STAIC: An Interactive Framework for Synthesizing CMOS and BiCMOS Analog Circuits

STAIC is an interactive design tool that synthesizes CMOS and BiCMOS analog integrated circuits that conform to specified performance constraints. STAIC features an input modeling language for entering hierarchical circuit descriptions and a symbolic/numeric solve unit that dynamically integrates analytical model equations across hierarchical boundaries. Output of the solver is a ¿flattened¿ homogeneous model that is customized to a user specified topology and set of performance specifications. The output is thus tailored for optimization and other numerically intense design exploration procedures. All model descriptions include physical layout so that important net parasitics may be fully accounted for during design evaluation. Synthesis proceeds via a successive solution refinement methodology. Multilevel models of increasing sophistication are used by scan and optimization modules to converge to what is likely a globally optimal solution. Design experiments have shown that STAIC can produce satisfactory results.