A new approach to the biasing problem and the fault localization of nonlinear electronic circuits

In this paper an attempt is made to combine a couple of well-known concepts into a new approach to solve the biasing problem in electronic nonlinear circuits design. Assume that for a particular circuit various large- and small-signal dc requirements are specified. At the same time let there be a set of designable parameters. We describe a way to obtain diagnostic information about the feasibility of the design problem as well as a procedure to compute the values of the parameters if such scheme exists. A program has been developed generating symbolic code to calculate the solution as well as to effect the execution of the symbolic code. The resemblance between the above-described problem and fault localization is shown and a way of computing the circuit parameters with a minimum number of measurements is given. The concepts are incorporated into an interactive system for circuits design and diagnosis.