A knowledge based simulation environment

A knowledge-based shell for simulators has been developed as one part of a design environment for analog circuits. This shell offers circuit-specific simulation support exploiting expert knowledge for dealing with problems like test function generation and simulation clustering. Applications areas are all domains that require automated circuit characterization, such as synthesis or cell library maintenance. The prototype version has successfully been developed in the context of the OASE (operational amplifier and analog circuits synthesis expert system) analog circuit synthesis project. Currently it includes the BONSIM device-level simulator and opamp-specific circuit knowledge.<<ETX>>