Behavioural modelling, simulation, test and diagnosis of MEMS using ANNs

The design of micro-electrical-mechanical systems requires that the entire system can be modelled and simulated. Additionally, behaviour under fault conditions must be simulated to determine test and diagnosis strategies. While the electrical parts of a system can be modelled at transistor, gate or behavioural levels, the mechanical parts are conventionally modelled in terms of partial differential equations (PDEs). Mixed-signal electrical simulations are possible, using e.g. VHDL-AMS, but simulations that include PDEs are prohibitively expensive. Here, we show that complex PDEs can be replaced by black-box functional models and, importantly, such models can be characterized automatically and rapidly using artificial neural networks (ANNs). We demonstrate a significant increase in simulation speed and show that test and diagnosis strategies can be derived using such models.