From Image to Simulation: An ANN-based Automatic Circuit Netlist Generator (Img2Sim)

Abstract

This study proposes an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based netlist generator: Img2Sim. The tool acquires an image of an electronic circuit, classifies the existing circuit elements, including active components (MOSFET, BJT, Op-Amp, etc.), with at least 98% accuracy, and decides the circuit topology and the connections with over 90% accuracy through a rule-based algorithm. Finally, it automatically yields a simulation-ready netlist for the circuit of concern. It is worth noting that some CAD tools have been developed before; however, they have mostly focused on recognizing the circuit elements only and, to our best knowledge, Img2Sim is the first CAD tool that creates the entire netlist for a given circuit in image format. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.