Low-noise PECL output driver

Circuitry for producing an oscillatory output signal having a peak voltage of V volts using MOS transistor circuitry transistors of which are designed for a maximum port-to-port voltage of substantially less than V volts, comprising:

• a first inverter chain coupled to an input signal to produce a predriver output signal;
• a second inverter chain comprising a plurality of inverters including a first inverter, the second inverter chain for producing a driver output signal;
• circuitry for AC-coupling the predriver output signal to the second inverter chain, the circuitry for AC-coupling and the first inverter of the second inverter chain being configured to translate the predriver output signal to a higher voltage range to produce a translated predriver output signal;
• a driver transistor controlled using the driver output signal to produce the oscillatory output signal;
• and
• circuitry coupled to the driver output transistor for ensuring that no port-to-port voltage of the driver output transistor exceeds the maximum port-to-port voltage.

Circuitry for producing an oscillatory output signal having an output frequency of F hertz and a peak voltage of V volts using MOS transistor circuitry transistors of which are designed in accordance with transistor designs in a process technology library, said transistor designs comprising a design for thick-gate transistors designed for a maximum port-to-port voltage of more than V volts and a design for thin-gate transistors designed for a maximum port-to-port voltage of substantially less than V volts, said circuitry comprising:

• an input signal propagation path comprising an inverter chain;
• and
• an output transistor coupled to the inverter chain;
• wherein all transistors operating at the output frequency F are thin-gate transistors.

A method of producing an output signal using a driver circuit coupled to an output stage, the output stage comprising a plurality of transistors having a rated port-to-port maximum voltage of V volts, comprising:

• regulating a supply voltage to produce a regulated supply voltage;
• using the regulated supply voltage to produce a regulated elevated reference voltage, wherein a voltage between the regulated supply voltage and the regulated elevated reference voltage is no greater than V volts;
• and
• applying the regulated supply voltage and the regulated elevated reference voltage to the output stage to produce the output signal.