Analog design is all about insight. More designs lead to better insight, which

is built on experience. There is no shortcut to more experience than to carry out

more designs. And yet, analog design automaTIon has been promised to build

up insight faster and more efficiently. For this purpose, analog design must first

be structured. This is what this book is all about.

Terms such as structured design, algorithmic design, systemaTIc design, etc.

all refer to a better descripTIon of the design procedures used. They are key to

the documentaTIon of an analog circuit. They are key to the redesign of analog

circuits. As a result structured design has become a necessity to efficient analog

design. Structured design has become a necessity to provide optimal circuits,

subject to a set of specifications.

This book explains how to structure the design process such that optimal

circuits result. It is divided in a number of chapters which detail the design

procedures. Each chapter contains a number of examples. It is aimed at amplifiers

first, covering all aspects such feedback, frequency compensation, noise

and distortion. Finally considerable attention is paid to biasing circuits. The

structured design approach is mainly illustrated by means of amplifier designs.

No sampling circuits nor converters are considered. On the other hand both

CMOS and Bipolar transistors are used in parallel.

The first chapters introduce the fundamentals of structured design, showing

how this can lead to the synthesis of analog integrated circuits. Concepts such

as nullors, norators, conveyers, etc. are introduced and applied to circuits of

higher complexity. Then feedback is discussed. The four types of feedback are

detailed. It is shown how they naturally evolve from the basic circuit blocks of

the first chapters.

The two main limitations are noise at low signal levels and distortion at high

signal levels. Noise receives considerable attention in this book. All aspects

are discussed in great detail, such as origin, models and ways to accurately

describe their influence both in the circuits themselves as towards the inputs.

Amplifiers invariably use feedback to improve the accuracy and the bandwidth.

Chapters on frequency compensation are thus inevitable. Terms such

as pole splitting, pole-zero compensation, phantom zero, etc. are treated with

great care and precision. This by itself is sufficient a reason to check this book

out.

Finally a large chapter is devoted to biasing. Most books on analog circuits

omit these circuits as they seem to be of less importance. However in analog

design, biasing circuits are the backbone to set the transistor parameters right.

This chapter is thus very welcome. It details many circuit solutions and design

examples.

It can be concluded that this book is invaluable to whoever is serious in

optimizing the design cycle. It shows how analog design can be structured,

leading to faster design and less errors. As a result this book is key towards

gaining insight in analog circuit design and performance.

结构化电子设计的负反馈放大器