Toleranced circuit design: A user oriented optimization method

The effort required of the user of the proposed toleranced circuit design (TCD) algorithm is minimized by specifying (1) the circuit configuration in the SPICE circuit analysis program format; (2) the desired circuit responses; and (3) the elements which are to be considered the m design elements. The TCD algorithm reassigns the nominal values of the design elements so as to maximize the sum of the tolerance of all design elements. In addition to specifying those circuit elements whose nominal points and tolerances may be reassigned, the user may also select any of the circuit elements as fixed tolerance elements. The fixed tolerance elements are non-idealized circuit parameters with a fixed nominal value and fixed tolerance value. The user may wish to specify fixed tolerance parameters for parameters over which he has no control.