Controllable decoding for automated analog circuit structure design

Abstract

The decoding scheme is a major problem in automated analog circuit topology synthesis since decoding schemes bias synthesized circuit structures. However, the proper decoding scheme varies depending on the method to realize a given function. In this paper, a controllable decoding scheme is proposed in which the method to realize a function is controlled by a set of “prototype circuits”. Thus, the system can generate different types of analog circuits in a unified method. The prototype circuits are designed by a human and suggested to the system as hints of configurations of new analog circuits to be synthesized by the system. In the synthesis process, the information on circuit connections is stored as sub-circuits extracted from the prototype circuits. A genetic algorithm is then used to search for an optimum combination of the sub-circuits that achieves the desired electronic specifications. The combinations of sub-circuits are generated with a proposed technique where the terminals of the sub-circuits are shared. The capabilities of the proposed method are demonstrated through synthesis examples of a cubing circuit synthesis as a current-mode design and a logic circuit synthesis as a voltage-mode.