A methodology for system-level synthesis of mixed-signal applications

This paper gives an overview of a methodology for the design of mixed-signal systems. The methods support the user in defining important system parameters such as sampling frequencies, bit widths, or the type of applicable analog-to-digital converters. This is done by a knowledge-based system, which calculates estimations for the resulting system properties. The methodology starts with an abstract specification of the intended behavior, which is mapped onto a block diagram. The block diagram can then be evaluated by knowledge-based methods and by simulation. The methods have been implemented as a prototypical design tool, which has been used for the design of several case studies.