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Morgan Hill, California -
May 28, 2004.
OEA International, Inc. announces major update
to its popular SPIRAL[TM], a specialized 3D inductor design toolset for
synthesizing embedded spiral inductors in analog and RF chips. The new
version of SPIRAL adds support for baluns (balanced inductors), differential
inductors, and transformers. SPIRAL also adds features critical for 65nm and
90nm support by adding support for dummy metal fill and slotted wide metal
support. While SPIRAL simulation was already been extremely fast relative
to other electromigration simulation tools, a new linear spice solver called
'panther' boosts performance by an order of magnitude drastically reducing
total simulation time. Also, a new DRC checker is now implemented assuring
the GDSII layout conforms to the foundry DRC rules. A new 'Monte-Carlo'
analysis allows emulation of foundry variations to test all corners of the
inductor performance.
Summary of New SPIRAL Features:
New Structures
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Balun (Balanced Inductor), Differential
Inductor, and Transformer design capability. These new structures
support the latest trends in spiral design and provide space-saving
alternatives for matched inductor and other advanced RF and
high-performance analog applications.
Support for 90nm and 65nm Technologies
Full DRC Clean GDSII Layouts.
Besides the slotting and metal fill, SPIRAL adds
Inductor ID layers, inductor port ID layers, and inductor hi-res shielding
layers per a set of user-defined rules. Then, using a new DRC rule set in
the technology file, checks the metal, vias, and other layers for spacing,
metal width, clearance, overlap, and other rules to assure it passes foundry
DRC rules.
New Linear Solver for S-, Y- and Z-Parameter
Generation.
A break-through in solver speed has been
accomplished for solving linear circuits with full matrices of mutual
inductors. Standard commercial Spice solvers fail to converge or take
forever when faced with inductive circuits. A new solver called 'panther'
handles these complex circuits in a fraction of the time allowing use in the
Spiral optimization flow for complex baluns and transformers.
Monte Carlo Analysis.
Incorporating the effects of the foundry process
variation provides the electrical parameter distributions of the generated
inductors or baluns as a function of process variations (e.g. Q-factor,
inductance, and resistance variation). This is an important design
capability for assuring inductor, balun, or transformer design will meet the
performance requirements of the circuit.
"Designing advanced inductors used to present
significant challenge for RF designers. In a matter of minutes SPIRAL can
find and synthesize an inductor optimally suited to the circuit requirements
and be DRC clean. Often, a few minutes of using SPIRAL replaces what would
otherwise have been days or weeks of effort by a person skilled in the use
of electromagnetic simulation software," said Mike Xie, Engineering Manager
at OEA International, Inc. "The additional capabilities are specifically in
areas that our customers have requested. "
By providing a simple set of performance and
physical specifications, OEA's flagship inductor modeling software SPIRAL
allows designers to automatically and quickly synthesize, analyze, and
optimize a wide range of inductors, including baluns, differential inductors
and transformers. In a matter of minutes SPIRAL can find and synthesize an
inductor optimally suited to the users' specific circuit requirements.
SPIRAL can be used in a batch mode, in an interactive mode through a robust
graphical users interface, or seamlessly from within the Cadence DFII
environment SPIRAL generates all of the user modeling needs including GDS2
layout; S-Parameters; Y-Parameters; Z-Parameters; plots of inductance,
resistance and quality factor versus frequency; and narrow-band and
wide-band compact spice models. SPIRAL results have proven to be highly
accurate for the processes tried to date proven through validation.
About OEA International
OEA International, Inc. was formed in 1988 to
address demanding IC extraction problems. The company has secured the
extraction accuracy leadership role by working closely with major IC and
system companies using the most modern process technologies available.
Through these relationships, the company has applied it 3D extraction
expertise to provide a family of critical net design tools, signal integrity
analysis tools, and RF component design tools.
RF/analog designers also have available RF-PASS[TM],
a passive component analysis tool which ensures the most accurate models for
on-chip resistors, capacitors, coil transformers and wind up/down inductors.
For additional information call (408) 778-6747, or visit OEA online at
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