A high side low voltage current source circuit having improved output
impedance to reduce effects of leakage current. A current source circuit
is described with a transistor having an emitter coupled to an emitter
degeneration resistor which is coupled to a power supply voltage. The
output of the current source is taken at the collector of the transistor.
In one embodiment, the transistor is a PNP transistor device. The base of
the transistor is coupled to the output of an operational amplifier. One
input of the operational amplifier is coupled in a feedback loop to the
emitter of the transistor. A direct current bias voltage is applied to the
other input of the operational amplifier. The output impedance (R"o) of
the current is source is based on the open loop gain of the operational
amplifier (e.g., about 35 dB) and is therefore orders of magnitude larger
than the output impedance of other prior art current source designs. Also
included is a novel level shifting circuit for shifting (up) the DC
voltage level at the emitter of the transistor to improve its dynamic
range of operation in low power supply voltage environments. A resistor is
also placed in a tail current path of the operational amplifier, rather
than a transistor, to further improve the dynamic range of the current
source. The present invention finds particular application within a clock
generator circuit where its reduced leakage current properties and
improved dynamic range help to reduce clock jitter.