ANACONDA: robust synthesis of analog circuits via stochastic pattern search

Abstract

Analog synthesis tools have traditionally traded quality for speed, substituting simplified circuit evaluation methods for full simulation in order to accelerate the numerical search for solution candidates. In this paper we develop a new numerical search algorithm efficient enough to allow full circuit simulation of each circuit candidate, and robust enough to find good solutions for difficult circuits. Comparison of synthesized circuits against manual industrial designs demonstrates the utility of the approach.