A MEMS-Based Power-Scalable Hearing Aid Analog Front End

Abstract

A dual-channel directional digital hearing aid front end using microelectromechanical-systems microphones, and an adaptive-power analog processing signal chain are presented. The analog front end consists of a double differential amplifier-based capacitance-to-voltage conversion circuit, 40-dB variable gain amplifier (VGA) and a power-scalable continuous time sigma delta analog-to-digital converter (ADC), with 68-dB signal-to-noise ratio dissipating 67 μ W from a 1.2-V supply. The MEMS microphones are fabricated using a standard surface micromachining technology. The VGA and power-scalable ADC are fabricated on a 0.25-μ m complementary metal-oxide semciconductor TSMC process.