An algorithm for identifying voltage regulators in ECL circuits

Emitter coupled logic (ECL) circuits are comprised of two types of subcircuits: switching subcircuits and voltage regulators. Switching subcircuits change states according to input changes. Voltage regulators produce a constant reference voltage. A voltage regulator identification algorithm is presented. It first identifies the switching subcircuits and identifies all remaining subcircuits as voltage regulators. The algorithm is independent of the circuit configuration and requires no special pre-processing of a SPICE input file by the user. The circuit is assumed to consist of a ground node (GND), a power supply source (VCC), one or more grounded voltage sources and circuit elements, namely resistors and transistors. No package or VCC and GND parasitics are assumed to be included in the circuit description file. The voltage regulator identification algorithm is analyzed, and its computational complexity is considered.< >