CAzM: A circuit analyzer with macromodeling

Abstract

A prototype circuit simulator, based on a revised formulation of the circuit equations, is described. The formulation is based on functional models of active elements, which can be derived from either equivalent-circuit or black-box models. The implementation is oriented towards the simulation of digital MOS circuits and takes advantage of the special form of such circuits. Some of the implementation issues are discussed, particularly the hierarchical structuring of the circuit equations and the use of splines to facilitate macromodeling; continuation methods for computing transfer curves are also discussed. Finally, the results of computational experiments are presented.