A radial exploration approach to manufacturing yield estimation and design centering

An integrated approach to manufacturing yield estimation and design centering is presented in which linear searches along "radial" directions within the multiparameter component space are used to locate points on the boundary of the feasible region for a given nominal design and a set of component tolerances. This set of boundary points enables the volume of the feasible region, and hence the manufacturing yield, to be estimated by using a newly developed computational technique. For linear frequency-domain circuit behavior, application of the tracking-sensitivity algorithm further enhances the searching efficiency. The boundary points are also used within a practical design centering algorithm which minimizes the asymmetry of the feasible region around the nominal design. Iterative application of this process leads to a better centered design. Examples of the application of this algorithm to circuit design are given. The results indicate that the radial exploration approach to yield estimation and design centering is effective in practice, computationally cheap, and applicable to many situations in practical circuit design.