'Modular' signal integrity tool starts at $250

Claiming to offer the first "fully modularized" signal integrity tool for high-speed chips, boards and packages, Interactive Products Corp. (IPC) is licensing individual modules from its IFS Pro software. The product is an interactive field solver that creates Spice models from geometries.

The IFS Pro uses lossy-tranmission line analysis to create what IPC calls a "universal Spice model." It produces models ranging from lossless/lossy ladder to lossless/lossy modal for both time and frequency-domain analysis. IPC claims the models accurately model frequency-dependent losses.

The complete IFS Pro toolset costs $15,000. But IPC found that some of its customers didn't want the entire suite, said Gunnar Frisk, IPC director of business development.

"During the past year it's been pretty hard out there in the industry, and people are telling us they're kind of hesitant to come up with $15,000," he said. "It's a big chunk of money for quite a few companies."

IPC, therefore, "de-embedded" the product so that customers can separately purchase any of several model definition modules, which start at $250. The model generator and simulator that come with the package can also be licensed separately.

Model definition modules include EZ Stack for PCB stickups, EZ Geo for arbitrary geometries and DXF In for importation of AutoCAD DXF files.

IPC is also offering a "and worldwide pricing" structure. This is an annual subscription option allowing an unlimited number of users for a company-specific site, or worldwide, on an annual basis.

- Richard Goering

EE Times