In wireless communications, particularly the military space, software-defined radio (SDR) is the goal. The basic concept of SDR is to position the digital-to-analog separation as close as possible to the antenna. This is accomplished by implementing many functions traditionally performed by analog circuits using reconfigurable digital circuits. Successfully implemented, this can deliver an obso...

We solve the manufacturing problem of identifying the model statistical parameters ensuring a satisfactory quality of analog circuits produced in a photolithographic process. We formalize it in a statistical framework as the problem of inverting the mapping from the population of the circuit model parameters to the population of the performances. Both parameters and performances are random. Fro...

This paper proposes a methodology for the extension of SystemC to mixed signal systems. An oscillator made up of an inverter chain has been used to test the accuracy and stability of the algorithm proposed. Finally a simulation of a complex mixed-signal fuzzy controller is used to show the speed up achievable with a high level description of the analog block with respect to SPICE simulation.

The objective of this research is to develop built-in testing (BIT) techniques for the functional verification of analog and RF circuits and systems. The aim is to avoid the use of external analog instrumentation so that the cost of testing is reduced. The major challenges addressed by this work are: (1) To develop techniques for the on-chip test of integrated RF and analog circuits through a f...

The areas of analog circuit fault simulation and test generation have not witnessed the same degree of success as their digital counterparts. This is due mainly fo the complexity of analog behavior and the lack of a fault model. We present a new Jicnctional fault modeling technique called the perturbation fault model. The perturbation fault model is based on an estimation of the distance betwee...

Digital video technology has been characterised by continued growth in the last decade. The uses of video coding are broad and diverse. However, generally they fall into two main categories either utilising limited storage or transmission bandwidth. Video coding is essential for video on Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) and utilising the limited bandwidth available for realising real time applicati...

An analog circuit for edge detection was proposed based on vertebrate outer retinas. The chip which contained 40× 40 unit circuits in a two-dimensional array was fabricated with 0.35 μm CMOS process. Edge images were experimentally observed in a brightness range over 3 orders of magnitude. It was clarified by simulation with the simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) that a...

This paper presents significant improvements in the generation of analog signals for on-chip analog circuit testing. In particular, the novel oscillators proposed here can achieve signal-to-noise ratios far greater than previous designs, while remaining area-efficient. One particular example illustrates a 30 dB improvement in the SNR. Alternatively, signals can be generated with the same SNR as...

Integrated circuit fabrication facilities are now offering digital system designers the ability to integrate analog circuitry and micromachined devices, but such mixed-technology microsystems are extremely difficult to design because of the limited verification and optimization tools available. In particular, there are no generally effective techniques for automatically generating reduced-order...

s mixed-signal systems, by integrating digital and analog components in a homogeneous virtual platform model for efficient simulation. This can be achieved thanks to: 1) an automatic abstraction technique for analog components, allowing to preserve only the details meaningful for the functional behavior of the entireion technique for analog components, allowing to preserve only the details mean...