Analog design is all about insight. More designs lead to better insight, which
is built on experience. There is no shortcut to more experience than to carry out
more designs. And yet, analog design automation has been promised to build
up insight faster and more efficiently. For this purpose, analog design must first
be structured. This is what this book is all about.
Terms such as structured design, algorithmic design, systematic design, etc.
all refer to a better description of the design procedures used. They are key to
the documentation of an analog circuit. They are key to the redesign of analog
circuits. As a result structured design has become a necessity to efficient analog
design. Structured design has become a necessity to provide optimal circuits,
subject to a set of specifications.
This book explains how to structure the design process such that optimal
circuits result. It is divided in a number of chapters which detail the design
procedures. Each chapter contains a number of examples. It is aimed at amplifiers
first, covering all aspects such feedback, frequency compensation, noise
and distortion. Finally considerable attention is paid to biasing circuits. The
structured design approach is mainly illustrated by means of amplifier designs.
No sampling circuits nor converters are considered. On the other hand both
CMOS and Bipolar transistors are used in parallel.
The first chapters introduce the fundamentals of structured design, showing
how this can lead to the synthesis of analog integrated circuits. Concepts such
as nullors, norators, conveyers, etc. are introduced and applied to circuits of
higher complexity. Then feedback is discussed. The four types of feedback are
detailed. It is shown how they naturally evolve from the basic circuit blocks of
the first chapters.
The two main limitations are noise at low signal levels and distortion at high
signal levels. Noise receives considerable attention in this book. All aspects
are discussed in great detail, such as origin, models and ways to accurately
describe their influence both in the circuits themselves as towards the inputs.
Amplifiers invariably use feedback to improve the accuracy and the bandwidth.
Chapters on frequency compensation are thus inevitable. Terms such
as pole splitting, pole-zero compensation, phantom zero, etc. are treated with
great care and precision. This by itself is sufficient a reason to check this book
out.
Finally a large chapter is devoted to biasing. Most books on analog circuits
omit these circuits as they seem to be of less importance. However in analog
design, biasing circuits are the backbone to set the transistor parameters right.
This chapter is thus very welcome. It details many circuit solutions and design
examples.
It can be concluded that this book is invaluable to whoever is serious in
optimizing the design cycle. It shows how analog design can be structured,
leading to faster design and less errors. As a result this book is key towards
gaining insight in analog circuit design and performance.