An 8-channel 2.1µW 0.017mm2 0.

04% Gain
Mismatch Bio-potential Recording AFE using Group-
Chopping Technique

Tao Tang1, Jeonghoan Park1, Lian Zhang1, Kian Ann Ng2, Jerald Yoo1,2
1
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 2Singapore Institute for
Neurotechnology, Singapore
Email: elett@nus.edu.sg

Abstract— An 8-ch bio-potential recording AFE with less than

0.04% gain mismatch is presented. The proposed Group- Conventional Bio-potential Recording System
In1 Out1=A1×(In1-Ref)
Chopping Instrumentation Amplifier (GCIA) exploits group- A1 A1 ≠ A2 VFP1-F7
chopping scheme with 8-phase non-overlapping clocks to achieve In2 = Out1 - Out2
Out2=A2×(In2-Ref) CMRRbtw-chn
A2
the lowest gain mismatch reported to date and improves between-
channel CMRR among all channels, while mitigating dynamic F3 C3
Incorrect result for
FP1 InN
offsets at once. The proposed GCIA is the first in literature to F7
T3 AN
OutN=AN×(InN-Ref) FP1-F7

mitigate gain mismatch for more than 2 channels. Fabricated in A1

Ref The worst case for between-channel CMRR:
0.18μm CMOS, it consumes 2.1μW/Ch. under 0.5V supply and
achieves NEF of 2.1, while occupying 0.017mm2/Ch.

Keywords—group chopping; bio-recording AFE; gain Proposed Bio-potential Recording System

In1 Out1=A1' ×(In1-Ref)
mismatch; between channel CMRR (CMRRbtw-chn); multi-channel A1 A1'=A2' =ΣAi /N ΔA1-2
gain mismatch mitigation In2
Out2=A2' ×(In2-Ref) CMRRbtw-chn
A2

F3 C3
I. INTRODUCTION FP1 InN
Correct result for
F7
T3
OutN=AN' ×(InN-Ref) FP1-F7 :
AN
Multichannel bio-potential recording amplifier is an A1
Ref
essential tool for healthcare diagnosis and biomedical research Group Chopping
[1]-[5]. Gain mismatch across channels for such amplifier often Instrumentation Amplifier (GCIA)

leads to a degraded signal fidelity and impairs diagnostic

capability. Although gain mismatch is conventionally mitigated
by using feedback-based amplifiers [1]-[3], such amplifiers still
exhibits inter-channel gain mismatch of > 0.1%, and yet
consume large silicon area and power to achieve high gain.
Attempts have been made to resolve this conundrum. For
example, [3] implemented a precision reference generation for
on chip resistor trimming in single amplifier, which requires
extra hardware resources and calibration process. Work in [6]
reported two-channel instrumentation amplifier with dynamic
element matching, while its complex feedback averaging
topology impairs implementation beyond 2 channels. While [7]
operates its multi-channel signals orthogonally in one amplifier
to avoid gain mismatch, however, the orthogonal modulation
requires exponentially larger bandwidth in case of signal
crosstalk when number of channels increases. Open-loop gain
amplifiers were conveniently avoided as they are highly
susceptible to process variation and parasitic coupling which
negatively bestows them with high inter-channel gain mismatch.
However, they consumed much lower area and power than
feedback-based amplifiers, and more importantly, none of the
previous works handled the gain mismatch among multi-
channel of more than 2 channels. To resolve above mentioned
issues simultaneously, this paper presents an 8-channel ultra-
Fig. 1. The problem of gain mismatch among multi-channels
low power, area-efficient AFE with group-chopping technique
that exhibited the lowest between-channel gain mismatch to
date, even when using an open-loop gain amplifier.
Fig. 1 explains the problem of gain mismatch in multi-
channel biomedical recording application. Conventional
recording system acquires the electrical potentials of a set of
working electrodes with respect to a reference electrode. Due to
the gain mismatch amongst the channels, inter-channel montage
would suffer from incorrectly subtracted signal ripples, possibly
generating false positive identification of abnormal waveforms
such as epileptic seizures, etc [8]. To quantify inter-channel gain
mismatch, the between-channel CMRR (CMRRbtw-chn) definition
for two-channel IA that was proposed in [1]. As the number of
channels increases for biomedical recording system, the
definition of between-channel CMRR has been extended to
multi-channel IAs as shown in Equation (1) – (2).
‫ܴܴܯܥ‬௕௧௪ି௖௛௡ ൌ ʹͲ݈‫݃݋‬
ீ೙ ାீ೘
(1)
ଶȁீ೙ ିீ೘ ȁ

* 978-1-5386-9395-7/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

 8-channel Bio-potential Recording AFE with GCIA VDD
CUA CUB CUB CUA LPF
In1P CUC CUC VB PM3
In1N CUD A1 CUD
LPF
In2P A2 PM1 PM2
In2N
In3P A3
LPF VIN + VIN -
In3N
LPF VOUT - VOUT+
In4P A4
In4N

MUX
LPF ADC DOUT
In5P NM1 NM2
In5N A5 PM4 PM5
In6P
LPF NM3 NM4
In6N A6 VCM
LPF
In7P A7
In7N
LPF
In8P A8 GND
In8N
CPA CPB CPC CPD CPD CPC CPB CPA
Fig. 4. Schematic of RC-free open loop amplifier.
Digital Control
ɸ1 ɸ2 ɸ3 ɸ4 ɸ5 ɸ6 ɸ7 ɸ8
Fig. 2. Proposed 8-channel Bio-potential Recording AFE with GCIA CPD

CPC
where Gn and Gm are the gain of channel n and m, suppose gain CPB
mismatch is presented as α = Gn/Gm, then the worst case for
CPA
between-channel CMRR (CMRRbtw-chn-worst):
ଵାςಿ
భ ሺଵାఈ೔ ሻ
500ns 500ns 500ns Non-overlapping
‫ܴܴܯܥ‬௕௧௪ି௖௛௡ି௪௢௥௦௧ ൌ ʹͲ݈‫ ݃݋‬൬ ൰ (2) (a)
clock edges
ଶ൫ςಿ
భ ሺଵାఈ೔ ሻିଵ൯
Output with overlapping clocks Output with 8-nonoverlapping clocks

Based on equation (2), for 1% (1000 ppm) gain mismatch 250 250

Amplitude (mV)
Amplitude (mV) 1.1 mV

between two adjacent channels, the worst case of CMRRbtw-chn 2.0 mV

249 249
can be as low as 22 dB for an 8-channel AFE. To solve this Ripple reduced by 45%

problem, the proposed design introduces the group-chopping 248 248

technique to simultaneously match the gains of all channels 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time (ms) Time (ms)
while performing dynamic offset suppression. (b)

Fig. 5. a) The 8-phase overlapping-free clocking scheme for group-

Phase: ɸ1
CSA CSB
A1 used CSB CSA
Phase: ɸ2
CSA CSB
A2 used CSB CSA chopping b) The output amplitude with overlapping/non-overlapping
In1P CSC CSC Out1P In1P CSC CSC Out1P
In1N Out1N In1N Out1N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD
Out2P
Out2N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD
Out2P
Out2N
clock signals.
In3P A3 Out3P In3P A3 Out3P
In3N Out3N In3N Out3N
A4 A4
In4P Out4P In4P Out4P
In4N
In5P
In5N A5
Out4N
Out5P
Out5N
In4N
In5P
In5N A5
Out4N
Out5P
Out5N
8 Group-Chopping Instrumentation Amplifiers (GCIA), low-
In6P
In6N
In7P
A6

A7
Out6P
Out6N
Out7P
In6P
In6N
In7P
A6

A7
Out6P
Out6N
Out7P
pass filters, an 8-to-1 mux and a 10-bit SAR-ADC. There are 4
In7N
In8P
In8N
A8
Out7N
Out8P
Out8N
In7N
In8P
In8N
A8
Out7N
Out8P
Out8N
levels of chopper switches, CSA~CSD, where CSA is for internal
Phase: ɸ3
CSA CSB
CSC
A3 used
CSC
CSB CSA
Phase: ɸ4
CSA CSB
CSC
A4 used
CSC
CSB CSA
chopping within each channel to suppression dynamic offset
In1P Out1P In1P Out1P
In1N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD Out1N
Out2P
Out2N
In1N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD Out1N
Out2P
Out2N
(such as 1/f noise), while CSB~CSD are for channel-swapping
In3P
In3N
A3

A4
Out3P
Out3N
Out4P
In3P
In3N
A3

A4
Out3P
Out3N
Out4P
between two adjacent group of channels. The clocks for
In4P In4P
In4N
In5P
In5N A5
Out4N
Out5P
Out5N
In4N
In5P
In5N A5
Out4N
Out5P
Out5N
CSA~CSD are designated CLKA~CLKD respectively and they
In6P
In6N
In7P
A6

A7
Out6P
Out6N
Out7P
In6P
In6N
In7P
A6

A7
Out6P
Out6N
Out7P
have frequencies of 4 kHz, 2 kHz, 1 kHz and 500 Hz,
In7N Out7N In7N Out7N
In8P
In8N
A8
Out8P
Out8N
In8P
In8N
A8
Out8P
Out8N
respectively. The control strategy is to ensure that every
Phase: ɸ5
In1P
CSA CSB
CSC
A5 used CSC
CSB CSA
Out1P
Phase: ɸ6
In1P
CSA CSB
CSC
A6 used CSC
CSB CSA
Out1P
differential input signal is modulated and dynamically swapped
In1N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD Out1N
Out2P
Out2N
In1N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD Out1N
Out2P
Out2N
amongst all 8 channels, so that each input signal will be
In3P
In3N
In4P
A3

A4
Out3P
Out3N
Out4P
In3P
In3N
In4P
A3

A4
Out3P
Out3N
Out4P
sequentially amplified by all GCIAs and the final amplified
In4N
In5P
In5N A5
Out4N
Out5P
Out5N
In4N
In5P
In5N A5
Out4N
Out5P
Out5N output is the averaged result of all GCIAs. Fig. 3 shows the
In6P
In6N
In7P
A6

A7
Out6P
Out6N
Out7P
Out7N
In6P
In6N
In7P
A6

A7
Out6P
Out6N
Out7P
Out7N
signal flow path during each phase, taking channel 1 as an
In7N In7N
In8P
In8N
A8
Out8P
Out8N
In8P
In8N
A8
Out8P
Out8N example: during phase 1 (φ1), channel 1 input (IN1P, IN1N) is
Phase:
CS
In1P
CS
ɸ7
A B
CSC
A7 used
CSC
CSB CSA
Out1P
Phase:
CS
In1P
CS
ɸ8
A B
CSC
A8 used
CSC
CSB CSA
Out1P
modulated by CSA and routed to A1 while CSB~CSD routes A1’s
Out1N Out1N
In1N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD
Out2P
Out2N
In1N
In2P
In2N
CSD A1

A2
CSD
Out2P
Out2N
output to the demodulator (CSA) before (OUT1P, OUT1N). In the
In3P
In3N
In4P
A3

A4
Out3P
Out3N
Out4P
In3P
In3N
In4P
A3

A4
Out3P
Out3N
Out4P
next phase (φ2), (IN1P, IN1N) are swapped (group chopped) with
In4N Out4N In4N Out4N
In5P
In5N A5
Out5P
Out5N
In5P
In5N A5
Out5P
Out5N channel 2 input (IN2P, IN2N) using CSB. As a result, channel 1’s
In6P Out6P In6P Out6P
In6N
In7P
In7N
A6

A7
Out6N
Out7P
Out7N
In6N
In7P
In7N
A6

A7
Out6N
Out7P
Out7N
input is routed to A2 for amplification during φ2 while CSC and
In8P
In8N
A8
Out8P
Out8N
In8P
In8N
A8
Out8P
Out8N CSD routes A2‘s output to the demodulator (CSA) before (OUT1P,
Fig. 3. The Channel 1’s view showing signal flow path during each OUT1N). (IN1P, IN1N) would be sequentially routed to the
clock phase using group chopping technique. remaining GCIAs for the remaining phases (φ3 -φ8) but each
GCIA’s output is always routed to the same demodulator before
II. CIRCUIT IMPLEMENTATION (OUT1P, OUT1N). Note that as channel 1 is sequentially routed
to A1-A8, the other channel inputs are also routed to A1-A8 but
Fig. 2 shows the system diagram of the proposed 8-channel at different phases. Collectively, this group chopping technique
group-chopping bio-potential recording AFE, which consist of sequentially cycle (at different instances) all inputs through each
of the eight GCIAs during phases φ1 to φ8. while the amplified
outputs of A1-A8 are averaged after demodulation at the same
 830μm

320μm 0.04
0.03 Eyes look up
416μm

490μm
MUX
8-channel
LPF SAR ADC 0.02

Amplitude (V)
GCIA Eyes look down
0.01
0.00
Digital -0.01
-0.02
Fig. 6. Die Photo of the proposed GCIA.
-0.03
-0.04
0 2 4 6
55 Time (Second)
Fig. 9. Measured EOG signal with eyes looking up/down

50.7dB
50
-40
Gain (dB)

0.1Hz – 220 Hz
Eyes closed
-60

Magnitude (dB)
45
-80

-100
40
0.1 1 10 100 Eyes open
-120
Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 7. AC response of the proposed GCIA 5 10 15 20 25
Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 10. Spectrum of measured EEG signal with eyes open/closed
10-6
Noise density (V/sqrt(Hz))

0
Output Power Spectrum (dBV)

Output Power of channel 1

Output Power of channel 5
-20

-40
10-7
-60

39nV/sqrt(Hz) -80

-100
10-8
0.1 1 10 100 -120
20 40 60 80 100
Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 8. Input-referred noise of the proposed GCIA Fig. 11. Measured crosstalk between two channels

CSA. The gain of each channel is therefore dynamically

averaged, keeping inter-channel gain mismatch to the minimal. 55
With the four groups of chopping modulation, input DC offset 50.72
Measured Gain
50.69766
of the amplifier needs to be addressed. Instead of using a dc- 50 50.69297
50.69487
servo loop [2][8] to suppress offset ripples, decoupling 50.69182
Gain (dB)
Gain (dB)

50.70
capacitors have been used in front of all choppers to ensure rail-
45
to-rail DC offset tolerance.
50.68

Based on the system architecture of the proposed design, 40

10 20 30 40 10 20 30 40
between-channel gain mismatch is suppressed since the Test Frequency (Hz) Test Frequency (Hz)
equivalent gain for each channel is the averaged gain of all Fig. 12. The measured gains for 8 channels under 10/20/30/40 Hz
GCIA. Therefore, the requirement for high gain accuracy is very
much relaxed. Considering noise-power tradeoff and area
 TABLE I. COMPARISON TABLE OF THE STATE-OF-THE-ART WORK
Parameters ISSCC’11 [2] ISSCC’12 [3] ISSCC’14 [6] ISSCC’15 [7] This work
Technology 0.7 μm 0.13 μm 0.16 μm 0.35 μm 0.18 μm
No. of channels 1 1 2 2 8
Between-channel Gain Mismatch (ppm) 800 ±7000 1000 5500 400
Multi-channel matching (N>2) N N N N Y
Area/channel (mm2) 5 0.465 0.035 0.031 0.017
Power/channel (µW) 1450 24 576 40.5 2.1
Supply Voltage (V) 5 1.2 1.8 3 0.5(Analog)/1.2(Digital)
Gain (dB) 40 20~60 36 40 50.7
Input-referred noise 17nV/√Hz 40nV/√Hz 18.7nV/√Hz 26nV/√Hz 39nV/√Hz
Bandwidth (Hz) 800k 1M 20k NA 220
NEF 11.2 7.5 12.9 3.74 2.1
DC Tolerance NA NA NA NA Rail-to-Rail

efficiency, an open-loop structure is now a viable choice as
inter-channel gain variance can be averaged out using the
proposed technique. The open-loop gain amplifier shown in Fig.
4 is used as the GCIA in the proposed design, and only consumes
2.1µW while occupying 0.017 mm2 (per channel). The current-
reuse technique is employed at the input stage to obtain high
transconductance to reduce the thermal noise floor with
minimum current consumption. The two input transistor pairs
(PM1/NM1 and PM2/NM2) are biased in weak inversion region
to maximize the transconductance efficiency. Transistors NM3
and NM4 provide common-mode feedback to fix the output DC
level, while two PMOS transistors (PM4 and PM5) are chosen as
pseudo-resistor to set the DC bias for the inputs. The control
signals for GCIAs are shown in Fig. 5 (a), to avoid large ripples
appearing in the final output, the digital logic unit adopts the 8-
phase overlapping-free clocking scheme for all the
complimentary control clocks, which ensures there is 500 ns
delay for adjacent clock edges. Consequently, output ripple
voltage is reduced by 45% as depicted(simulated) in Fig. 5 (b).
III. MEASUREMENT RESULTS
The die micrograph is shown in Fig. 6. The proposed 8-ch
AFE GCIA is fabricated in 0.18µm 1P6M CMOS process and
occupies 0.4 mm2. The measured AC response of the proposed
design is 50.7 dB from 0.1 Hz to 220 Hz as shown in Figure 7.
The proposed design have a thermal noise floor of 39nA/ĜHz
as shown in Fig. 8. EOG signal is measured by placing two
electrodes on the upper and lower part of a subject’s eye; an
eyeball movement can be easily detected from the measurement
result as shown in Fig. 9. The frequency spectrum of measured
EEG signal when eyes are open/closed is shown in Fig. 10,
where it is clear to notice that there is a peak curve at around 10
Hz, which indicates as alpha wave activity when eyes are closed
comparing with the spectrum of eyes open. Between-channel
crosstalk has been measured and shown in Fig. 11. A sine wave
signal has been sent to channel 1 and check the output spectrum
of both channel 1 (red line) and 5 (blue line). With 8-phase non-
overlapping clocking scheme, the crosstalk has been improved
to be -67 dBV between two channels. The measured gain
mismatch is shown in Fig. 12, four frequencies (10, 20, 30 and
40 Hz) are chosen to verify the gain mismatch among 8
channels. To compare the mismatch among channels, the gain
of channel 1 is set as reference, while the rest 7 channels have
gain mismatch around 0.001% to 0.04% comparing with
channel 1, which can be converted to 10 ppm to 400 ppm within
all testing frequency ranges.
Performance summary is shown in Table I. With the group
chopping technique, the present work is the first to explore gain
matching technique for more than two-channel applications and
achieves the minimum gain mismatch of less than 400 ppm
among all multi-channel IAs reported so far. The GCIA achieves
an optimal NEF of 2.1 and occupies the smallest area of 0.017
mm2/ch compared with other works and consumes 2.1µW with
a PSD of 39nV/ĜHz.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper has presented a novel technique as group
chopping to minimize the gain mismatch for multi-channel
applications. An 8-channel bio-potential recording AFE has
been fabricated and achieved less than 0.04% gain mismatch
with only 0.017 mm2 area consumption for each channel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The work was funded by National University of Singapore
(NUS) Hybrid-Integrated Flexible Electronic Systems (HiFES)
Program.
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