Customer Reviews

CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation, Second Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used this book for an intensive self-study course in CMOS IC design and was deeply impressed by the quality of this book. The features I liked the most were:
- Clear, down-to-earth, working-engineer discussion.
- Profusely Illustrated. Very well done: Screenshots from software, layouts with cross-sections, schematics with annotations...
- Very practical: Baker obviously has DONE a lot of design--drops-in lots of street-wise comments. Addresses real-world problems. Doesn't get bogged-down in unneeded precision and complexity.
- Not afraid to dive into heavy theory, where needed: In spite of his practicality, he is absolutely fearless at thoroughly analyzing tough problems. Does approximations to make it tractable. Never loads-in math where it isn't necessary, though.
- I've found pearls of wisdom here that are (to my knowledge) truly unique. For example he neatly solves the "unsolvable" problem of the RMS value of flicker noise. (p. 246)
- Introduces free, but effective software for layout and simulation, making this a complete course-in-a-book.
- Comprehensive and up-to-date: Examples: He addresses 50nm (as well as long channel) design issues in detail; has in-depth coverage of techniques for extending common mode range and output swing.

Well, I could go on and on but will sum it up by saying that, if you are looking for a book on CMOS Circuit Design, it's hard to imagine one better than this one. Thanks, Dr. Baker, for this great book.

I have pretty much all the popular analog IC design books and this one is the most useful! It covers a wide variety of circuits, and explains many practical issues that are useful to someone getting starting in actually making circuits that work. Plus there are tons of examples to make everything stick...even SPICE files of everything on the web! The only thing this book doesn't have (which it would be impossible to fit plus is covered ad nauseum in the others) is in-depth theory. In conclusion, this book rocks and you will kick yourself if you miss it.

This book is one of the best books on microelectronic circuit design in the market today. It is good both for the beginner( for its detailed explanations of basic concepts) and for the advanced circuit designer( for its in-depth analysis of different circuit topologies). It covers the short channel MOSFET design issues more than any other book in the field today. The solutions and simulation examples provided on the website cmosedu.com are very helpful and make this text very easy to use. The first edition was okay but this second edition beats that by a huge margin. The author has completely rewritten some of the chapters and organized the chapters very well. Any serious CMOs circuit designer should have this book in his/her library.

This book is very good for electric engineers who want to learn the basic of circuit design. I would expect that the book will be accompaniment by CD that will include more exercise and real demo. The book and the SW (LASI & SPICE) are good but addition attention to the SW part will make it perfect (not just good). I hope that this will be improved in the future.

This book provides a complete coverage of building blocks for IC design. What makes this book really stands out when compared to others is the practicality of the circuits, as well as detailed implementation methods. It also includes techniques for small-channel designs that are not covered in other textbooks. Proceeding from basic circuit topologies, the author works through a process of evolutionary refinement to the practical and working versions. Simulations of circuits discussed are given too. I would recommend this book to anyone who is aspiring to be an IC design engineer or who works in an IC-related field.

After some getting used to, this book has rapidly become one of my favorites. It came highly recommended to me by my boss at my internship with Microchip, was a great help while preparing for interviews, and I still use it at work. This book is not a replacement for such fundamental material as Gray & Meyer, but because it doesn't dwell on the extreme basics I think it is able to have a much broader coverage of each topic. So, if you're buying your first EE text book you may want to get Gray & Meyer. If you're the guy using stuff that has data sheets, then this book may still not be for you. BUT, if you're looking to do IC design, and want to be the guy MAKING those confusing data sheets, then BUY THIS BOOK.

Below is the review I submitted for the 1st edition. I have the 2nd edition, and that review is still pertinent -- and Professor Baker even addressed the metastability issue! There are 6 different index entries talking about metastability, and how to avoid/minimize it. It's a beautiful book.
My review for the 3rd edition (Great -- Better -- Best) follows the first.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Clear, concrete, comprehensive, self-contained CMOS text, March 29, 1999
Reviewer: A reader
The best of books say something important, and say it well. CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and Simulation by Baker, Li, and Boyce is such a book. Rather than an opinion-free text, it's insight mixed with experience; when something is important, they tell you it's important.

The style is very clear, the copious graphics help explain and cement the ideas, and the numerous worked exercises, which apply the theory just developed, allow the exposition to flow -- it makes sense, the transitions are smooth and well motivated, and there are a lot of very good ideas and clever circuits in the book.

In addition to design, layout, and simulation of digital, analog, and mixed signal circuits (including memory circuits, Schmitt Triggers, PLLs, A2Ds, D2As, and VCOs), there is enough background in device physics to justify the equations underlying the theory.

The exposition is exceptional. The figures are usually on the same or facing page so you can look at what's being described. Derivations are worked out with a wealth of schematics and small signal models. The book is centered on CMOS, so there's no need to translate bipolar designs from earlier classic texts like Gray and Meyer. The treatment is up to date, with recent research results included and explained.

The book is comprehensive, complete, self-contained, and practical; it's anchored in a real process, works with (but does not require) the LASI CAD software, and provides ready access to design information, from the inside front cover summaries to a chapter on extracting parameters from BSIM models for hand calculation through the process and design rules in the appendices.

The only significant omission is a description of metastability, and how to reduce its impact.

This book is a creation of care and craft. It is a joy to read and to review.

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Update for the 3rd edition: Great -- Better -- Best
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This is the best overall CMOS circuits book I have ever seen -- it is my desert island circuits book.

This Terman Award winning book, in its 3rd edition, continues the best-in-class exposition style, both figures and prose, and benefits from the decades of care and craft lavished upon it by the author.

In addition to the beautifully illustrated self-contained text, there is an active website with many ready-to-simulate examples from the book; these examples provide a springboard for further exploration and understanding, and add clarity to the text. Experiment: add a probe -- figure out what the circuit is doing for yourself. The supplied working examples also avoid tedious and error prone recreation, saving time and frustration.

Baker is a consummate educator and expositor, going from the basic to the robust -- the progressive fully illustrated descriptions, starting with the basics and adding needed enhancements to make it practical, especially in short-channel design, are a joy to behold. And he keeps providing the larger context, e.g., supplying the bias circuits which are essential.

This is not a cookbook, but he establishes the basic recipes, and clearly codifies the design techniques -- consider Tables 9.1 and
9.2, where he lays out the ground rules for practical analog design. This book really is superlative system design (and understanding) applied to CMOS circuit design.

I'm more a mathematician than a circuit designer, and the explanations flow, with all key steps (or at least major way points) identified -- it's not a tutorial, so you do need to fill in the when-you-understand-it-it-is-obvious intermediate steps; I'm convinced it helps you think like a circuit designer.

The scope is also astounding and outstanding -- just look at the table of contents. I almost always find what I'm looking for, and enjoy the lucid descriptions, e.g., latch-up and arbiters.

This book never fails to deliver. It's the best. A full five stars. Thanks, Professor Baker.

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As indicated in the subtitle, this book covers design, layout and simulation. By simulation is meant that layout and circuit simulation software are introduced as practical tools.

The book covers a wide range of topics and a wide range of levels. Although I believe a reader would be more comfortable with this book if they already had experience with an introductory circuit book like Sedra and Smith, it should be possible to actually start from scratch with Baker's book by reading how a MOSFET works (CH 6) and going through the examples (e.g., CH 9). However, that requires a bit of reader planning to see what is basic and what is more advanced, as the level of difficulty in each topic usually starts off simple, but never stops until you are at a graduate school level.

A lot of practical detail stemming from the author's personal design experience shows up on each page. A basic design approach is stated and followed throughout. There is a hands-on attitude in this book that is missing from other texts.

The prospective reader can gain a pretty good flavor of what is happening by looking around the companion website at http://cmosedu.com/

It is the most expensive book I've ever had. However, I don't regret to buy it, because it is a really useful and nice book.

It is a very good book that I like. and it was deliveried very timely.