Mentor Adds Circuit Simulators to the Cloud using Azure

Mentor Adds Circuit Simulators to the Cloud using Azure
by Daniel Payne on 11-08-2019 at 6:00 am

Mentor and Azure

Most EDA tools started out running on mainframe computers, then minicomputers, followed by workstations and finally desktop PCs running Linux. If your SoC design team is working on a big chip with over a billion transistors, then your company likely will use a compute farm to distribute some of the more demanding IC jobs over lots… Read More


Electrothermal Analysis of an IC for Automotive Use

Electrothermal Analysis of an IC for Automotive Use
by Daniel Payne on 05-16-2017 at 12:00 pm

Automotive ICs have to operate in a very demanding environment in terms of both temperature and voltage ranges, along with the ability to withstand g-forces and be sealed from the elements. Not an easy design challenge. For many consumer ICs we see output drive currents on the IO pins measured in mA, however in automotive if you want… Read More


Predicting Lifetime of Analog ICs

Predicting Lifetime of Analog ICs
by Pawan Fangaria on 06-22-2015 at 12:30 pm

With the increase of transistors per unit area, high density interconnects and manufacturing variability at lower nodes, the electronic devices have become more vulnerable to failures. The devices that operate under extreme conditions such as automotive devices that operate at high temperatures need to be robust enough to… Read More


Coverage Driven Verification for Analog?

Coverage Driven Verification for Analog?
by Pawan Fangaria on 09-26-2014 at 1:00 am

We know there is a big divide between analog and digital design methodologies, level of automation, validation and verification processes, yet they cannot stay without each other because any complete system on a chip (SoC) demands them to be together. And therefore, there are different methodologies on the floor to combine analog… Read More


Speeding Up AMS Verification by Modeling with Real Numbers

Speeding Up AMS Verification by Modeling with Real Numbers
by Daniel Payne on 02-15-2014 at 7:00 pm

My first introduction to modeling an AMS behavior using a language was back in the 1980’s at Silicon Compilers using the Lsim simulator. Around the same time the VHDL and Verilog languages emerged to handle the modeling of both digital and some analog behaviors. The big reason to model analog behavior with a language is for… Read More


SPICE Circuit Simulation at STMicroelectronics

SPICE Circuit Simulation at STMicroelectronics
by Daniel Payne on 02-20-2013 at 11:18 am

At the 2010 DACI moderated a panel session on SPICE and Fast SPICE circuit simulation, and one of the panelists was PierLuigi Dagliofrom STMicroelectronics. To get an update on SPICE circuit simulation at ST I read a PDF document at Mentor titled: Improving the Quality of SPICE Simulation Results with Eldo Premier at ST.


ST does … Read More


Circuit Simulation and IC Layout update from Mentor at DAC

Circuit Simulation and IC Layout update from Mentor at DAC
by Daniel Payne on 06-17-2011 at 7:06 pm

Intro
On Monday evening I talked with Linda Fosler, Director of marketing for the DSM Division at Mentor about what’s new at DAC this year in circuit simulation and IC layout tools.

Notes
IC Station – old name for IC layout tools

Eldo – Eldo Classic- Cell characterization
– ST is the early customer and teaching customer,… Read More


The Ultimate SPICE Circuit Simulator

The Ultimate SPICE Circuit Simulator
by Daniel Payne on 01-03-2011 at 1:19 pm


I love SPICE and Fast SPICE circuit simulators, so here’s my feature list for the ultimate SPICE circuit simulator:

[LIST=1]

  • Input netlists – HSPICE, Spectre, ELDO
  • Multi-core support – parse and simulate fast and accurate
  • LRC Reduction – built-in LRC reduction with a few knobs to control accuracy
  • Tuning
  • Read More