Robust computer-aided parameter and tolerance determination for an electronic circuit design

Conventionally, parameter design precedes tolerance design in the course of product design or process planning. To lower the production costs, as well as to improve quality, this study proposes the simultaneous determination of parameter and tolerance values when designing an electronic circuit. With the current development of CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software for electronic circuit design, engineers can determine parameter and tolerance values without providing transfer functions for circuit analysis. In this study, a computer experiment is performed by using CAD software (PSpice) to obtain outputs that will be converted into the total cost, which includes the quality loss, the tolerance cost and the failure cost. Then, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is employed to minimize the total cost and to find the optimal parameter and tolerance values statistically. Consequently, a parameter and tolerance design for quality improvement and cost reduction can be achieved for any complex electronic circuit during the early stages of design.