The resistor variation can severely affect current reference sources, which may vary up to ±40% in scaled CMOS processes. In addition, such variations make the opamp design challenging and increase the design margin, impacting power consumption. This paper proposes a Time-Based Current Source (TBCS): a robust and process-scalable reference current source suitable for switched-capacitor (SC) circuits. We construct a delay-locked-loop (DLL) to lock the current-starved inverter with the reference clock, enabling the use of the settled current directly as a reference current. Since the load capacitors determine the delay, the generated current is decoupled from resistor values and enables a robust reference current source. The prototype TBCS fabricated in 28nm CMOS achieved a minimal area of 1200um2. The current variation is suppressed to half compared to BGR based current sources, confirmed in extensive PVT variation simulations. Moreover, when used as the opamp's bias, TBCS achieves comparable opamp GBW to an ideal current source.

A switched capacitor DC-DC voltage converter that has an arbitrary conversion ratio of rational number is presented. A given voltage conversion ratio is systematically expanded to construct a switched capacitor circuit that operates with a two-phase switching clock. The conversion ratio is completely free from capacitance values and ratios under the assumption that there is no charge transfer between the two switching phases. This means that the converter cannot supply any power to the load. This restricts the application of the converters to a very limited area such as a voltage reference generator that only provides a reference voltage and no power to a circuit. The conditions for the convergence of the output voltage and the stray capacitor effects are discussed. The output voltage error and required switching frequency are also discussed when the converter is used as a DC voltage supply source that provides power to a load.

For a realization of a DC-DC converter using no magnetic devices, a new switched capacitor (SC) transformer is introduced, which gives voltage ratios by Fibonacci series corresponding to the stages. This transformer is connected in cascade by each basic block which is assembled by a capacitor and three MOSFET switches. This operates on a simple two-phase clock and has a large step-up or step-down voltage ratio in spite of its simple configuration. The characteristics of this transformer with n stages of basic block are derived and calculated by means of a 4 4 cascade matrix. The optimal arrangement of each stage's capacitances is shown to reduce the SC resistance by about 20%. The simulation results are compared with the characteristics of a prototype transformer with four stages (8 times step-up ratio). Its power efficiency achieves 88% in case of 97 V output voltage, 0.2 A output current, and 100 kHz switching frequency. Lastly, the proposed SC transformer is compared and discussed with other typical SC transformers.