CAD Framework for Coupled Electromagnetic and Circuit Simulation

Electromagnetic (EM) effects are becoming increasingly important issue for the performance of electronic systems. It is necessary to develop computer-aided design (CAD) tools to identify and correct problems early in the design process. Therefore, CFDRC with University of Washington (UW) and Orora Design Technologies, proposes in Phase I to: 1) Develop new concepts, models, and numerical methods to accurately and efficiently represent the interface between EM analysis and circuit simulation for high-speed mixed signal circuits; 2) Develop a design for an advanced object abstraction framework for the interface to enable automated coupled EM+Circuit analysis; 3) Perform preliminary evaluation of the interface and the framework, using existing EM field solver from UW and SPICE circuit simulator. In Phase II, we will develop the computational framework to accommodate mixed methodologies (differential, integral) for treating the EM domain in an automated manner, develop appropriate model order reduction techniques to resolve EM interactions in circuit (SPICE) simulators or in high-level hardware description languages (VHDL-AMS or Verilog-A), and demonstrate the new tools for the design of a high performance system relevant to DoD applications. The new EM-Circuit CAD framework will be interfaced with a commercial (Orora) design flow for RF, analog, and mixed-signal designs.