Sigrity's 10.1 Beta Release Information

November 8, 2010

The 10.1 beta release is available for immediate download for Windows and Linux customers. Prominent in this release is a new S-parameter tuning capabilities in BroadbandSPICE and a new TDR / TDT simulation mode in SPEED2000.

New PowerSI capability incorporates DC simulation results for enhanced accuracy.

Users will see enhancements across all Sigrity products.  A summary of these capabilities is listed below.  This is a beta release and users are encouraged to provide feedback to Sigrity in advance of production availability.

ENHANCEMENT SUMMARY

Following is a partial feature summary.  10.1 beta software is available for electronic download at Sigrity's Customer Sign-In area (SPDNet). Primary user contacts have account user name and password information. Password retrieval is available at the site.

SpeedXP (10.1 Beta Release)

Overall SpeedXP capability:

• Support for cascaded models with MCP  ... Streamlines simulations that include multiple models with a wizard and graphical feedback as the models are joined.
• Additional material property handling ... Detail can be now be specified for dielectric, metal and thermal properties.
• Leadframe package flow support ... Enables simulation of designs that begin as imported DXF (geometry only) files and ads electrical intelligence in the process.  An editor for gullwing leads has also been added.

SPEED2000 capability:

• TDR / TDT simulation and postprocessing ... A new simulation mode and voltage waveform display capability has been added at no charge.  Sweep functions are incorporated with the new capability.
• Power-aware IBIS I/O driver models ... Automation has been added for SSO simulations which are more accurate than traditional IBIS model based simulations.  Sigrity is the first EDA company to offer a commercial tool that supports IBIS power-aware models.
• HTML reporting improvements ... Support has been added to enable viewing of multiple time domain simulation results (voltage waveforms, eye diagrams, etc.).  Toggle views and hyperlinks support make improve the usefulness of the reports.
   

PowerSI capability:

• Combined AC and DC simulation results ... New and unique Sigrity capability has been added that combines DC results with frequency-swept AC results for improved accuracy over the entire simulation bandwidth.
• Multi-processor access ... Users that have hardware with multiple processors and sufficient memory will benefit from simulations that are distributed between processors for greater throughput.

BroadbandSPICE capability:

• S-parameter sanity checking ... Provides capability to tune-up user-supplied S-parameters to address issues such as abrupt magnitude or phase changes.
• Passivity and causality checks ... Overall viewing is supported and specific local regions of frequency domain data can be identified that contribute most to non-causal behavior.

PowerDC capability:

• HTML reporting of complex power topologies ... A new block diagram visualization capability is available to promote easy understanding of complex power topologies.  The information is automatically created, values and pass / fail results are easily observed.
• Current flow animation ... Multi-speed animation support enables quick visualization of how current flows from a power source to sinks.

Channel Designer capability:

• Back-channel simulation support ... An industry-first capability has been added to more accurately simulate high-speed SerDes channel behavior.
• HDMI compliance kit ... Automatic verification that channel performance meets HDMI specifications.
• Automated model builder ... Direct integration between Sigrity's PowerSI and Channel Designer to enable channel blocks to be associated with physical layouts (represented as .spd files) with support for user selection of objects of interest.
• Adaptive CTLE model support ... A new AMI model has been added to the Channel Designer library to support programmable, adaptive continuous time linear equalization with options for both clock and data recovery and decision feedback equalization in one model.

OptimizePI (2.2 Beta)

Improvements to OptimizePI in the most recent  beta release:

• Pre-layout enhancements ... With the new release, arbitrary stackup and shape information can be created to enable early studies with the most accurate available information.  Support is also included for the import of component footprint and fanout information.
• Updated Murata decap library ... The new library provides higher accuracy and additional parts.
• Improved reporting ... The decap summary report clearly distinguishes between original decaps, optimized decaps, and non-optimized decaps..

XtractIM (4.0 Production)

Improvements to XtractIM in the most recent production release:

• Total per pin inductance ... Support for a quick total loading analysis and full net extraction.  Return current flow through all pins and nets is observed based on the current pumped into a single pin on any net.
• New reporting options ... Simplified way to display multi die branch parasitics.  A new crosstalk report is also available with user adjustable parasitics.
• DXF important (targeting leadframe designs) ... Enables basic graphical data to be brought into Sigrity's environment for analysis.  Includes some built in assumptions.

XcitePI (5.0 Production)

Improvements to XcitePI in the most recent production release:

• Simplified user interface ... The XcitePI user interface takes on the check-list style flow approach of other Sigrity tools.  Enhancements are available for port selection and MCP connections.
• Increased capacity ... A hierarchical database supports additional performance and capacity in the GDS flow.

Unified Package Designer (10.0 Production)

Improvements to UPD in the newest production release:

• Power integrity assessments ... Sophisticated yet easy to use functionality enables layout designers to identify potential power delivery system issues and improve designs.
• Component scaling ... Pin locations can be adjusted by user specified percentages to support die shrink package applications.
• Leadframe metal editing ... New areafill and space adjustment options have been added.

Orbit IO (9.0 Production)

Improvements to OrbitIO in the newest production release:

• RDL routing  ... Quickly produce DRC clean results that can be exported to IC P&R tools.  Enables fast validation of routability and the quality of IO and bump pad placement.
• New IOview function ... Provides highly automated and rule-driven IO pad ring construction.