High-level synthesis of switched-capacitor, switched-current and continuous-time ΣΔ modulators using SIMULINK-based time-domain behavioral models

This paper presents a high-level synthesis tool for ΣΔ modulators (ΣΔMs) that combines an accurate SIMULINK-based time-domain behavioral simulator with a statistical optimization core. Three different circuit techniques for the modulator implementation are considered: switched-capacitor, switched-current and continuous-time. The behavioral models of these circuits, that take into account the most critical limiting factors, have been incorporated into the SIMULINK environment by using S-function blocks, which drastically increase the computational efficiency. The precision of these models has been validated by electrical simulations using HSPICE and experimental measurements from several silicon prototypes. The combination of high accuracy, short CPU time and interoperability of different circuit models together with the efficiency of the optimization engine makes the proposed tool an advantageous alternative for ΣΔM synthesis. The implementation on the well-known MATLAB/SIMULINK platform brings numerous advantages in terms of data manipulation, processing capabilities, flexibility and simulation with other electronic subsystems. Moreover, this is the first tool dealing with the synthesis of ΣΔMs using both discrete-time and continuous-time circuit techniques.