Automated synthesis of analog electrical circuits by means of genetic programming

Analog circuit synthesis entails the creation of both the topology and the sizing (numerical values) of all of the circuit's components. This paper presents a single uniform approach using genetic programming for the automatic synthesis of both the topology and sizing of a suite of eight different prototypical analog circuits, including a low-pass filter, a crossover filter, a source identification circuit, an amplifier, a computational circuit, a time-optimal controller circuit, a temperature-sensing circuit, and a voltage reference circuit. The problem-specific information required for each of the eight problems is minimal and consists of the number of inputs and outputs of the desired circuit, the types of available components, and a fitness measure that restates the high-level statement of the circuit's desired behavior as a measurable mathematical quantity. The eight genetically evolved circuits constitute an instance of an evolutionary computation technique producing results on a task that is usually thought of as requiring human intelligence.