A design system for on-chip oversampling A/D interfaces

An integrated design system for the analysis, design, and implementation of on-chip A/D interfaces using oversampling A/D converters has been developed. The system unifies a diverse base of design knowledge required for mixed analog and digital circuits and covers the design process from specification to mask layout for a variety of configurations. A hierarchical design estimation approach was used to guide system development, allowing designers to quickly estimate performance at a high level of abstraction and to update these estimates as the design progresses. At lower levels of abstraction, architecture templates are used to encapsulate information about particular filter implementations and to simplify the design process. Designers use performance estimates to guide the design process and to make the critical decisions about the choice of algorithm and architecture. Accurate simulation models have been integrated into the design system to allow examination and verification. Results from a 14-b signal acquisition module are presented to illustrate use of the tools and the typical tradeoffs faced at different levels of abstraction. This system illustrates how various design automation techniques can be combined to provide better optimization for a complex system design and to shorten design cycles for custom converters to a matter of days.<>