Simulator ensures better mixed-signal circuits

Infinisim Inc. has released Raser, a simulator, which is specifically designed for mixed-signal ICs. The company said Raser guarantees SPICE-accurate results and with a number of benchmark designs it resulted in an average of 50x speed up and capacity for large mixed-signal circuits. The company is privately funded and its core technologists have been working together for a few years, starting at Simplex Solutions, which went public in 2001. Later, it was acquired by Cadence Design Systems.

Underlying Raser's performance is Infinisim's patent-pending real-time adaptive simulation (RAS) technology. RAS adapts to the changing circuit simulation environment at every time-point of the simulation while using the full device models and adhering to the full SPICE accuracy requirements. A number of solvers are used by the engine. At every time-point, RAS evaluates the state of each node and assigns the appropriate solver to the node. With this technology, Raser is able to automatically and simultaneously deliver SPICE accuracy and handle large-scale mixed-signal circuits.

Samia Rashid, president, Infinisim, said Raser is suitable to circuits like Serdes, high-speed wireline or wireless communication channels, precision analog interfaces, image sensors, critical paths in SoCs and clock networks. These designs consist of large numbers of elements and require SPICE simulation accuracy with high performance. As an example, Serdes transceivers are commonly employed in nanometer process technologies. To ensure that timing and power specifications are met, high accuracy and the ability to simulate the entire system together become necessary. At the same time, simulating over operating modes, deep-submicron process variation space and environmental conditions require simulations to be fast enough to facilitate maximum design coverage prior to tape-out.

- Gabe Moretti
EE Times