Sensitivity Computation Based on Auxiliary Circuits

Abstract

Some aspects deriving from the circuit element manufacturing, the environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, radiation) and also the normal aging, can alter the circuit operation performance by changing the element parameter values. That is why the design of such systems has to take into account the effect of the element parameter variations on the circuit performance. A precise measure of this effect is done by the sensitivity function that can be performed for the magnitude of the transfer function, for the natural frequencies of the circuit, for the quality factor etc. Knowledge of the circuit sensitivity can be used as a basis for comparing different electronic circuits. It helps the circuit designer in selecting the proper circuit for a specified application. The chapter presents the most popular definitions of the sensitivity and develops three methods to compute these important elements for CAD of electric circuits. Illustrative examples are presented and important remarks are done.

Keywords: Symbolic analysis, circuit analysis, computer aided design, sensitivity, sensitivity analysis, sensitivity computation, auxiliary circuit, incremental circuit, adjoint circuit, Bykhovski method.