The Next State of the Art in Circuit Simulation

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Nexxim®, Ansoft's circuit simulation and analysis software, delivers high-performance, high-capacity, transistor-level simulation for complex RF/analog/mixed-signal IC design and verification.

The software provides the transistor-level accuracy required to simulate sensitive analog and wireless front-end circuits and the robustness and capacity to address the diversity and complexity of modern mixed-signal integrated circuit designs.

Nexxim dynamically links to Ansoft's industry-leading electromagnetic field solvers, HFSS™, SIwave™, and Q3D Extractor® through Ansoft Designer®. Therefore, engineers can achieve first-pass system success by precisely modeling and integrating high-frequency effects in their circuit designs, gaining insight into signal integrity and power integrity issues.

New in Nexxim v4

• VerifEye™, a new methodology for eye analysis of serial links using statistical methods that maintains accuracy while offering major reductions in run time compared to conventional transient methods. These statistical transient analysis tools represent the most practicable means to test for the low bit-error rates needed by today's multi-Gb/s channel designers.
• QuickEye™, a new Ansoft-only fast eye diagram analysis method that allows input of very long, user-defined bitstreams. This analysis allows engineers to identify specific bit sequences that cause bit errors.
  View Webinar on VerifEye™/QuickEye™
• Mixed system-level behavioral simulation with transistor-level transient simulation. This hybrid integration enables designers to simulate a complete system consisting of various levels of abstraction much more quickly than in simulators that operate at only the transistor level.
• C++ model editing wizard
• Ability to compute the reciprocal response of subcircuits, Nports and Field Solver elements to de-embed the effects of test fixtures.
• Transient noise analysis
• Transmission line tool

Nexxim's Advantages:

• Dynamic links to state-of-the-art EM analyses
  Electromagnetic effects significantly impact circuit behavior at high frequencies of operation. Nexxim's dynamic links to HFSS, SIwave and Q3D Extractor allow the seamless integration of these effects into circuit design. In addition, Nexxim's high simulation capacity handles the additional complexity and circuit size introduced by the electromagnetic effects.
• Statistical analysis and transient simulation
  New features VerifEye and QuickEye provide statistical analysis and transient simulation capabilities that allow engineers to rapidly characterize high-speed serial channels.
• Time-domain simulation using frequency-domain S-parameters
  Nexxim's inherent advantages in speed and capacity are enhanced with automatic enforcement of passivity and causality to accurately model and simulate physical behavior in the time domain (such as that of complex interconnects in signal integrity applications).
• Integration with system-level design and user models
  Nexxim allows the seamless integration of behavioral models and user-defined models (Verilog-A, C++, IBIS) for handling the interaction of analog and digital components within a single simulation.
• Consistency of results across domains
  Time-domain (transient) and frequency-domain (harmonic balance, AC) simulations are performed using the same circuit netlist and the same device models across analyses, guaranteeing that results in the different domains are consistent.
• Higher capacity at increased simulation speed
  Cutting-edge numerical algorithms and software engineering provide Nexxim with the capacity and speed to handle simulation of high-performance RF devices that have very large transistor/device counts and high harmonic content without sacrificing simulation accuracy.
• Robust Convergence
  Nexxim includes robust algorithms across all analysis domains (DC, time, and frequency) that ensure convergence even as circuit size, harmonic content and circuit nonlinearities increase.
• Model compatibility
  Nexxim natively supports HSPICE® and Spectre® device models and netlist formats, providing full foundry device model support. Hence, Nexxim seamlessly integrates within and augments existing design flows.

Product Overview

Nexxim® bridges the gap between traditional analog SPICE simulation and RF circuit simulation by providing both time- and frequency-domain solutions from the same circuit (schematic and netlist) using the same device models. Designers of high-performance ICs and PCBs will no longer have to spend countless hours reconciling results from multiple simulators each running from different netlists and different versions of device models.

For high-performance analog/RF/mixed-signal IC design, Nexxim leverages a multitude of algorithmic innovations in transient and harmonic-balance analyses to achieve the accuracy and robust convergence needed for sensitive analog blocks while delivering the capacity, speed, and dynamic range required for handling high transistor counts combined with a large number of parasitic elements and high spectral content.