SINA: A Fully Automated Circuit Schematic Image to Netlist Generator Using Artificial Intelligence
Pith reviewed 2026-07-03 17:29 UTC · model grok-4.3
The pith
SINA converts circuit schematic images to netlists at 96.67% accuracy using an integrated AI pipeline.
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
Core claim
SINA is an open-source pipeline that integrates deep learning for robust component detection, connected-component labeling for accurate connectivity inference, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for component reference designator extraction, and a Vision-Language Model (VLM) for reliable reference designator assignment. It handles both IC- and PCB-level schematics, incorporates dedicated crossing-wires detection, and validates netlists using graph isomorphism, achieving 96.67% accuracy, 2.72 times higher than state-of-the-art.
What carries the argument
The SINA pipeline combining deep learning component detection, connected-component labeling for connectivity, OCR, VLM for designator assignment, and crossing-wires detection to generate netlists from schematic images.
If this is right
- Netlists can be generated automatically from images in research manuscripts, textbooks, and websites for direct use in simulation and verification.
- Large machine-readable databases of validated circuit designs become feasible to support AI-based models in electronic design automation.
- Generalization is achieved across both integrated circuit and printed circuit board schematics without requiring manual intervention.
- Dedicated crossing-wires detection improves the reliability of connectivity extraction by correctly separating intersections from junctions.
Where Pith is reading between the lines
- The approach could accelerate creation of training datasets for large language models in circuit design by digitizing existing visual references at scale.
- Generated netlists might be fed directly into iterative design tools that combine vision models with language-based optimization.
- It could support reverse-engineering tasks by turning published diagrams into simulatable models for legacy hardware analysis.
Load-bearing premise
Graph isomorphism between generated and reference netlists is a sufficient and complete measure of correctness across all IC- and PCB-level schematics including complex analog connectivity.
What would settle it
A collection of schematic images containing complex analog circuits where the generated netlist is graph-isomorphic to the reference but produces mismatched simulation outputs due to unrepresented component values or behaviors.
Figures
read the original abstract
Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have revolutionized Electronic Design Automation (EDA), particularly through Large Language Models (LLMs) for circuit design tasks. However, their application to analog and mixed-signal domains remains limited by the lack of machine-readable representations of existing circuit design knowledge. Circuit schematic images found in research manuscripts, textbooks, and websites constitute a vast repository of validated designs; however, these visual representations cannot be directly processed by EDA tools. Converting them into machine-readable netlists is essential for enabling simulation, verification, and building comprehensive databases for AI-based models. Current conversion methods lack generalization across both Integrated Circuit (IC) and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) level schematics. Moreover, they struggle with component recognition and connectivity inference, and fail to distinguish between connected junctions and crossing wires. In this paper, we propose SINA, an open-source circuit schematic image-to-netlist generator. SINA is a fully automated pipeline that integrates deep learning for robust component detection, connected-component labeling for accurate connectivity inference, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for component reference designator extraction, and a Vision-Language Model (VLM) for reliable reference designator assignment. SINA handles both IC- and PCB-level schematics and incorporates dedicated crossing-wires detection to differentiate wire intersections from connections. We validate the correctness of the generated netlists using graph isomorphism techniques. Our experiments demonstrate an overall netlist generation accuracy of 96.67%, which is 2.72x higher compared to state-of-the-art approaches.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The manuscript presents SINA, an open-source pipeline that combines deep learning for component detection, connected-component labeling for connectivity, OCR limited to reference designators, and a VLM for assignment, plus dedicated crossing-wire detection, to convert IC- and PCB-level schematic images into netlists. Correctness is assessed via graph isomorphism, with the central claim being an overall accuracy of 96.67% (2.72x higher than SOTA).
Significance. If the accuracy and generalization claims are substantiated with complete validation, the work would provide a practical tool for digitizing existing circuit knowledge from literature and websites, enabling simulation, verification, and dataset construction for AI-driven EDA in analog/mixed-signal domains. The open-source release is a positive factor for reproducibility.
major comments (2)
- [Abstract] Abstract: the central performance claim of 96.67% netlist accuracy (and the 2.72x factor) supplies no information on test-set size, diversity (IC vs. PCB, analog complexity, crossing-wire density), how accuracy was computed beyond isomorphism, or the precise SOTA baselines and their implementations, so the claim cannot be evaluated from the provided text.
- [Abstract] Abstract: validation relies exclusively on graph isomorphism between generated and reference netlists, which confirms topology and reference-designator presence but supplies no check on component-parameter extraction (resistance, capacitance, voltage ratings, etc.); the OCR stage is explicitly limited to reference designators with no parameter-parsing stage described, leaving end-to-end correctness for analog netlists unaddressed.
minor comments (1)
- [Abstract] The abstract would be strengthened by a one-sentence statement of the number and types of schematics used in the reported experiments.
Simulated Author's Rebuttal
We thank the referee for the constructive comments. We address each point below and will revise the manuscript to improve clarity on evaluation details and scope.
read point-by-point responses
-
Referee: [Abstract] Abstract: the central performance claim of 96.67% netlist accuracy (and the 2.72x factor) supplies no information on test-set size, diversity (IC vs. PCB, analog complexity, crossing-wire density), how accuracy was computed beyond isomorphism, or the precise SOTA baselines and their implementations, so the claim cannot be evaluated from the provided text.
Authors: We agree the abstract is insufficiently detailed on these aspects. In the revision we will expand the abstract to report test-set size, breakdown by IC vs. PCB and crossing-wire density, the exact graph-isomorphism procedure used for accuracy, and the specific SOTA implementations and their reported numbers that yield the 2.72x factor. These details appear in the experimental section of the full manuscript and will now be summarized in the abstract. revision: yes
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Referee: [Abstract] Abstract: validation relies exclusively on graph isomorphism between generated and reference netlists, which confirms topology and reference-designator presence but supplies no check on component-parameter extraction (resistance, capacitance, voltage ratings, etc.); the OCR stage is explicitly limited to reference designators with no parameter-parsing stage described, leaving end-to-end correctness for analog netlists unaddressed.
Authors: The observation is correct. Graph isomorphism verifies topology and reference-designator matching but does not validate extracted component values. The manuscript states that OCR is restricted to reference designators and contains no parameter-parsing stage. The current work therefore targets connectivity and component identification rather than full parameter extraction. We will revise the abstract and scope statement to make this limitation explicit and note that parameter extraction remains future work. revision: yes
Circularity Check
No significant circularity in derivation or validation chain
full rationale
The paper presents an image-to-netlist pipeline whose core outputs (component detections, connectivity graphs, reference designator assignments) are produced by independent ML modules and then validated externally via graph isomorphism against held-out reference netlists. No equations, fitted parameters renamed as predictions, self-definitional loops, or load-bearing self-citations appear in the abstract or described method; the 96.67% accuracy figure is a direct empirical measurement on external test data rather than a quantity forced by construction from the inputs.
Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger
Reference graph
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