Full Circle - From Op Amps to LDOs and Back
The paper presents, based on author's 40 years of IC design experience, an overview of the architectures and schematics for operational amplifiers and LDOs. It emphasizes key design problems, practical proven solutions and possible future developments. One of these possible developments is designing LDOs using the techniques used in chopper precision operational amplifiers. Several useful design methods, including the one based on device operating point, are also revealed.