University of Arizona |
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Noise
in a Bandgap Voltage Reference
New
simulation tools designed for analyzing RF circuits can also be used to analyze
switched-capacitor circuits. The goal of
this project is to understand the sources of excess low-frequency noise in a
precision bandgap reference.
New
statistical tools allow fast accurate prediction of the expected variations in
the performance of a complex circuit. The goal of this project is to
model the phase errors in an eight-phase ring oscillator, and determine a
layout strategy that will minimize those errors.
Find the
best circuit to determine the fundamental frequency of a noisy guitar
tone. Input is a digital waveform that
matches the zero-crossings of the tone.
Output is a pulse with width equal to the best-guess fundamental
period. The "best circuit"
should be defined objectively (speed, accuracy, power, cost, etc.).
Existing
tools for logic design use sophisticated algorithms to work efficiently on
large design problems. However, they don't provide much insight into how
the algorithms work. The purpose of this package is to implement some
simple tools in a way that parallels the development in ECE474 - Logic
Synthesis Algorithms, focusing on clarity rather than efficiency, and ignoring
the edge cases that make real programs so complex. Python is the ideal
language for this project because of its clarity. The interactive
interpreter makes it easy for students to debug their programs. See the
link above for a start on a package of logic design tools. To get "hooked" on Python in two
hours, try the tutorial at www.python.org !!
The goal
of this project is an easily-learned, universal, open-source, circuit design
platform that will allow IC designers to use whatever tools they want for
design entry, simulation, and display of results. The platform should
provide a simple GUI, basic services such as storage of tool setups, and should
define a simple, standard interface for each class of tool. Most of the
work will be in documenting the design and construction of the platform, using
a simple scripting language ( Python ) and GUI toolkit
( Qt ) so that others may easily follow the pattern and extend the platform to
support new and more varied tools.
The goal
of this project is to provide an example, using a common tool like SPICE,
showing how a circuit simulator can be integrated into the standard
platform. Most of the work will be on the interface to the display tool,
which involves writing some access routines that make simulation results appear
to have a standard structure, regardless of their actual arrangement on
disk. This is an example of how a
"Standard API" type of interface can allow tool developers to focus
on making the best possible tool, while users enjoy the benefits of a
standardized interface to that tool.
The goal
of these projects is to provide examples, as above, and to help define the
simple, standard interfaces needed for design-entry and waveform-display
tools. Most of the work will be in translating simple calls from the
platform into the complex commands needed by a particular tool (e.g. probing
schematics). By working with real tools, we will discover where our simple
interface definitions need to be extended, and where a little more work on the
interface routines will keep the definitions simple.