Keysight Technologies Inc of Santa Rosa, CA, USA has introduced the latest release of its Advanced Design System (ADS) software, ADS 2015. Featuring silicon RFIC interoperability with Cadence’s Virtuoso, GoldenGate-in-ADS and capabilities intended to increase design efficiency, ADS 2015 aims to change how silicon RFIC and multi-technology module design is performed.
The convergence of gallium arsenide (GaAs) and silicon design, coupled with the move to higher frequencies in silicon designs and their tighter integration into packages or modules, have increased the need for an interoperable co-design flow, says Keysight. Silicon RFIC interoperability in ADS enables users to edit and simulate schematic designs created in either Virtuoso or ADS. Users also can open a Virtuoso IC layout cell view in ADS, instantiate the cell within a package or module, and then run an electromagnetic simulation on the complete design to validate its overall system performance.
ADS-Virtuoso interoperability works on top of a baseline Virtuoso process development kit (PDK). ADS 2015 is backed by broad PDK support from a number of RF silicon foundries. Interoperability-enabled PDKs are available from TSMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, TowerJazz, IBM and IHP, and have been validated by customers as part of Keysight’s alpha program.
GoldenGate-in-ADS
To provide users with a complete silicon RFIC design platform, the GoldenGate simulation, analysis and verification solution for large-scale RFIC circuit design is now integrated into ADS 2015.
“With the availability of GoldenGate-in-ADS and foundry interoperable PDKs, we have given our customers access to our leading silicon RFIC circuit simulation technology directly within the ADS Platform,” says Joe Civello, ADS product manager for Keysight EEsof EDA (which supplies electronic design automation software for microwave, RF, high-frequency, high-speed digital, RF system, electronic system level, circuit, 3D electromagnetic, physical design and device-modeling applications). “Additionally, the new RFIC cockpit in ADS allows users to use the same Virtuoso simulation testbench and settings directly in ADS.”
Additional capabilities
Additional new capabilities and enhancements available in ADS 2015 include:
new DDR Bus Simulator; new RFIC cockpit that expands the ADS schematic control block use model to a complete RFIC simulation cockpit; 2-16x faster FEM simulation performance improvements; layout and layout verification improvements; and numerous usability, performance and productivity improvements.