Integrated circuit performance optimization with simulated annealing algorithm and SPICE-PAC circuit simulator

The circuit design problem consists in determining acceptable parameter values (resistors, capacitors, transistor geometries . . .) which allow the circuit to meet various user given operational criteria (DC consumption, AC bandwidth, transient rise times, etc.). This task is equivalent to a multidimensional and/or multi objective optimization problem: n-variables functions have to be minimized in an hyperrectangular domain: equality and/or inequality constraints can be eventually specified. The authors propose an efficient algorithm, based on the repeated application of simulated annealing to a certain number of p-variables sub problems, with p≪n. Objective functions are computed through the modular SPICE-PAC simulator, which is controlled by the optimization algorithm