The general objective of this research line is to develop new modeling, design and synthesis strategies for analog, mixed-signal, radio-frequency (RF) and heterogeneous integrated circuits and systems, aiming at better performances, smaller design and fabrication cost and smaller power consumption. This also involves dealing with the increasing variability of modern technologies.
More specifically, the work include activities in different aspects of the circuit design flow, as well as their exploitation in industrial-class designs:

• Behavioral modeling and simulation methods supporting different kinds of hierarchical design flows.
• Layout-aware synthesis methodologies for analog/RF circuits, given the importance of early inclusion of physical design effects in the design flow.
• Systematic reconfigurable circuit design for optimum use of area and power in multi-mode circuits and systems.
• Electromagnetic simulation-based performance modeling of passive devices, providing the best trade-offs among performances and cost for RF circuit design.
• Characterization and modeling of time-zero and time-dependent variability effects in micro/nano-electronic devices.
• Variability-aware design techniques.
• Exploitation of physical unreliability effects in microelectronic devices, e.g., in security applications.
• Development and exploitation of emerging design methodologies aimed at better performance-cost trade-offs: bottom-up techniques, hybrid techniques, competitive strategies.
• Design tools that implement the design methodologies and techniques developed by the group: SIDe-O, TARS and CASE.

B. Liu, Q. Zhang, F.V. Fernandez and G. Gielen, "An efficient evolutionary algorithm for chance-constrained bi-objective stochastic optimization and its application to manufacturing engineering", IEEE Trans. on Evolutionary Computation, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 786-796, 2013 » doi

AMADEUS:  Analog Modeling and Design Using a Symbolic Environment (ESPRIT IV 21821)
IP: Francisco V. Fernández Fernández
1996 - 2000