Performance Space-Based ADC Development

Performance spaces represent the full range of attainable performances of an integrated analog circuit, including gain and bandwidth. Based on the knowledge of the optimal and least favorable values, simplified simulation models can be employed to optimize the system design process. We present a modified variant of the well-established Normal-Boundary Intersection method, which is used to approximate five-dimensional performance spaces in reasonable time. Based on these approximations, we develop a concept for implementing a system-level simulation that is used to design an operational transconductance amplifier for an analog-to-digital converter to improve its sampling rate. To demonstrate the usability of our concept, we perform several numerical experiments and visualize the data in parallel coordinates plots for better user comprehension.