Home

Analog, RF, and Mixed Signal

Magma Announces New Method for Statistical Simulation and Monte Carlo Analysis

Wed, 2010-03-10 18:16 — Gabe Moretti

Magma Design Automation Inc. announced the availability of FineSim Fast Monte Carlo, a technology the company labels a revolutionary new alternative to traditional Monte Carlo analysis. Most engineers rely heavily on statistical methods such as traditional Monte Carlo analysis for design reliability, an approach that has limitations making accurate analysis almost impossible. FineSim Fast Monte Carlo uses proprietary dynamic error-controlled algorithms along with statistical techniques to provide dramatic improvement in speed and accuracy compared to traditional Monte Carlo statistical analysis. It has shown as much as 100 times better runtime when compared to other commercial methods, with superior accuracy.

OSCI Completes First Analog/Mixed-Signal Standard

Mon, 2010-03-08 08:51 — Gabe Moretti

The Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) has released the SystemC Analog/Mixed-signal (AMS) extensions language standard, AMS 1.0. The AMS 1.0 standard is the first modeling language targeting system-level design and verification to describe analog/mixed-signal behavior as natural extension to existing SystemC-based design methodologies.

AgO Launches AnXplorer: A Tool For Analog And RF Optimization

Thu, 2010-03-04 08:39 — Gabe Moretti

AgO Inc. has introduced AnXplorer -- a new tool for optimizing analog and RF circuits. Starting with an unsized SPICE netlist, variables for device dimensions and a set of design objectives and constraints, AnXplorer optimizes device sizes by rigorously exploring the design space. By centering the design across all specified, process, temperature and voltage corners, AnXplorer achieves a robust design thereby enhancing the yield and improving the probability of first time silicon success.

Actel Releases SmartFusion FPGAs And Related Development Environment

Wed, 2010-03-03 10:17 — Gabe Moretti

At the Embedded World conference, Actel Corporation unveiled SmartFusion, the world's first intelligent mixed signal FPGA. Available in production quantities, SmartFusion devices feature Actel's proven FPGA fabric, a complete microcontroller subsystem built around a hard ARM Cortex-M3 processor and programmable analog blocks on a flash process.
The company also announced the immediate availability of its development environment for the SmartFusion intelligent mixed signal FPGAs. The ecosystem includes the Libero Integrated Design Environment (IDE) v9.0 with Synplify Pro and Identify from Synopsys, ModelSim from Mentor Graphics, and SoftConsole v3.1, Keil and IAR Systems software IDEs, plus access to leading RTOS and middleware from Micrium.

Agilent New LTE Applications Target 4G System-Level Designers

Thu, 2010-02-18 11:09 — Gabe Moretti

Agilent Technologies Inc. introduced a new line of system-level design and verification
products for 3GPP LTE physical layer (PHY) design. Agilent now provides predictive products and algorithmic references for the SystemVue platform that are consistent with the LTE v.8.9.0 (December 2009) standard. The new line includes four products that accelerate 4G deployment for LTE system architects, baseband hardware designers, and RF equipment by bringing new levels of realism into the architecture and modeling stages.

Agilent' ADS 2010 to Support IBIS-AMI Modeling Standard

Wed, 2010-02-03 10:23 — Gabe Moretti

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced its support for IBIS-AMI (Algorithmic Modeling
Interface) -- a modeling standard for SerDes transceivers created to enable fast, statistically significant analysis of high-speed serial links. Agilent's work in support of this standard is expected to yield the commercial release of a new version of Advanced Design System, ADS 2010, which will allow signal integrity designers to integrate IBIS-AMI models into their ADS projects.

Go Meet the Leading Edge at EDPS

Fri, 2010-01-29 13:29 — Gabe Moretti

Every April the leading edge of the leading edge of Electronic Design Automation meets in Monterey to address design problems that are making design more difficult than it should be. The meeting is called the Electronic Design Process Symposium of EDPS.

The format favors open discussions around presented papers. It only lasts two full days, but they are days filled with work and ideas. It is a sound mix of academic and industrial research and experiences that tend to look at the near future of electronic design. The goal is to foresee what the coming design problems might be and propose either solutions or alternatives.

Agilent Announces NXP Semiconductors’ Design Kit for RF Small Signal Products

Fri, 2010-01-29 12:21 — Gabe Moretti

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced the availability of an NXP Semiconductors’ design kit for RF small-signal products within Agilent’s Advanced Design System (ADS). The design kit provides NXP’s customers with easy access to comprehensive libraries of models within ADS for NXP’s RF wideband devices, diodes, function FET’s, dual-gate MOSFET’s and MMIC’s. With the new design kit, customers can run simulations in ADS prior to moving to prototype. This significantly accelerates project development with NXP’s components and speeds time-to-market.

CST STUDIO SUITE Version 2010 Is Shipping

Fri, 2010-01-15 13:01 — Gabe Moretti

Engineers and researchers working with electromagnetic problems will benefit from Computer Simulation Technology's (CST) latest software release, CST STUDIO SUITE version 2010, and its new solver options, features and functionality. The extended range of solvers included in this release continues CST's technology tradition. This offers different solution options within one design environment thus enabling a wide range of applications to be analyzed without leaving the familiar, easy-to-use CST interface.

Agilent Technologies’ GoldenGate Release 4.4 Accelerates CMOS RFIC Design

Tue, 2009-12-08 10:48 — Gabe Moretti

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced the release of its RFIC simulation, verification and analysis software -- GoldenGate version 4.4. This release offers enhanced performance, new key stability and yield analyses, and RF extensions to mixed-signal simulation. In addition, the new release brings performance and flexibility updates to its unique wireless standards-based virtual test bench capability. The new release, available this month, has a starting price of under $25,000.