Computation of delay time sensitivities for use in time domain optimization

Although the adjoint approach to sensitivity computation is generally regarded as the most efficient means for computing sensitivities, its utility appeared to be limited for use in computing sensitivities in certain situations. One of these situations is the computation of the sensitivity of switching circuit delay times to the designable parameters. Here, the concept of an event functional is described and its use in extending the adjoint approach for computing sensitivities of quantities such as delay times shown. It is also shown that the event functional allows the solution of the periodic steady-state problem without resorting to more specialized techniques.