Abstract-Optimization-based analog layout automationdoes not yet find evident acceptance in the industry due to the complexity of the design problem. This paper presents a Self-organized Wiring and Arrangement of Responsive Modules (SWARM), able to consider crucial design constraints both implicitly and explicitly. The flexibility of algorithmic methods and the expert knowledge captured in PCells combine into a flow of supervised module interaction. This novel approach targets the creation of constraintcompliant layout blocks which fit into a specified zone. Provoking a synergetic self-organization, even optimal layout solutions can emerge from the interaction. Various examples depict the power of that new concept and the potential for future developments. Index Terms-analog IC design, layout automation, constraint engineering, methodology, algorithm, particle system
While digital IC design is highly automated, analog circuits are still handcrafted in a time-consuming, manual fashion today. This paper introduces a novel Parameterized Circuit Description Scheme (PCDS) for the development of procedural analog schematic generators as parameterized circuits. Circuit designers themselves can use PCDS to create circuit automatisms which capture valuable expert knowledge, offer full topological flexibility, and enhance the re-use of well-established topologies. The generic PCDS concept has been successfully implemented and employed to create parameterized circuits for a broad range of use cases. The achieved results demonstrate the efficiency of our PCDS approach and the potential of parameterized circuits to increase automation in circuit design, also to benefit physical design by promoting the common schematic-driven-layout flow, and to enhance the applicability of circuit synthesis approaches.
This paper enhances SWARM, a novel deterministic analog layout automation approach based on the idea of cellular automata. SWARM implements a decentralized interaction model in which responsive layout modules, covering basic circuit types, autonomously move, rotate and deform themselves to let constraint-compliant, compact layout solutions emerge from a synergetic flow of self-organization. With the ability to consider design constraints both implicitly and explicitly, SWARM joins the layout quality of procedural generators with the flexibility of optimization algorithms, combining these two kinds of automation into a "bottom-up meets top-down" flow. The new enhancements are demonstrated in an OTA example, depicting the power of SWARM and its enormous potential for future developments.
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