Abstract

This paper presents a novel optimization technique for the design of multi-stage switched capacitor (SC) biquad-based circuits, using multi-objective constraint programming. Optimization methods, namely single objective and multi-objective in the design areas of SC circuits that are adopted in optimal capacitance assignment are briefly introduced. A sample design (4^th order SC biquad-based circuit) with multiple objectives is given for demonstrating the efficiency of the proposed optimization method, which can meet multiple targets (for example, more than two optimal goals– gain of op-amp and size of total capacitance area), showing 6% reduction of total capacitance area, while maintaining the same frequency responses.

Also, this paper demonstrates an overview of optimization techniques for the design of different SC biquad-based circuits, using constraint programming. In particular, the progresses achieved on adopting optimization approaches in Operational Amplifiers (OA) are briefly reviewed and then compared.

Keywords: Constraint programming, capacitance assignment, multi-objective, optimization, sequential quadratic programming, SC biquad-based circuits.