The Cadence® Spectre® X Simulator solves large-scale verification simulation challenges with up to 10X speed and 5X capacity improvements as well as scalable and massively parallel simulation for cloud computing. The Spectre X Simulator is built on the same infrastructure technology as all members of the Spectre family of simulators to provide the same golden simulation results for circuits from complex analog, RF, and mixed-signal blocks, to custom IC and subsystems that designers have trusted for almost 30 years.
Spectre Simulation Platform
The Cadence® Spectre® X Simulator solves large-scale verification simulation challenges with up to 10X speed and 5X capacity improvements as well as scalable and massively parallel simulation for cloud computing. The Spectre X Simulator is built on the same infrastructure technology as all members of the Spectre family of simulators to provide the same golden simulation results for circuits from complex analog, RF, and mixed-signal blocks, to custom IC and subsystems that designers have trusted for almost 30 years.
As the industry’s leading solution for balancing high-performance and capacity needs with analog accuracy, the Cadence Spectre Simulation Platform encompasses multiple solvers that allow a designer to move easily and seamlessly between circuit-, block-, and system-level simulation and verification tasks. The foundation of the platform is a unified set of technologies shared by all of the simulators – the parser, device models, Verilog-A behavioral modeling, input data formats, output data formats, etc. – thereby guaranteeing consistent and accurate evaluation methods regardless of the simulator selected. In addition to the individual solvers, the Spectre simulation technology is well integrated into other Cadence technology platforms, including Xcelium™ Logic Simulation, Liberate™ Trio Characterization Suite, Legato™ Reliability Solution, Virtuoso® ADE Product Suite, Voltus™-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution, and the Virtuoso RF Solution, to provide the industry’s most comprehensive cross-domain simulation solution.
Spectre X Simulator
The Spectre X Simulator delivers best-in-class single-core simulation, provides scalable performance and capacity, and is built on the same infrastructure technology as all members of the Spectre family of simulators to provide the same golden simulation results for circuits from complex analog, RF, and mixed-signal blocks, to custom IC and subsystems. These designs may use millions of transistors and passive components along with billions of parasitic elements.
The Spectre X Simulator handles the electrical verification of large-scale analog-centric SoC designs (e.g., high-speed SerDes), 5G RFIC designs, and advanced-node IP blocks. It is the perfect solution for a designer who needs analog-type accuracy for designs that require millions of calculations for each time step. The Spectre X Simulator takes advantage of the cloud infrastructure and performs the massively distributed simulations required to verify complex full-chip designs in a timely manner.
Benefits
Features
Silicon-accurate modeling
Device models are common across all the simulators in the Spectre Simulation Platform, eliminating model-correlation issues and simplifying adoption of new simulation technologies. Using the same model equations means that silicon-accurate models from existing PDKs can be used with the Spectre X Simulator.
Post-layout simulation
The Spectre X Simulator uses proprietary techniques to accelerate post-layout simulation. The post-layout simulation supports accelerated DC operating point calculation, an advanced matrix solver optimized for RC simulation and large matrices, and accurate optimization of device parasitics. Multiple modes are provided to users that optimize set-ups for different applications: custom IC simulation, analog IC simulation, and EM-IR analysis.
Native device reliability analysis
The Spectre X Simulator provides a full-chip native reliability simulation and analysis solution, enabling designers to consider reliability effects from the early stages of design until tapeout. Reliability analysis can simulate the degradation of device characteristics as a function of the circuit operation conditions and time, allowing for designers to assure enough performance margin over the product’s operating lifetime.
Native Verilog-A support
The Spectre X Simulator offers design abstraction for faster exploration of the design space, allowing better architectural decisions and supporting mixed-level simulation to accelerate top-level functional verification. The Spectre X Simulator-supported Verilog-A is in full compliance with the Verilog-A 2.0 LRM. The Spectre X simulator automatically compiles Verilog-A into optimized C-code for high-performance simulation.
Advanced analog and RF circuit analysis techniques
The performance and capacity improvements provided by Spectre X Simulator are not limited to transient analysis. The Spectre X Simulator also accelerates harmonic balance simulation while maintaining the accuracy expected for RFIC design.
Specifications
Language and netlist support
The netlist formats, behavioral modeling languages, parasitic netlist formats, and stimulus files are common across the Spectre Simulation Platform. Supported formats include: