Variation-Tolerant Synthesis Results

Abstract

In this chapter we present results to show that our non-linear infinite programming formulation can actually synthesize variation-tolerant analog cells. To test our variation-tolerant formulation, we created ASTRX/OBLX NLIP, named to show it is a non-linear infinite programming extension of the nominal version of ASTRX/OBLX. To avoid confusion, in this chapter we typically refer to the nominal version of the tool as simply ASTRX/OBLX, while calling the variation-tolerant version NLIP. To show the advantages of the NLIP formulation when compared to even the best of nominal synthesis results, we resynthesize several circuits from Chapter 6 with attention to operating point ranges and simplified manufacturing line variations. The circuits range from simple five-transistor OTA cells to forty-four transistor folded cascode op-amps.