Design Automation


Tool with SPICE co-simulation performs crosstalk analysis of PCB connectors and packages

14 March 2001 Design Automation

Innoveda has demonstrated its XTK with SPICE co-simulation which enables analysis of crosstalk between connectors and packages on printed circuit boards. Innoveda has also rolled out the latest version of its ePlanner tool that enables designers to now analyse PCB schematics from Cadence Design Systems' Concept-HDL tool. The enhanced XTK and ePlanner tools were exhibited at DesignCon2001.

Customers using XTK with SPICE co-simulation now can extend the crosstalk analysis available at the board level to include crosstalk inside dense IC packages and connectors. This enables a more accurate analysis and the ability for customers to catch design problems earlier in the design cycle, rather than downstream where they are more costly to fix, according to the company.

XTK supports the Berkeley Standard SPICE model. "XTK now goes heads above the competition because it uniquely combines the high speed of its transmission line algorithm with the benefits of SPICE co-simulation," said Rick Almeida, Vice President of Marketing for Innoveda's Product Realisation group. "Since XTK is not SPICE-based, it is very efficient and very fast. Customers can actually use a SPICE-based model for drivers, connectors or packages, enabling XTK to perform die-to-die simulation."

XTK is a signal integrity analysis and crosstalk tool kit that provides a powerful suite of tools designed to help solve signal integrity problems on single PCBs, multiboard systems and MCMs. It is used both for pre and post-layout analysis. As part of Innoveda's ePlanner tool suite, XTK helps establish and drive rules forward into layout-based on electrical constraints. As a post-route sign-off tool, XTK imports data from all popular layout systems and exhaustively simulates all signals, verifying that electrical constraints have been met.

It consists of two components: a 2.5D Field Solver that computes the inductive and capacitive coupling matrices needed for crosstalk and transmission line simulation based on PCB geometry and materials, and conductor paths; and a network simulator that uses a proprietary algorithm - 10 to 100 times faster than SPICE-based algorithms - to simulate the results of coupled transmission line effects on digital signals.

ePlanner extends choices

The latest version of ePlanner, its pre-placement or pre-layout PCB analysis tool, enables designers to analyse PCB schematics from three different source tools: Innoveda's ViewDraw, Mentor Graphics' Design Architect and Cadence's Concept-HDL tools. This new functionality enables designers to select the planning environment of their choice. Unlike Cadence's SPECCTRAQuest and Mentor's Interconnect Synthesis (ICX) that are focused on their own PCB design systems, Innoveda says the ePlanner uses an open architecture supporting schematic data from many popular schematic capture tools.

ePlanner enables designers to do signal integrity and crosstalk analysis of a PCB design before layout, routing or fabrication. It uses XTK as the analysis engine. Designers can use XTK early in the design cycle, when it is easier, faster and less expensive to fix design problems.

For further information contact Kobus van Rooyen, ASIC Design Services, (011) 315 8316, [email protected]



Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

MPLAB PICkit Basic
ASIC Design Services Design Automation
To make its robust programming and debugging capabilities accessible to a wider range of engineers, Microchip Technology has launched the MPLAB PICkit Basic in-circuit debugger.

Read more...
Case Study: Siemens Valor automation solution
ASIC Design Services Editor's Choice Manufacturing / Production Technology, Hardware & Services
Electronics manufacturer BMK used Siemens Valor to enhance accuracy and speed up bill-of-materials quotations.

Read more...
Accelerating RF PCB design in a 5G world
ASIC Design Services Editor's Choice Design Automation
Billions of IoT devices coming online in the coming years will require RF design capabilities that support ultra-fast 5G speeds.

Read more...
XJLink-PF40 JTAG controller
ASIC Design Services Test & Measurement
XJTAG, a specialist in electronic testing, has released its new XJLink-PF40 JTAG controller together with version 4 of its popular PCB software testing suite.

Read more...
NECTO Studio has been updated
Design Automation
NECTO Studio V7.1 IDE from MIKROE now includes full programmer and debug support for Microchip tools and also adds support for Microchip’s SAM MCU and STMicroelectronics’ STM32L4 series of ultra-low-power MCUs.

Read more...
Microchip SoC FPGA
ASIC Design Services DSP, Micros & Memory
Microchip Technology introduced the RT PolarFire SoC FPGA, the first real-time Linux capable, RISC-V-based microprocessor subsystem on a proven RT PolarFire FPGA platform.

Read more...
Development kit for MIL-STD-1553 dual transceiver
ASIC Design Services Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Holt Integrated Circuits has announced the introduction of ADK-1592, a development kit designed to help customers interface Holt’s recently announced HI-1592 radiation hardened transceiver.

Read more...
Development kit for programmable 16-channel low-side driver
ASIC Design Services DSP, Micros & Memory
Holt Integrated Circuits has announced the introduction of ADK-84216, a development kit designed to demonstrate the features of Holt’s recently announced programmable 16-channel low-side driver, HI-84216.

Read more...
Microchip’s RTG4 FPGAs achieve highest space qualification
ASIC Design Services DSP, Micros & Memory
QML Class V is the highest level of qualification for space components, and a necessary step to satisfy mission-assurance requirements on the most critical space missions such as human-rated, deep space, and national security programmes.

Read more...
Altium provides free training
Design Automation
There is no longer any excuse not to master Altium Designer with the company now offering both advanced instructor-led three-day training and an on-demand video series.

Read more...