Agilent Collaborates with NVIDIA for Simulation

By DE Editors

Agilent Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)  announced its work with NVIDIA to accelerate signal integrity simulations using NVIDIA’s Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA)-based graphics processing units (GPU). The association is expected to yield the commercial release of a GPU-enabled Advanced Design System (ADS) Transient Convolution Simulator that will allow signal integrity designers to run these simulations faster than before.

At high data rates, signal integrity engineers must take into account physical phenomena like impedance mismatch, reflections, electromagnetic coupling,  crosstalk, and microwave frequency attenuation due to the skin effect and dielectric loss tangent. NVIDIA’s CUDA-based computation acceleration hardware is expected to accelerate Agilent’s ADS Transient-Convolution Simulator, allowing designers to perform fast what-if design-space exploration using circuit-level models that can be verified against measured data and EM simulation of the artwork.

Common applications include design and verification of chip-to-chip multigigabit/s serial links. The accelerated simulation will help manufacturers of these products improve their time-to-market by arriving at an optimum design through rapid and complete exploration of the design space and avoiding costly and time-consuming prototype iterations.

Advanced Design System is a high-frequency, high-speed electronic-design automation software platform. Recent releases of the software include new signal integrity capabilities, such as the addition of serializer/ deserializer (SERDES)/  Verilog analog mixed-signal cosimulation for a more complete signal integrity design flow for serial links.

The Agilent ADS Transient-Convolution Simulator running on NVIDIA’s CUDA-based Graphics Processing Units is expected to be available in the first calendar quarter of 2009. Beta evaluation of the simulator is expected to be available in October 2008.

Additional information on Agilent EEsof EDA is available from Agilent Technologies Inc.

Sources:  Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.