CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
8 October 2004
Implementation Investments
Q-DOT Selects Sequence's Columbus-AMS for Inductance and Capacitance Extraction
Sequence Design announced that Q-DOT, a company advancing the state-of-art in data conversion, signal processing, and communications, has selected Sequence's RLC Parasitic Extraction tool-Columbus-AMS-for inductance and capacitance extraction.
"Designing mixed-signal circuits well into the microwave region requires exceptional modeling to ensure first-pass success. Prior to using Columbus-AMS, inductance for critical circuit areas was manually calculated. Other tools did not provide the accuracy or ease-of-use required," said Don Herman, director of engineering for Q-DOT, Inc. "This caused numerous painstaking and time-consuming iterations as we identified and analyzed potential problems one small area at a time. But, with Columbus-AMS, inductance and capacitance are quickly and easily extracted for the entire design. This provides insight into potential oscillation and ringing without having to guess where the problems might originate. Columbus-AMS agrees well with our manual inductance calculations and return path analyses, providing the accuracy we need. And, it integrates cleanly into our design flow. Our engineers were able to get Columbus-AMS running and analyze a thorny mixed-signal circuit problem in a couple of weeks, after months of manual analysis."
Parasitic interconnect inductance becomes more prevalent on complex 130 nm circuits due to tightly packed clock trees and power grids, which in turn affect performance and yields. Even small inductances can cause 100+ GHz devices to oscillate. Sequence's Columbus-AMS inductance-modeling methodology has demonstrated greater success on mixed-signal and high-speed analog designs than traditional inductance parasitic approaches. Sequence's patented technology in this area has delivered unparalleled accuracy for ASIC and mixed-signal design houses worldwide.
"Today's high frequency designs must extract inductance or risk design failure," said Rob Mathews, vice president of product marketing, Sequence Design. "Q-DOT tested the limits of our tool. Their bleeding-edge development gives us a sense of where the future of design is going."
Columbus-AMS is part of Sequence's ExtractionStage suite, delivering speed, accuracy, and capacity for designs below 180 nanometers (nm). NEC, Renesas, and Toshiba have adopted columbus-AMS for their designs. ExtractionStage manages the complex process-modeling and electrical-modeling challenges facing designers today:
• Accurate, device-level RLC extraction with NTX technology increases confidence in tapeouts
• Proven inductance extraction lets you meet analog specs and avoid post-tapeout surprises
• Selective parasitic modeling around devices eliminates double counting
• Compact parasitic netlists give efficient circuit simulation
• Graphical interface to Cadence Analog Design EnvironmentT controls extraction without leaving VirtuosoT
• Smart ProbingT lets you analyze R, C, and L interactively
• Supports popular LVS tools to complement your existing flow without tying you to a specific LVS tool
• Supports a wide variety of analog processes, including IBM 5- through 8-series SiGe and CMOS-RF
Q-DOT, Inc., a Simtek company, is a contract research and development (R&D) corporation advancing the state-of-art in data conversion, signal processing, and communications for over 27 years. For more information, please visit http://www.qdot.com
Become a member of the CIMdata PLM Community to receive your daily PLM news and much more.
Tell us what you think of the CIMdata Newsletter. Send your feedback.
CIMdata is committed to your privacy. Your personal information will never be sold or shared outside of CIMdata without your express permission.