Challenges and Solutions in Digital Integrated Circuit Design for Sensor Conditioning and Control

The following thesis wants to investigate about ASICs digital design solutions for sensor conditioning and digital system control. In CHAPTER one we will introduce digital design challenges of this thesis. We will talk about the purposes of the works and the main scientific contributions of the research. In CHAPTER two we will introduce the design space exploration for the technology used in this thesis. We will show, as a case study, the results about the synthesis performance of different architectures implementation for the digital addition operation. In CHAPTER three we will take into account the front-end design of the digital part of a mixed-signal ASIC for injector driver application and inductive load usage. We will present the most of the system requirements and the way a hardwired design can implements them. Starting from the hardwired RTL concept we will discuss about complexity and timing performances of the synthesized design. In CHAPTER four we will show the analysis and the design of a Dynamic Element Matching (DEM) controller for a fine temperature sensor. This chapter is intended as a special improvement of a little part of an environmental sensing ASIC based on previous publications of other research groups. In CHAPTER five we will focus on the signal processing for a Hall magnetic rotary encoder ASIC. We will take into account the CORDIC circuit, presenting the theory and the analysis of the implementation in our system as a soft-IP. In CHAPTER six we will drown the possibilities to use a platform based design to realize a digital or mixed-signal system with the ASIP approach, comparing the hardwired paradigm with the programmable and customizable approach.