System and method for optimizing analog circuit designs

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to circuit optimizing systems and methods, and in particular, to a system and method for optimizing analog circuit designs to ensure the designed circuit to meet a desired process capability standard.

2. Description of Related Art

Reliability of a circuit depends on different electronic components composing the circuit, such as resistors, capacitors, comparators, etc. If temperature, humidity, air pressure or other factors change, many parameters of the electronic components may change as well, such as output voltages. If these factors are not taken into account, the output voltages of the circuit may exceed a standard voltage range, and the reliability of the circuit and the circuit process capability will be reduced.

Therefore, it is desired to provide a system and a method for optimizing analog circuit designs to overcome the above described shortcomings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system for optimizing analog circuit designs.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method for optimizing analog circuit designs.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of one example of a circuit that may be analyzed using the system of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is one example of an output voltage distribution diagram of the circuit of FIG. 3 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , an exemplary embodiment of a system 10 for optimizing analog circuit designs includes an input device 100 , a data processing device 200 , and a data storage device 300 . The data processing device 200 includes a selecting module 202 , a calculation module 204 , a display module 206 , and a determining module 208 . The modules 202 , 204 , 206 and 208 may be used to execute one or more operations for the data processing device 200 .

The input device 100 can be a keyboard, a mouse, and so on. The input device 100 is configured for inputting a target output voltage of a circuit, a formula for calculating output voltage of the circuit, and electronic components composing the circuit such as resistors, capacitors, or voltage regulators. In one example, the target output voltage of a circuit may be 2 volts, electronic components composing the circuit can be two resistors, and a power supply, the formula for calculating output voltage of the circuit can be

vou = vi k ⁢ ⁢ 1 + k ⁢ ⁢ 2 * k ⁢ ⁢ 1 ,

where vi, k 1 , k 2 are the three electronic component values.

The data processing device 200 is configured for processing input from the input device 100 . In this embodiment, the data processing device 200 is a computer, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The data storage device 300 includes a database communicating with the data processing device 200 via a database connectivity, such as an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) or a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC). The database stores a list of a plurality of electronic components, primary electronic component values, and relative errors associated with those electronic components under different environments. In one example, a primary electronic component value can be 10 ohms if the electronic component is a resistor and a relative error can be 1% under an a specific environment, thus the electronic component value under this environment can be 10+10*1%=10.01 ohms.

The selecting module 202 is configured for receiving input from the input device 100 , and for selecting the electronic components composing the circuit from the database of the data storage device 300 based on the input.

The calculation module 204 is configured for calculating average values and standard deviations of each electronic component based on the primary values and the relative errors. It may be understood that an average value of an electronic component is equal to the sum of different values under different environments divided by the count of environments, then the standard deviation value of the electronic component can be calculated using a standard deviation mathematics formula. Then the calculation module 204 generates normal distribution samples of each electronic component based on the average values and the standard deviations, and calculates output voltages of the circuit based on the normal distribution samples and the formula for calculating output voltage.

The display module 206 is configured for displaying a normal distribution diagram based on the calculated output voltages to a viewing display such as a monitor.

The determining module 208 is configured for calculating a first process capability index and a second process capability index based on the calculated output voltages. In one exemplary example, the first process capability index is obtained from

Cp = Usl - Lsl 6 * σ ,

the second process capability index is obtained from

Cpk = min ⁢ { Usl - u 3 * σ , u - Lsl 3 * σ } , σ

is obtained from

σ = ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ ( x i - u ) 2 n - 1 ,

where n is the count of the output voltages, u is an average of the output voltages, x i is output voltage values, Ut is the target output voltage. A difference between the Us 1 and Ut is equal to 5% of the Ut. A difference between the Ls 1 and the Ut is equal to 5% of the Ut. If the target output voltage is 3 volts, Us 1 =3+3*5%=3.15 volts, Ls 1 =3−3*5%=2.85 volts. If the first and second process capability indexes are equal to or greater than a process capability standard, the circuit meets or exceeds the desired process capability standard. If one of the first and second process capability indexes is less than the process capability standard, the circuit does not meet the desired process capability standard.

Referring to FIG. 2 , an exemplary embodiment of a method for optimizing analog circuit designs includes the following blocks described below. Depending on the embodiment, certain of blocks described below may be removed, others may be added, and the sequence of blocks may be altered.

In block S 100 , the selecting module 202 of the data processing device 200 receives the input from the input device 100 , the input includes a target output voltage of the circuit, a formula for calculating output voltage of the circuit, and electronic components composing the circuit.

In block S 200 , the selecting module 202 selects the electronic components composing the circuit from the database of the data storage device 300 based on the input.

In block S 300 , the calculation module 204 calculates average values and standard deviations of each electronic component based on the primary values and the relative errors, generates normal distribution samples of each electronic component based on the average values and the standard deviations.

In block S 400 , the calculation module 204 calculates output voltages of the circuit based on each normal distribution sample and the formula for calculating output voltage of the circuit. The display module 206 displays a voltage distribution diagram based on the calculated output voltages.

In block S 500 , the determining module 208 calculates first and second process capability indexes, determines whether the first and second process capability indexes meet the desired process capability standard. The circuit meets the desired process capability standard if the first and second process capability indexes are equal to or greater than the process capability standard. The circuit does not meet the desired process capability standard if one of the first and second process capability indexes is less than the process capability standard, the procedure returns to block S 200 described above.

Referring to FIG. 3 , a schematic diagram of one example of a circuit that may be analyzed using the system of the present disclosure includes a resistor R 1 , a resistor R 2 , and a comparator U 1 . A non-inverting input terminal of the comparator U 1 is connected to a reference power supply VREF. An output terminal of the comparator U 1 is connected to the ground via the resistors R 2 and R 1 . An inverting input terminal of the comparator U 1 is connected to a node between the resistors R 1 and R 2 . It may be appreciated that the circuit 30 is exemplary and other circuits may also be used without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

The data processing device 200 receives input from the input device 100 including a 1.5 volt target output voltage, two resistors, a comparator, a formula for calculating output voltage of the circuit 30 . The formula for calculating output voltage of the circuit 30 is Vout=vref*(1+r 2 /r 1 ), where r 1 , r 2 are the resistances of the resistors R 1 and R 2 , vref is voltage of the reference power supply VREF (see block S 100 ).

Based on the requirement electronic components, the target output voltage, and the formula for calculating output voltage of the circuit 30 , the selecting module 202 selects a resistor R 1 of 2320 ohms, a resistor R 2 of 2100 ohms, a comparator U 1 with a reference power supply VREF of 0.8 volts from the database of the data storage device 300 preliminarily (see block S 200 ).

The data storage device 300 stores relative errors of resistance of the resistors R 1 , R 2 , and relative errors of voltage of the reference power supply VREF under different environments showing in table 1. If standard deviations of the resistance r 1 , the resistance r 2 , and the voltage vref are σ 1 , σ 2 , σ 3 ; and average values of the resistance r 1 , the resistance r 2 , and the voltage vref are u 1 , u 2 , u 3 ; the relative errors of the resistance r 1 , the resistance r 2 , and the voltage vref under different environments are m i , n i , b i shown in table 1,

σ ⁢ ⁢ 1 = r ⁢ ⁢ 1 * ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ ( m i ) 2 n - 1 , σ ⁢ ⁢ 2 = r ⁢ ⁢ 2 * ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ ( n i ) 2 n - 1 , σ ⁢ ⁢ 3 = vref * ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ ( b i ) 2 n - 1 .

E.g. the calculation module 204 can prescribe an average value of the resistance r 1 =2320 ohms, an average value of the resistance r 2 =2100 ohms, and an average value of the reference voltage vref=0.8 volts, n is the count of the environment as shown in table 1, so a standard deviation of the resistance σ 1 =15.025 ohms, a standard deviation of the resistance σ 2 =14.616 ohms, and a standard deviation of the reference voltage σ 3 =2.667 mV, then generates the normal distribution samples of the resistance r 1 , the resistance r 2 , and the voltage vref based on the average values and standard deviations. In this embodiment, the count of the normal distribution samples of each the three value (r 1 , r 2 , vref) is 10,000, and each sample of the three value comprises a team. E.g. r 1 =2320 ohms, 2319 ohms, 2322 ohms . . . , r 2 =2100 ohms, 2106 ohms, 2105 ohms . . . , vref=0.8 volts, 0.82 volts, 0.86 volts, . . . , the teams are (2320 ohms, r 2 =2100 ohms, 0.8 volts), (2319 ohms, r 2 =2106 ohms, 0.82 volts), 2322 ohms, r 2 =2105 ohms, 0.86 volts), etc (see block S 300 ).

Referring to FIG. 4 , the calculation module 204 calculates the output voltages of the circuit 30 based on the output voltage formula Vout=vref*(1+r 2 /r 1 ) and each team, then the 10000 values of the output voltage Vout of the circuit 30 are obtained. The display module 206 receives the calculated output voltages Vout of the circuit 30 and displays an output voltage distribution diagram. A horizontal ordinate of the output voltage distribution diagram indicates the calculated output voltages of the circuit 30 , a longitudinal ordinate indicates percentages of the different calculated voltage count of the total calculated output voltage count, e.g. a horizontal ordinate is 1.5 volts, the count of the 1.5 volt output voltage is 4400, the total output voltage is 10000, the longitudinal ordinate is 4400/10000=0.44. In FIG. 4 , Ut is the target output voltage Vout being 1.5 volts, Us is an up threshold voltage of the output voltage Vout, and Ls is a down threshold voltage of the output voltage Vout, where Us=Ut+Ut*5%=1.5+1.5*5%=1.575 volts, Ls=Ut−Ut*5%=1.5−1.5*5%=1.425 volts (see block S 400 ).

The determining module 208 calculates a first process capability index Cp and a second process capability index Cpk based on formulas

Cp = Us - Ls 6 * σ , Cpk = min ⁢ { Us - u 3 * σ , u - Ls 3 * σ } , and ⁢ ⁢ σ = ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ ( x i - u ) 2 n - 1 ,

Ut=1.5 volts, Us=1.575 volts, Ls=1.425 volts, n is the count of the output voltage, xi is the output voltage values, u is the average value of the output voltage values. The first process capability index Cp is equal to or greater than the process capability standard, indicating the output voltage of the circuit 30 is more precise. The second process capability index Cpk is greater and closer to the first process capability index Cp, indicating the output voltage Vout is near to the target voltage Ut and the circuit 30 is more reliable. Generally, the process capability standard is specified 1.33, that is, the first and second process capability indexes Cp and Cpk meet Cp>1.33, Cpk>1.33 (see block S 500 ). If one of the first and second process capability indexes is less than 1.33, the determining module 208 will select electronic components composing the circuit 30 again and repeats blocks S 200 -S 500 , until the first and second process capability indexes Cp and Cpk meet Cp>1.33 and Cpk>1.33.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the embodiments to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.