Compact and low-power continuous-time derivative circuit

A new circuit to compute a continuous-time derivative is introduced. Comprising only one capacitor and six to eight transistors, this derivative circuit occupies very little real estate and consumes limited power, making it particularly well suited to low-power and array applications such as imager systems and sub-banded audio-processing applications. A description of the operation of this circuit is provided along with results from a circuit fabricated in a standard 0.5 mm CMOS process.