ANSYS today announced its Ansoft Designer 5.0 and Nexxim 5.0 products. This engineering simulation platform and integrated technology supports Simulation Driven Product Development of electronic products. Powerful new features have been added to these latest versions that compress the electronic design and analysis cycle. For example, links with ANSYS DesignXplorer software enable design of experiments, sensitivity studies and six-sigma design. Additionally, a distributed-solve high-performance computing (HPC) capability has been added that allows engineers to analyze process variations within a full signal integrity (SI) analysis across a network of computers. For radio frequency (RF) and microwave design, Ansoft Designer 5.0 with Nexxim 5.0 feature a new system simulation engine that allows engineers to simulate entire wireless systems while linking to highly accurate transistor and electromagnetic models.

The Ansoft Designer 5.0 and Nexxim 5.0 suite also offers new product packaging that customizes and streamlines Ansoft Designer and Nexxim simulation technology into application-specific software tools for engineers focused on signal integrity analysis or RF and microwave design. The new packages, named DesignerSI and DesignerRF, integrate technology from Ansoft Designer and Nexxim into application-specific engineering platforms that are easy to use and straightforward to acquire.

The DesignerSI package includes the Ansoft Designer integrated schematic capture and layout graphical user interface (GUI), 2-D quasi-static field solver and the Nexxim circuit simulation technology (transient, fast convolution, statistical, and IBIS-AMI). DesignerRF includes the Ansoft Designer desktop, 3-D planar electromagnetic field solver, RF system simulation tool, design synthesis tools, circuit simulation, powered by Nexxim (linear and nonlinear frequency domain). Both packages include a powerful design management front end for the Ansoft best-in-class electromagnetic field simulation technologies HFSS, Q3D Extractor and SIwave software.

“In the electronics industry, driving product development with engineering simulation is a key strategy to develop more innovative products, to lower development and manufacturing costs, and to accelerate time to market,” said Zol Cendes, chief technology officer and general manager at Ansoft. “By adding these powerful new features and introducing new packaging, we can deliver application-specific simulation technology for engineers wanting to perform signal integrity analysis and RF and microwave system design.”

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., based in the United States, uses Ansoft Designer and related products in developing technologies that enable highly reliable and secure data center connectivity. “Designer SI software mitigates limitations imposed by the proprietary nature of high-speed serial silicon intellectual property by providing a robust IBIS-AMI solution. Not only does the package address the need for high-speed serial architectures, it continues solving more common SI problems by providing one design environment for all circuit simulations, whether it be transient, statistical or IBIS-AMI. By understanding tomorrow’s signal integrity challenges, Ansoft has been able to take a leadership role in providing solutions that overcome today’s obstacles,” said Shahriar Mokhtarzad, manager, hardware engineering at Brocade.

The DesignerSI product suite is ideal for engineers designing high-speed electronic interfaces including XAUI, XFI, Serial ATA, PCI Express, HDMI, DDR, DDR2 and DDR3. Engineers using DesignerSI can leverage its optimization algorithms, design of experiments, tuning and post-processing capabilities for key signal-integrity metrics, such as time-domain reflectometry (TDR), bit-error-rate (BER), timing analysis and eye diagrams. All SI analyses can dynamically link to rigorous electromagnetic extraction. New signal integrity analysis features include:

• IBIS-AMI simulation: fully supports the latest IBIS standard, enabling fast behavioral modeling of electronic systems with silicon vendor-supplied driver and receiver models
• QuickEye and VerifEye enhancements: separate rise/fall step responses, step response parallel processing, improved BER noise floor and enhanced jitter algorithms
• Design of experiments: large data handling, statistical eye plotting and text array variable support
• Reporter improvements: statistical eye, mixed mode reporting and network data explorer enhancements
• Model enhancements: S and W elements wizard, MATLAB models, S model caching and multi-source components

The DesignerRF product suite is tailored to the needs of engineers who design radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), wireless transmission, system-on-chip (SoC) and other RF and microwave devices. New enhancements for RF and microwave design include:

• System simulator integrated in circuit design with baseband and envelope simulation of advanced communication systems
• Filter synthesis tool that generates ideal and physical filters for circuit and EM tools
• Library expansion through downloadable vendor libraries as well as physical library expansion along with the latest active industry models
• EM improvements with design hierarchy, post-processing variables, thick conductor Q enhancements, and parametric snapshot improvements with dynamic links