Ampdes: a program for the synthesis of high-performance amplifiers

Abstract

A circuit synthesis program for high-performance small-signal amplifiers, called Ampdes is described. The synthesis can be done with minimal interaction from the user: only the essential information must be given, and the program will produce a Spice net list and a TEX design report. For a typical design, this takes 30 minutes on a mini-computer. Unlike other synthesis programs, it searches in an extremely large set of possible circuits (over 1,000,000 configurations), and is not restricted to one device technology. To ensure a high rate of success in the designs, it uses mathematically sound search rules instead of heuristic ones, and accurate approximations of the circuit behavior. These features require considerable computational effort, and therefore it is necessary to use a refined search strategy to reduce the time for a design run. This strategy is also described.<>