From architecture to manufacturing: An accurate framework for optimal OTA design

The operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) is one of the most important basic blocks used in the design of analog integrated circuits (ICs). However, its optimization involves a large number of parameters and specifications that have to be accurately adjusted during the simulation process to appropriately achieve the design goals. This work addresses the whole framework required to the automatic design of an OTA, from its architecture to manufacturing. We propose and implement a computational tool based on Genetic Algorithms to the optimization and simulation tasks as well as a measurement system that covers the layout and manufacturing of the designed OTAs in order to perform the experimental electrical characterization. Our experimental results show that this analog IC design framework allows the creation of practical solutions with remarkable accuracy (maximum error about 10%, considering all specifications investigated) regarding OTAs with 0.35 micrometer Bulk CMOS technology from ON semiconductor. We believe that the proposed framework might be a helpful design tool to manufacture OTAs with high accuracy and low design time, particularly in situations where such complex optimization task must be performed routinely by beginners.