A novel genetic algorithm with different structure selection for circuit design optimization

In the traditional GA, the tournament selection for crossover and mutation is based on the fitness of individuals. This can make convergence easy, but some useful genes may be lost. In selection, as well as fitness, we consider the different structure of each individual compared with an elite one. Some individuals are selected with many different structures, and then crossover and mutation are performed from these to generate new individuals. In this way, the GA can increase diversification into search spaces so that it can find a better solution. One promising application of GA is evolvable hardware (EHW), which is a new research field to synthesize an optimal circuit. We propose an optimal circuit design by using a GA with a different structure selection (GAdss), and with a fitness function composed of circuit complexity, power, and signal delay. Its effectiveness is shown by simulations. From the results, we can see that the best elite fitness, the average fitness value of correct circuits, and the number of correct circuits with GAdss are better than with GA. The best case of optimal circuits generated by GAdss is 8.1% better in evaluation value than that by traditional GA.