannot exceed the value
The (9) shows that with Pp=const, y21= const the main natural way to increase ω1 and SR is to reduce the capacitance of the correction capacitor Cc. However, this is a rather complex problem associated with a decrease in the absolute values of high-frequency time constants and their number at the input and output stages of the Op-Amp, feedback elements, and load. Ultimately, Cc is determined mainly by technological advances – high-frequency parameters of integrated transistors, capacitances on the substrate, collector-base capacitances of transistors, etc.
Physical restrictions on the Op-Amp slew rate with a quasi-linear input stage and input signals with an amplitude close to the supply voltage are the capacitances on the substrate of the IS transistors and the permissible power dissipated on the elements of the input stage during its long-term overload (Pp). Note that this conclusion was made in the absence of current protection at the input stage and the range of its active operation is close to Esupply ().
It should be noted that traditional Op-Amp protection circuits at the input [
31] protect its input transistors from breakdown of the emitter-base p-n junction, but limit the range of changes in input signals at the level of V
lim≈0.6÷0.7 V. This does not allow obtaining extremely high performance, commensurate with speed of the Op-Amp for linear mode, since in this case
[V/s].
Thus, developers of high-speed Op-Amps have to seek a compromise between the reliability of the Op-Amp in any mode (feedback interruption, short-term shutdown of one of the power sources, operation of the Op-Amp in signal comparator mode, etc.) and maximum performance. It is problematic to implement these two qualities within the framework of traditional circuit solutions.
3. Intelligent protection against Trojans in Op-Amps with current feedback
Figure 3 shows the architecture of a high-speed Op-Amp with current negative feedback, the peculiarity of which is the creation of “smart” protection of the input stage, which does not affect the operation of the circuit during the front of the transient process t
f, but limits the output currents of the input stage in the event that the voltage at the input of the Op-Amp it operates for a longer time.
The op-amp circuit with current feedback (
Figure 3) includes an input stage (Q1÷Q3) with large output current values
where
is the base current gain of the double-collector transistor Q3; I
1 is static value of the output current of the reference current source I
1, controlled by the “Off” input.
Condition (14) is satisfied if the input signal is large enough: .
The circuit in
Figure 3 provides nonlinear negative feedback, which shuts down the reference current source (RCS) if the current in the measuring resistor R
0 exceeds the specified value I
lim. At the same time, I
1 decreases, which limits the output current of the input stage at a given level
. As a consequence, the maximum rate of rise of the output voltage of an Op-Amp with such a IS is less than the maximum possible and is determined by the equation
Adjustment of the inertia of the IS output current limiting loop is provided by capacitor C0. It must be selected in such a way that the current protection does not operate during the edge of the input pulse signal, and its activation occurs at , i.e., when essentially nonlinear operating modes arise in the Op-Amp circuit and overheating of the crystal is possible.