Rapid prototyping of mixed-signal ASICs

The demand for mixed signal ASIC products continues to grow and places increased importance on reducing the design cycle time for the analog section of the chip. This paper is directed toward the mixed signal ASIC system designer who is considering the transfer of mixed analog and digital board level designs to mixed-signal ASIC technology. Modern generic digital CMOS technology is examined for use in analog integrated circuit design. The prototyping of mixed signal ASICs can be greatly accelerated by using a structured design environment which, in some ways, mimics board level design. The system designer prototypes ASIC systems with functional circuit modules represented as complete schematic diagrams, macromodels (which include some circuit structure), or high level behavioral models. The procedure for creating common analog function modules that are consistent in these three views and the module interaction with simulation are introduced. The author discusses the importance design trade-offs and analyzes some mixed-signal circuits. ANAmation´s mixed-signal ASIC design environment system, ANAvision^TM and mixed-signal simulator ANAsim^TM