A Functional Block Decomposition Method for Automatic Op-Amp Design

This paper presents a method to decompose an op-amp into its functional blocks. The method is able to recognize functional blocks on a high level of abstraction as loads or amplification stages which have a large set of possible structural implementations. The paper presents a hierarchical library of functional blocks. With every hierarchy level the structural representation of the functional blocks becomes more variable while its function emerges. We use the hierarchical order to automatically compute the functional decomposition of an op-amp given as a flat netlist. Experimental results will illustrate the method. The functional block decomposition enables a comprehensive formalization of design knowledge for computer-aided design of op-amps. This is the first paper of a selection of three paper on automatic op-amp design. In [1], the design equations that correspond to the functional blocks are presented. Based on the op-amp decomposition and the design equation, op-amps are automatically sized. In [2], an automatic op-amp structure synthesis method will be presented, which is based on the functional block decomposition presented in the following and the design equations from [1].Comment: This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessibl

Machine Learning for Electronic Design Automation: A Survey

With the down-scaling of CMOS technology, the design complexity of very large-scale integrated (VLSI) is increasing. Although the application of machine learning (ML) techniques in electronic design automation (EDA) can trace its history back to the 90s, the recent breakthrough of ML and the increasing complexity of EDA tasks have aroused more interests in incorporating ML to solve EDA tasks. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of existing ML for EDA studies, organized following the EDA hierarchy.Comment: Accepted by TODAES. The first 10 authors are ordered alphabeticall