A THEORY OF OPTIMAL WORST-CASE DESIGN EMBODYING CENTERING, TOLERANCING AND TUNING, WITH CIRCUIT APPLICATIONS

Abstract

<p>This thesis presents a unified treatment of circuit and system design methods embodying centering, tolerancing and tuning. The approach incorporates the nominal parameter values, the corresponding tolerances and tuning variables simultaneously into an optimization procedure designed to obtain the best values for all of them in an effort to reduce cost, or make an otherwise impractically toleranced design more attractive. Intuitively, the aim is to produce the best nominal point to permit the largest tolerances and the smallest tuning ranges (preferably zero) such that one can guarantee, in advance, that in the worst case, the design will meet all the constraints and specifications. Reduced problems are formulated for digital computer implementation. Interpretations are given. Implications of biquadratic functions in the circuit tolerance problems are investigated. Practical implementation in circuit design problems in the frequency domain is treated. The thesis also includes illustrative examples and two realistic problems.</p>