Architectural and parametric optimization of low-pass RF analog filters in VHDL-AMS based high-level synthesis

This contribution presents architectural and parametric optimization techniques developed and implemented for FIST, an automated high-level synthesis system of analog filters based on behavioral VHDL-AMS descriptions. The application of FIST and its optimizer to low pass RF filters are discussed and illustrated with a case study of 1GHz Butterworth filter design. Performance evaluation is based on a combination of accuracy and power consumption. The candidate architectures selected and evaluated by the synthesizer are presented their performance characteristics are discussed.