The use of networks allows the representation of a variety of important engineering problems. The treatment of a particular class of network applications, the process synthesis problem, is exposed in this paper. Process Synthesis seeks to develop systematically process flowsheets that convert raw materials into desired products. In recent years, the optimization approach to process synthesis has shown promise in tackling this challenge. It requires the development of a network of interconnected units, the process superstructure, that represents the alternative process flowsheets. The mathematical modeling of the superstructure has a mixed set of binary and continuous variables and results in a mixed-integer optimization model. Due to the nonlinearity of chemical models, these problems are generally classified as Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) problems. A number of local optimization algorithms, developed for the solution of this class of problems, are presented in this pap...

Automatic Synthesis of CMOS Digital/Analog Converters by Robert McKinstry Robinson Neff Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering -- Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences University of California at Berkeley Professor Paul R. Gray, Chair Synthesis of analog functional blocks in integrated circuits offers promise for improved designer productivity. By developing module generators for commonly used analog circuit elements, a synthesis methodology may be matched to a particular application, with approaches and algorithms determined by the particular needs of target circuit type. An analog circuit designer should be able to input design specifications and underlying technology information, and a synthesis methodology should determine circuit parameter values and dimensions, creating the required mask layouts. Slow, tedious design and redesign methods should be replaced by one in which the computer finds minimum cost designs which meet performance requirements. This work implements synthesis methods for a widely used analog block, the digital/analog converter (DAC).

. The use of networks allows the representation of a variety of important engineering problems. The treatment of a particular class of network applications, the Process Synthesis problem, is exposed in this paper. Process Synthesis seeks to develop systematically process flowsheets that convert raw materials into desired products. In recent years, the optimization approach to process synthesis has shown promise in tackling this challenge. It requires the development of a network of interconnected units, the process superstructure, that represents the alternative process flowsheets. The mathematical modeling of the superstructure has a mixed set of binary and continuous variables and results in a mixed-integer optimization model. Due to the nonlinearity of chemical models, these problems are generally classified as Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) problems. A number of local optimization algorithms for MINLP problems are outlined in this paper: Generalized Benders Decompositi...