Systematic Synthesis of Analog and Mixed-Signal Systems
Ewout Martens
SIGDA Ph.D. Forum at DAC 2006 (Ph.D. Forum 2006)
San Francisco, CA, July 2006
Abstract
The PhD can be situated in the area of the analysis and synthesis of analog and
mixed-signal systems. The systematic methodology investigated in this work is targeted
to systems that are larger and more complex than those traditional analog CAD tools
cope with. Basic concepts of the novel approach are a modeling style with generic
behavioral models and the exploration of the design space with a heterogeneous genetic
algorithm. A time-domain generic behavioral model for sampled-data systems like data
converters and switched-capacitor filters has been developed. For systems operating at
high frequencies, a frequency-domain approach has been followed with a phase-frequency
transfer model. The exploration methodology has been implemented within a C++-program
for the design of A/D-converters. The principles developed in this work can serve as
base for a new generation of analog CAD tools to narrow the analog design productivity
gap.