A MITE-Based Translinear FPAA

• Published in: IEEE transactions on very large scale integration (VLSI) systems Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Schlottmann, C. R., Abramson, D., Hasler, P. E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.01.2012; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Analog circuits; Applied sciences; Arrays; Circuit properties; Circuits; Computer architecture; Computer programs; Converters; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Devices; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronic circuits; Electronics; Equations; Exact sciences and technology; Field programmable analog arrays; field-programmable analog array; FPAA; Integrated circuits; Logic gates; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical model; MITE; programmable analog; Programming; Reconfigurable control systems; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Synthesis; translinear; Very large scale integration; programmable analog; MITE; field-programmable analog array; FPAA; Floating gate technology; Squaring; Interconnection; Complementary MOS technology; Integrated circuit; Converter; translinear; Large scale; Field programmable analogue arrays; Root mean square value
• ISSN: 1063-8210; 1557-9999
• DOI: 10.1109/TVLSI.2010.2089705

While the development of reconfigurable analog platforms is a blossoming field, the tradeoff between usability and flexibility continues to be a major barrier. Field Programmable Analog Arrays (FPAAs) built with translinear elements offer a promising solution to this problem. These FPAAs can be built to use previously developed synthesis procedures for translinear circuits. Furthermore, large-scale translinear FPAAs can be built using floating-gate transistors as both the computational elements and the reconfigurable interconnect network. An FPAA built using Multiple Input Translinear Elements (MITEs) has been designed, fabricated in 0.35 μ m CMOS, and tested. These devices have been programmed to implement various circuits including multipliers, squaring circuits, RMS-to-DC converters, and filters. In addition, synthesis, place-and-route, and programming tools have been created in order to implement a reconfigurable system where the circuits implemented are described only by equations. The continued development of translinear FPAAs will lead to a reconfigurable analog system that allows for a large portion of the design to be abstracted away from the user.