This paper proposes an interface application-specific-integrated-circuit (ASIC) for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) vibratory gyroscopes. A closed self-excited drive loop is employed for automatic amplitude stabilization based on peak detection and proportion-integration (PI) controller. A nonlinear multiplier terminating the drive loop is designed for rapid resonance oscillation and linearity improvement. Capacitance variation induced by mechanical motion is detected by a differential charge amplifier in sense mode. After phase demodulation and low-pass filtering an analog signal indicating the input angular velocity is obtained. Non-idealities are further suppressed by on-chip temperature drift calibration. In order for better compatibility with digital circuitry systems, a low passband incremental zoom sigma-delta (ΣΔ) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is implemented for digital output. Manufactured in a standard 0.35 μm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the whole interface occupies an active area of 3.2 mm². Experimental results show a bias instability of 2.2 °/h and a nonlinearity of 0.016% over the full-scale range.

This paper presents a multi-stage noise shaping (MASH) switched-capacitor (SC) sigma-delta (ΣΔ) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) composed of an analog modulator with an on-chip noise cancellation logic and a reconfigurable digital decimator for MEMS digital gyroscope applications. A MASH 2-1-1 structure is employed to guarantee an absolutely stable modulation system. Based on the over-sampling and noise-shaping techniques, the core modulator architecture is a cascade of three single-loop stages containing feedback paths for systematic optimization to avoid deterioration in conversion accuracy caused by capacitor mismatch. A digital noise cancellation logic is also included to eliminate residual quantization errors in the former two stages, and those in the last stage are shaped by a fourth-order modulation. A multi-rate decimator follows the analog modulator to suit variable gyroscope bandwidth. Manufactured in a standard 0.35 μm CMOS technology, the whole chip occupies an area of 3.8 mm². Experimental results show a maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 100.2 dB and an overall dynamic range (DR) of 107.6 dB, with a power consumption of 3.2 mW from a 5 V supply. This corresponds to a state-of-the-art figure-of-merit (FoM) of 165.6 dB.

This paper proposes a solution for sensing spatial angular velocity. A high-performance digital interface application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for triple-axis micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) vibratory gyroscopes is presented. The technique of time multiplexing is employed for synergetic stable drive control and precise angular velocity measurement in three separate degrees of freedom (DOF). Self-excited digital closed loop drives the proof mass in sensing elements at its inherent resonant frequency for Coriolis force generation during angular rotation. The analog front ends in both drive and sense loops are comprised of low-noise charge-voltage (C/V) converters and multi-channel incremental zoom analog-to-digital converters (ADC), so that capacitance variation between combs induced by mechanical motion is transformed into digital voltage signals. Other circuitry elements, such as loop controlling and accurate demodulation modules, are all implemented in digital logics. Automatic amplitude stabilization is mainly realized by peak detection and proportion-integration (PI) control. Nonlinear digital gain adjustment is designed for rapid establishment of resonance oscillation and linearity improvement. Manufactured in a standard 0.35-μm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, this design achieves a bias instability of 2.1°/h and a nonlinearity of 0.012% over full-scale range.