The design of Analog and Mixed-Signal (AMS) integrated circuits (ICs) often involves significant manual effort, especially during the transistor sizing process. While Machine Learning techniques in Electronic Design Automation (EDA) have shown promise in reducing complexity and minimizing human intervention, they still face challenges such as numerous iterations and a lack of knowledge about AMS circuit design. Recently, Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated significant potential across various fields, showing a certain level of knowledge in circuit design and indicating their potential to automate the transistor sizing process. In this work, we propose EEsizer, an LLM-based AI agent that integrates large language models with circuit simulators and custom data analysis functions, enabling fully automated, closed-loop transistor sizing without relying on external knowledge. By employing prompt engineering and Chain-of-Thought reasoning, the agent iteratively explores design directions, evaluates performance, and refines solutions with minimal human intervention. We first benchmarked 8 LLMs on six basic circuits and selected three high-performing models to optimize a 20-transistor CMOS operational amplifier, targeting multiple performance metrics, including rail-to-rail operation from 180 nm to 90 nm technology nodes. Notably, OpenAI o3 successfully achieved the user-intended target at 90 nm across three different test groups, with a maximum of 20 iterations, demonstrating adaptability and robustness at advanced nodes. To assess design robustness, we manually designed a bias circuit and performed a variation analysis using Gaussian-distributed variations on transistor dimensions and threshold voltages.
翻译:模拟与混合信号集成电路的设计通常需要大量人工操作,尤其在晶体管尺寸设计阶段。尽管电子设计自动化中的机器学习技术已展现出降低复杂度、减少人工干预的潜力,但仍面临迭代次数多、缺乏对模拟与混合信号电路设计知识理解等挑战。近年来,大型语言模型在多个领域展现出巨大潜力,其在电路设计方面表现出一定知识水平,显示出实现晶体管尺寸设计自动化的可能性。本研究提出EEsizer——一种基于大型语言模型的AI智能体,通过将大语言模型与电路仿真器及定制化数据分析功能相结合,实现了不依赖外部知识的全自动闭环晶体管尺寸设计。该智能体通过提示工程与思维链推理技术,以最少人工干预迭代探索设计方向、评估性能并优化解决方案。我们首先在六种基础电路上对8个大语言模型进行基准测试,筛选出三个高性能模型,用于优化包含20个晶体管的CMOS运算放大器,目标涵盖从180纳米到90纳米工艺节点的轨至轨操作等多重性能指标。值得注意的是,OpenAI o3模型在90纳米工艺的三个不同测试组中均成功达成用户预设目标,最高仅需20次迭代,展现了在先进工艺节点上的适应性与鲁棒性。为评估设计鲁棒性,我们手动设计了偏置电路,并对晶体管尺寸与阈值电压进行了高斯分布变异分析。