Experiments on evolving software models of analog circuits
Jason D. Lohn · Communications of the ACM · 1999
Analog circuits are of great importance in electronic system design since the world is fundamentally analog in nature. While the amount of digital design activity far outpaces that of analog design, most digital systems require analog modules for interfacing with the external world. Using a hybrid of a standard genetic algorithm and a genetic program, three experiments were performed in which goals were to evolve low-pass filters. A low-pass filter is a circuit that allows low frequencies to pass through it, but stops high frequencies from doing so. The design tasks posed in experiments increased in difficulty, starting first with a low-pass filter found in an electronic stethoscope design. The system found a suitable circuit after evaluating approximately 10,000 circuits. The goal of the second experiment was to find a filter with more stringent specification called a 3rd-order Butterworth filter. The third experiment had the most stringent specifications. The experimental results using a new circuit constructing language were encouraging.