A framework for design and testing of analog integrated circuits

A global methodology for analog and mixed analog-to-digital VLSI design requires close interaction between simulations, CAD tools, measurements, and testing. An integrated hardware and software environment (framework) that implements this methodology in a systematic way is described. As an example of its application, the modeling of errors in multistage analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is described. The framework has a unique software organization designed to facilitate the interpretation of measurement results and the feedback of information to the design world. The perfectly modular nature of the software makes it easy to gain a fundamental understanding of error mechanisms. In the ADC example, this understanding eliminates the need to probe internal parts of a circuit since information on internal errors can be recovered from external measurements