Giuseppe Nicosia Carnegie Mellon University

Population-based algorithms for Robust Analog Circuit Design using Constrained Multi-Objective Optimization

The increasing complexity of circuit design needs to be managed with appropriate optimization algorithms and accurate statistical description of design models in order to reach the design specifics, guaranteeing "zero defects". In the Design for Yield open problems are the design of effective optimization algorithms and statistical analysis for yield design, which require time consuming techniques. New methods have to balance accuracy, robustness and computational effort.

Typical analog integrated circuit optimization problems are computationally hard and require the handling of multiple, conflicting, and non-commensurate objectives having strong nonlinear interdependence. This talk tackles the problem by population-based algorithms to produce tradeoff solutions on the Pareto Front. In this approach Integrated Circuit (IC) design has been formulated as a constrained multi-objective optimization problem defined in a mixed integer/discrete/continuous domain.

The following real-life circuits and devices, RF Low Noise Amp lifier, Leapfrog Filter, and Ultra Wideband LNA, PowerMOSFETs were selected as test bed. The proposed algorithms were shown to produce acceptable and robust solutions in the tested applications, where state-of-art algorithms and circuit designers failed. The results show significant improvement in all the chosen IC design problems.

Bio:

Giuseppe Nicosia received the Laurea degree and the Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Catania, Catania, Italy, in 2000 and 2004, respectively. He has been Grant-holder of Cineca Supercomputing Center, Bologna, Italy, in 2001, in the area of High Performance Computing. In 2004, he was Visiting Research Assistant in the Computing Laboratory of Kent University at Canterbury, Kent, UK. Starting November 2006, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Catania.

He is currently involved in the design and development of optimization algorithms for circuit design problems, a joint research project supported by the University of Catania and STMicroeletronics. His primary research interests are design and analysis of optimization algorithms, multi-objective optimization, circuit sizing, device design, yield optimization, global optimization of bioinformatics problems, and various aspects of unconventional model of computation.

He has published over 50 papers in international journals and conference proceedings, and five co-edited books. He has chaired various international conferences and workshops. Director of the International Summer School on "Modeling and Optimization in Micro- and Nano- Electronics" - MOMiNE '08. He is co-investigator on the EU projects COMSON "COupled Multiscale Simulation and Optimiza tion in Nanoelectronics", and Symteco "Symbolic Techniques for Circuit Optimization".

His current research interest lies in the design of hybrid population-based algorithm for effective black-box optimization and design for manufacturability.