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A Survey on Smart Optimisation Techniques for 6G-oriented Integrated Circuits Design

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Abstract

With the rapid development of next-generation wireless communications, there is a growing demand for high-quality integrated circuits (ICs), particularly analog ICs, which play a pivotal role for the full roll-out sixth-generation (6G) technology. So far, the IC design has been performed through manual approaches which sometimes results in time-consuming turnaround, especially the sizing phase of analog IC design. In order to make the IC design process much faster, recently automated methods for optimizing IC design has gained a lot of attention. From this perspective, this paper aims at providing a survey of the most recent works on optimization strategies for analog IC sizing, as well as a related categorization into two main categories: analytical methods and simulation-based methods. A further sub-classification within the realm of simulation-based methods is also provided by dividing the core mathematical principles into three major sub-methods: Bayesian-based, metaheuristic-based, and reinforcement-learning-based techniques. In addition, with the main aim of providing insights on the utilization of optimization algorithms for the IC sizing process, we present a case study involving the utilization of various metaheuristic algorithms in the design of a bandgap reference circuit - an essential analog IC component. The paper is concluded by highlighting potential future research directions in the field of analog IC design optimization and automation, which include exploration of multi-agent reinforcement learning, integration of quantum computing, and further development of full-flow automated tools for analog IC design.

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Acknowledgements

The work of Trang Hoang was supported by Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) under Grant DS2023-20-03. The work of T. Q. Duong was supported in part by the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) Program CERC-2022-00109.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3X5, Canada

    Thang Quoc Nguyen, Lihong Zhang, Octavia A. Dobre & Trung Q. Duong

  2. Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Trang Hoang

  3. Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Trang Hoang

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  1. Thang Quoc Nguyen
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Contributions

T. Q. Nguyen: writing the original draft; T. Hoang and T. Q. Duong: conceptualization; T. Hoang, L. Zhang, O. Dobre, and T. Q. Duong: editing, supervision. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Trang Hoang.

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Nguyen, T.Q., Hoang, T., Zhang, L. et al. A Survey on Smart Optimisation Techniques for 6G-oriented Integrated Circuits Design. Mobile Netw Appl (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11036-024-02343-7

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