Synthesise linear circuits for mixed-signal ICs

-- EDN, 4/13/2000

If you design analogue-circuit blocks for inclusion in mixed-signal or system-on-chip ICs, you can get optimised linear functions designed automatically via the Internet. Start-up Barcelona Design (Mountain View, California) offers analogue-circuit synthesis, which it based on a recently developed optimisation technique. The system offers op-amp blocks; the company plans to add a suite of other analogue functions, including PLLs, ADCs, and other amplifier types. You access the system via Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator: All the software runs on Barcelona's servers, and there is no downloading code. You select the type of circuit you require and the general topology from a list of alternatives and then enter a parametric description of your performance target.

The software synthesises a circuit, returns a specification, and offers the further option of a circuit simulation of the result. It also indicates the points at which meeting your specification is most critical, indicating where production spread and other factors will have the greatest effect on performance. If you like the result, you can download a netlist for your chosen silicon process from a list of silicon foundries and processes. You pay a fee for each completed usage, based on complexity; for consultants and small companies, Barcelona charges via conventional Web-based credit-card billing; larger companies with high usage can use corporate accounts. Barcelona addresses security concerns by using conventional Internet encryption for sending data, and designs are stored anonymously on its system. Even if its system were compromised, the company says, details of analogue-circuit blocks are of little value with no knowledge of their context.

Barcelona Design, www.barcelonadesign.com.

-by Graham Prophet