Cadence looks to boost simulation performance with the Spectre X Simulator

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Cadence Design Systems has introduced the Cadence Spectre X Simulator, a massively parallel circuit simulator designed to provide up to 10X performance gains.

According to Cadence, the Spectre X simulator can solve 5X larger designs when compared to previous simulation solutions, which means that customers will be able to effectively simulate circuits containing millions of transistors and billions of parasitics in a post-layout verification flow.

The Spectre X simulator offers customers the following benefits:

Accuracy: The Spectre X simulator delivers the same level of accuracy as previous generations of Spectre simulators. For users that want to trade off accuracy for performance, the Spectre X provides a single control that lets users determine the right accuracy/performance trade-off needed for their particular design.

Massively Distributed Simulation: It enables users to distribute time-domain and frequency-domain simulations on hundreds of CPUs and take advantage of the scalability of data centre or cloud infrastructure.

Faster Runtime: Utilising better numerical techniques and modern compute hardware, the Spectre X is able to offer up to 10X faster simulation on 5X larger designs without sacrificing accuracy.

Ease of Adoption: The Spectre X simulator uses the existing foundry-certified device models without modification. Additionally, the Spectre X simulator supports existing Spectre design flows such as the Cadence Virtuoso ADE Product Suite, Virtuoso RF Solution, Legato Reliability Solution, and Liberate Characterization Suite.

Mixed-Signal Support: The Spectre X simulator is tightly integrated with the Cadence Xcelium Parallel Logic Simulation for mixed-signal verification using Spectre AMS Designer, providing full support for mixed-signal behavioural languages and real number modelling methodologies.

“The Spectre X Simulator marks the next generation of trusted simulators from Cadence, providing customers with the accuracy and speed needed to complete their designs efficiently to meet aggressive time-to-market goals,” said Tom Beckley, Cadence senior vice president and general manager, custom IC and PCB Group. “We have multiple customers already using the Spectre X simulator, and they are experiencing excellent results. With its massively parallel technology, faster runtime, and greater capacity, it’s the ideal simulator for use on advanced-node, analogue, RF and mixed-signal designs.”